A jewel in SW7

Gloucester Road is a fashionable address, yet its main drag is low on smart bars to entice stuck-up locals out to play.

The arrival of Opal - a dinky dance bar located beneath destination restaurant L'Etranger and open until 1am every night - should provide the SW7 set with an alternative to long autumn evenings at home over Pouilly, pizza and Norah Jones on the Bang & Olufsen.

Funky bright benches and zany stools, resembling out-on-stalks eyeballs, are in snappy contrast to the black and white interior. The molten lava walls of this cavecum-lounge are inspired by the volcanic island of Lanzarote, apparently, although I'm getting more of a Fred Flintstone's Bedrock bachelor pad vibe... and doesn't our enthusiastic waitress bear a striking resemblance to Bam Bam? (or is it Pebbles?)

Happily, there is nothing Stone Age about the modern presentation of our bar snacks - superior chicken spring rolls and moist ginger and soy tuna steak wraps. The reasonably priced drinks list is a mix of the traditional and the progressive. So, just how good are the cocktails? Let's say... made to make your mouth water.