How Low can you go?

If anyone was handing out maps for the road less travelled, they'd be standing on the corner of Baker Street and Paddington Street, in the heart of the yet-to-be fashionable area of Marylebone.

For reasons best kept to themselves, some friends of mine have taken to playing out in this part of town, and in the new bar Low Life in particular. It is by no means a style bar, they warned me, just a seriously chilled subterranean venue where you can shake off your weekday blues.

The feeling I got as I descended the stairs into the basement was that I was in some poor northern town and had arrived at a community project funded by National Lottery money, and designed to keep unemployed youngsters occupied in the down times between signing on and visits to their probation officers. (Q: what's green and takes 20 minutes to drink? A: a giro cheque.)

The decor is postironic Eighties grunge, with liberal use of a spray can in the loos in an attempt to recreate what we once used to call graffiti art. And you'd be forgiven if your first impression was that this place had more vices than a carpenter's workshop. But, no, they are just incense sticks, and the lady of the night with a five o'clock-shadow on her face is actually just a harmless bloke who happens to like dressing up in women's clothing.

If you believe the PR guff (which I rarely do) the likes of Oasis, Coldplay, the Stereophonics, Nicole Appleton and Les Ferdinand have already graced the place with their presence. But I can imagine that all manner of shenanigans take place in the very sexy-looking, candlelit catacombs, which are furnished with Persian rugs and scatter cushions.

Low Life is primarily a music venue, with entertainment of some sort every night. Mondays is opendeck night, when you can bring along your own records and book a turn at the deck. DJs drive the rest of the week's entertainment with anything from hip-hop to easy breakbeat, drum'n'bass, reggae, funk and soul.

The bar staff are street-trendy urbanites, and serve a range of what I describe as limp-wristed beers, meaning the quality or strength doesn't matter - a beer's a beer, and it does the job. Although they do mix cocktails, you get the impression that they just chuck it all together in the hope of getting a result. And the food is a snack menu of oriental platters, satay dishes and the like. I had a fish-finger baguette, which really hit the spot.

Having decided it was a terrific venue (if you like this sort of thing), I left with my mate Robbie, just as a Mercedes was pulling up outside the door. Look, I said excitedly, more drag queens. 'They're not in drag,' he explained. 'They're Eastern European women.'

Low Life
34a Paddington Street, W1U 4HG