LA JAVA

If Edith Piaf came back down to earth and tottered a few yards down the pavement on which she was famously born she would feel right at home in this subterranean old time hideaway on the windy road up to Belleville. Reached through a mini arcade off a down-at-heel street, this is a throwback to the days of gilded youth stepping out on the wild side onto the wrong side of the tracks.

These days, especially Saturday night for the lesbian-but-gay friendly Babydoll party, the sharply suited lads and gamine babes are replaced by a Bobo and not a little homo crowd. The scuffed interior and the creaky sound system add to the sense of time warp but the sounds – like the looks – are very now. This place is one of the hippest in the capital and home to happy shiny people. Get down with a crazy age range of locals who are out for a good time. The welcome is warm.