The Champion

Upstairs at The Albany is furnished in a cosy, ramshackle fashion, with a mixture of 20th-century design classics, comfy sofas and lampshades your gran would be proud of. Downstairs is dark, sweaty club time. They host a stack of über-cool nights downstairs, including comedy, Rock'n'Roll Soul and Uptight. It also seems they've got an eye for talent, having launched the Chemical Brothers as well as our own personal faves, Feeling Gloomy. The pub grub at The Albany is above average, with fancy fish finger sandwiches and hefty burgers on offer. If you can resist the chocolate puddle pudding, you're made of sterner stuff than we are. They're also fairly fond of their vino – aren't we all – and always have a 'wine of the month' on special offer. They've also started stocking Fruilli, the strawberry-flavoured beer that Itchy has now decided is something akin to a health drink. Smoothies are for suckers. Beer is for the brave. Ah, sweet delusions, how they carry us through the working week...

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