The Eagle has landed

There are those for whom the prospect of heading towards Oxford Street at this time of year compares less favourably with dining alone in a motorway service station at the wrong end of the M4. But it has to be done - there's all those pressies to buy, window displays to marvel at, festive lights to enjoy. Oh my God, it must be nearly Christmas.

But fear not, a new New York-style bar and diner has opened a matter of yards from the hullabaloo of the main drag. The day starts early at the Eagle, opening at 8am to serve breakfasts of waffles, eggs and pancake dishes to office workers and early morning shoppers. By lunchtime, it has transformed into a burger, salad and sandwich bar serving great shakes, lattes and afternoon teas. And come the evening, the lights go down, the music is racked up just a notch or two, and the Eagle's customers get on with the serious business of having a good night out.

The Eagle used to be a branch of the Abbey National, and has now been transformed into one large bar with a raised seating area on one side, and a service bar and gleaming new semi-open kitchen on the other. The interior design of leather banquettes and comely booths looks just the part of an all-American diner but, as is often the case these days, it seems the job was done by designers who have never actually sat down in a bar. The leather pouffes are so low you can almost rest your chin on the tables, and the booths are so spacious that if you sit properly on your seats, you can't reach the tables.

But, hey ho, these glitches don't detract from the excellent food and drink offering. Beer guzzlers will be delighted to note that Brooklyn lager (£3.50 a pint) and Erdinger Bavarian Weisse beer (£4) are both on tap. And cocktail queens should enjoy working their way through a list of boozy iced teas, Martinis and tequila cocktails --and reasonably priced at £6 or less.

Curiously enough, it was the simpler drinks, such as a vodka and tonic, that produced the only problem on the drinks front. The combination of half a pint of hosed-in tonic water with a 50ml shot of vodka might be a good idea at lunchtimes but, at the risk of sounding like an old soak, you'd drown before you got drunk on these mixes.

That aside, the Eagle adds a new dimension to the London drinking scene. Its success must be assured, not least by its ability to transform the look and atmosphere of the place and adapt to the changing needs of the clientele as the day rolls on. And with a 3am licence in the offing, there's yet another audience of late-night revellers to capture and satisfy.

When the late licence kicks in early next year, you wonder why they'll bother to close at all, since they'll be open again at 8am. Seems slack to me that a place is only going to be open for 19 hours a day. What is wrong with these people? Do they really need to sleep?