First choice for fun

I could barely get through the door on my first two visits to this new cocktail bar in Balham. Nothing to do with my portly physique, you understand, it's just that the place was packed with pre-cellulite babes and baggy-trousered young bucks having a whale of a time to the beat of the bassline reverberating round the walls.

Young, party folk in London might already be familiar with the now famous concept of B@1. This small, independent chain of bars was launched in Battersea Rise in 1998, and was followed up with sites in Petersham Road, Richmond, in 2001, and Wellington Street, Covent Garden, in 2004. Balham marks the fourth venue.

In each you can expect to find a furiously friendly team of bar staff (they regularly shake your hand and introduce themselves), a seriously good drinks offering and a gently opportunistic atmosphere. These are not places for those looking for a quiet pint and a natter of a weekend - they unashamedly encourage the atmosphere of youthful exuberance.

But the sign of an extremely good bar is one that manages to parent a similar atmosphere during the hard-to-crack, almost funereal evenings of early week, and a subsequent Monday night visit suggested the docile crowd couldn't be fired up into a state of high excitement, despite the deafening music.

The other thing about Monday nights is they're often used for staff training purposes: bored members of staff slouch over the end of the bar but are on hand, ostensibly, when the trainee needs bailing out. It was a cruel initiation to allocate the trainee to me - his apprenticeship mentor had seemingly told him it was a good idea to aggressively interrupt a customer (me) when in the full flight of conversation and, at closing time, to keep reminding said customer that his time was expiring - as was my will to live.

The cocktails are good, though. Extremely good, in fact. An eclectic list of more than 150 classic and bespoke creations should maintain your interest in the place for many future visits, and at an average spend of £4.90 a throw represent good value for money.

Despite a good range of premium quality spirits on the shelves, however, Wyborowa is the only vodka used in listed vodka cocktails. Don't get me wrong, Wyborowa is a decent vodka, it's just that such a bias suggests there's an economic arrangement in place and the bar is more concerned with pushing the product than utilising the best spirit for the job.

I have a problem with bars that don't serve food, for fear of falling down far too early of an evening, but I acquiesce to the notion that younger people who drink in mass-market bars have constitutions that don't necessitate solids.

If I were 21 again - I feel as though I'm about to be - I'd be making a bee-line to be at one with the beautiful young topers of Balham. This is a top-quality cocktail bar that knows and understands its market, and is party central most nights of the week - well, perhaps not on Mondays.

Be At One
3 Ramsden Road, SW12 8QX