RICHARD BELL has a sophisticated schmooze at The Living Room.

For some reason I never seem to find myself wandering down to the Castle complex for a night out.

It feels just a little bit too far out of my way, which is ridiculous really, as the Castle is no further from the city centre than any of the other places I go to.

The good thing is that if I do head down there, I know exactly where it is I’ll be going, as none of the other bars round there can offer quite as much as the Living Room.

The Living Room caters to the slightly higher end of the market, rather than chasing the enormous student market. They prefer to tailor their clientele with pricing and atmosphere, both of which work surprisingly well.

The drinks are perhaps more expensive than most places around town, but they’re certainly not unreasonable, and along with the superb decor, it does wonders for giving the impression of sophistication.

The bar functions as a restaurant for most of the day, and a huge dining area is set to welcome anyone who fancies getting a bite before their night out, but really it’s the stylish bar where you’ll want to be spending your night.

The cocktails are expensive but delicious, the beer is good and the wine is a well selected range at varying prices, from reasonably cheap to really rather expensive.

At the weekends, the Living Room has DJs ensuring that the crowd are having a good time, and rather nicely the music doesn’t overpower you.

Pretty much anywhere you go, whether in Oxford or not, the music will be just that little bit too loud to be able to have a conversation and some group of drunken girls on a hen night will almost certainly be singing along to every word of it.

Here however the DJs play uptempo funky house at a charmingly unobtrusive volume, just loud enough to enjoy while being just quiet enough to flirt and schmooze.

The restaurant I’m sure makes food every bit as delicious as the cocktails the bar serves, but the cavernous dining area seems to dwarf the utterly rammed bar.

This is a superb place if you can afford it, but even if we are technically out of the recession, 0.1 per cent growth just isn’t enough to convince me to spend all night here...

* Next week we’ll be at Broken Hearts Club at Baby Love.