Czech your drinking - The Luxe, Spitalfields Market

There are big nights and then there are ridiculously big nights. On what was my second visit in as many weeks to The Luxe in Spitalfields we'd gathered together a crew of occasional and frequent imbibers to celebrate all things Friday.

John Torode's - as in Smiths of Smithfields and occasionally MasterChef - latest bar has copped more then its fair share of criticism much of which is hard to understand. For a start its a very beautiful venue with a birdcage type exterior enhanced by high windows and funky, modern furniture. The Luxe's design is very much in keeping with the original Spitalfield's market albeit successfully updated for the noughties.

Second the service, whether at your table or the bar is slick and charming - there's not too much waiting around at this place. And finally it has a buzz reminiscent of when Smiths of Smithfield's first opened. It's not by any means hip, but it successfully strikes the balance for those city workers and wannabe hipsters for whom the other pubs in Commercial Street and Brick Lane are a little too grubby.

The first time I visited the Luxe was on a Monday night on which it had enough of a crowd and ambiance to justify drinking on the earliest school night. By the second visit we were at full-on Friday mode, with birthday parties, party girls and boys, and us - the occasionally motley drinking crew that included such luminaries as the Northerner, Lady Devon, Young Elvis, the Engineer, the Caister Boy, Betty Boo and the Architect and the Senorita to name but a few - meant I was never going to get off lightly.

And that turned out to be the case as, instead of stopping at three to four of the 6% Czech beers, Young Elvis and I powered through what must have been a dozen or so, and behaved accordingly. The Northerner wasn't best pleased. After all, she'd only had five caipirinhas.

Finally I called time, probably not a moment to soon, stumbling off into the night, and leaving the pretty young things to have some fun. Nevertheless I do think the Luxe is a very good addition to the Smithfield's portfolio and a welcome alternative to the awful banker bars of Bishopsgate. Not that you want too many more bankers there. Nor, if you take into account how I felt the next day, do you want to overdo the Czech beers. Don't say you haven't been warned.

The glamour of going out - The Diner, Shoreditch

Six months ago when I was on a social whirl of cocktail bars, clubs and restaurants in all the hot (and not so hot) spots in London town and NYC, a blog seemed the perfect place in which to show off how socially mobile and cool I am. Despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Of course, by the time I got around to actually putting this little thing into action, not only has the credit crunch brought my industry to its knees but worse I seem to have been afflicted by 'boring pub' syndrome, as my unemployed, or soon to be, crews keep insisting on 'cheap as chips' venues.

Which brings me nicely to the Bull Inn in Bishopsgate, which is where Friday night drinks kicked off. We were there to meet the Spaniard, who incidentally is English, and was over for a weekend of indecently bad behaviour. The beers flowed freely as he regaled us with stories about his recent 'adventures'. Not to be repeated on a site like this, but certainly enough to make yours truly physically (as opposed to metaphorically) blush. The Bull itself is everything that people dislike about they city - male-dominated, suited and conservative. However it's not entirely without merit. Great service, a decent selection of wine and beers, and a very nice atmosphere despite the 'cityness'.

The Northerner and I decided it was time to move on for food and headed for Shoreditch. En route we dropped into Jamies wine bar on Bishopsgate to have a cheeky vino with the Senorita who is actually Spanish, who was surrounded by a gang of fawning men, of which only one was her boyfriend. The fact that Jamies is, and markets itself as a 'wine bar' in the city probably tells you all that you need to know about it. I don't think I'm doing it a disservice by describing it as a downmarket Corney and Barrow. Nevertheless it does all those things that city bars do so well, with great service, a stonkingly good selection of top notch wine and beers, and a post-work atmosphere of splendid denial of the financial crisis, meaning that it certainly was a festive and fun stop.

We said our farewells to the Senorita and headed up to the Diner on Curtain Road. The place has successfully transposed the food and ambience of a Manhattan diner right to the very heart of Shoreditch - great food and drinks all served by local hipsters and pretty young things, waiting for their big break into the music, fashion or film industry. The ambience is good although a little on the tourist side as Europeans and non-local Brits try and get a slice of cool East End action. I have a couple of rather pretentious friends who have stated that Shoreditch is no longer 'cool' and going out on a Friday night is like being in a Disney theme park. Two points to make here. Given that these guys live in and frequent pubs and bars around Islington probably undermines any credibility they have as to reliable judges of what's 'cool'. And also, I don't know what Disney theme parks they go to, but if it has the number of great bars, music and funky well dressed people as the Ditch, then I'm packing my Mickey Mouse ears and heading for the Eurostar.

Back to The Diner, which is a superb place to drop in for a drink and food and is the perfect spot to observe the hip and wannabe cool kids of East London. It's also the perfect antidote to the City and a great place to round off the week. Roll on Saturday night.