RICHARD BELL makes a long-overdue visit to Que Pasa for a few Friday night cocktails.

In our on-going quest to find the very best nights out in the city, I found myself rather surprised that our adventures had never taken us to Que Pasa.

It’s a popular venue, easily accessible, and to be honest I pass it an awful lot when on my way somewhere else.

In any case this oversight was rectified recently when we descended on Que Pasa to see what we’d been missing.

The first thing to strike me was that this venue is the only club in Oxford, or rather the only club I’ve been to in a long time anywhere, that still uses a black light.

I’ve never been a fan of black lights as my clothes always seem to have an inordinate amount of fluff on them, forcing me to think that I really need to go home and wash my clothes. Also years of enjoying red wine, coffee and cigarettes have rendered black lights useless on my teeth, which can be a little embarrassing.

Most of the people there however seem to have dressed for the light, their clothes glowing brilliantly as they dance their way around.

The next thing to strike me was the club’s ‘smoking area’.

In the years since the smoking ban, most places have equipped themselves with a smoking area, although most really don’t make much effort – and unfortunately, Que Pasa is no different.

What I really don’t get is that when most places ‘go to town’ to ensure that the inside of their club is sufficiently dazzling – enough indeed to transport you away to an environment that makes you want to dance and drink ’til the sun comes up – when it comes to the smoking area, it’s often little more than a bit of pavement outside.

Why don’t club owners pull out the stops and make these areas feel like a part of the club, ensuring that the venue’s personality and ambience isn’t ruined by popping out for a smoke?

As a night out, Que Pasa has a fair amount to offer.

The music is decent enough to get people dancing early on, the bar staff are friendly, and there’s a good atmosphere from the get-go.

A good range of draught lagers made me very happy, but not nearly as happy as the revelation that on Friday nights Que Pasa offers two-for-one cocktails.

My standard yardstick is, as ever, the Long Island Iced Tea, and at £4.95 I was expecting a better one than this, but when you get two for the price of one there’s not really anything to complain about.

In summary, Que Pasa is okay, but nothing special, and I’d recommend only going on a Friday.

The cocktails aren’t good enough to warrant the price without this deal.