Resort to Plan b

Brixton has always been a bit of a hinterland when it comes to roomy pre-club retreats. Enter Plan b: a venue with room for 300 and a latenight licence that is, say the owners, 'the type of place our friends would want to hang out in'.

Design is scattergun stylistic - blond wood, burnished steel, a long under-lit gangplank (the site's shaped like a b), Flashdance-inspired dance floor and beanbag-scattered bleachers. Individually, elements smack of flatpacked identikit but in such overkill it actually works.

Everyone gravitates to their own bay; beer-hall tables for the boys, clubbers folded on to beanbags, booths for conversation and dance-side tables for trade vultures. When we were there, the sound system was having a juddering adolescence, but the music's well seasoned - disco to neo-soul, Latin to Afro beat.

Drinks bear the hallmarks of Andrew 'Match' Campana, with clean spirit-led cocktails such as Zephyr ( £ 5.20) - Zubrovka, apple, cucumber, mint, lime and sugar - and the tough, tarty bite of limes, bitters and sharp mixers triumphing over frothy, fruity cocktails (try an Angry Rabbit for eye-watering zing). We couldn't find any bar snacks through the throng but are reliably informed they're a Mediterranean mÃlèe, although you can still get a burger with the works - Plan b replaced Brixton's beloved Wimpy's. And, in its stead, this certainly goes down a treat. Tanis Taylor

418 Brixton Road SW9. Tel: 020 7733 0926. Tube: Brixton

Plan B
418 Brixton Road, SW9 7AY