Radio lacks personality, but the food's cheap and it's open late. What more could you want?

The Venue
Radio is well-located on an elevated floor in Ashton Lane. However, it loses its appeal the minute you walk in as it has very little character.

It's a pretty basic bar, with enormous grey and burgundy couches, a few tall chairs, low wooden tables, one screen for sports, game machines and rather boring light-brown coloured walls.

Behind the bar there's exposed brickwork and on one side of the room there's wallpaper covered in pictures of old radios. However, not even touches like the blue-lit bar stop this place looking dull.

The People
There's a quiz every Monday, but the place still fails to come alive. The real attraction is the fact it’s open until midnight every day and because there’s a club situated downstairs. Basically, when all the other bars start closing up thirsty punters come here for a late drink.

The Food and Drink
There's very little available, but at least it's cheap. You can order any meal for £5, and that includes a pint of Fosters or a soft drink. Your options are limited to fish and chips, Radio cheeseburger, soup and sandwich of the day, chilli nachos, penne alle Napoletana, grilled goat’s cheese salad and tuna mayo wrap.

Radio tries to be an all-rounder by offering different beers and cocktails. However, there are so few of each on offer that you get the feeling this bar is good only for those who are already tipsy. Beer includes cans of Red Stripe or bottles of Cobra, Leffe, Hoegaarden, Tyskie and Budvar.

The cocktails attempt to create a more sophisticated atmosphere, but the cheap mixes remind you of a high-street chain. They're not expensive at £3 to £4.50, but they lack imagination. Choices include woo woo, French martini, cosmopolitan, OC cooler (cranberry and orange juice, vodka, peach schnapps), sea breeze, pink passion, margarita, pina colada and Cuba libre.

They also sell jugs for £8 of even cheaper mixes like daisy chain (vodka, Midori, apple juice and soda water), skinny dip (vodka, blue curacao, orange juice), green green grass and a few others, and shooters are £1.50. Every Wednesday many drinks are reduced to £1.40.

The Last Word
Radio is not particularly impressive but its meals are much cheaper than anywhere else in Ashton Lane. Also, it's open longer than most bars around here so it's good for 'one last drink'. And if you're already tipsy the chances are you won't notice what it looks like.

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