Alex Lloyd introduces her all-time favourite bar in York.

AS I sat in the middle of a weekend shift over the bank holiday (journalism's not all glamour and parties, your know), I pondered what fantastic event or venue to focus on for this week's column.

My Plan A had gone pear-shaped thanks to an unforeseen private party and, like most weeks, there was no Plan B.

Then I hit upon a bit of a brilliant idea/selfish indulgence/lazy alternative (delete as appropriate) - I would write about my all-time favourite place to go in York.

The bar in question is Evil Eye, three floors of multicoloured dcor, lethal cocktails and chilled-out friendly people. It's quite unlike anything else in the city.

Evil Eye began life as a small internet caf and bar, hidden away in the former furniture showroom of Forever Changes in Stonegate, but became so popular that it was expanded to fill all three floors earlier this year.

Walking into this place is, I would imagine, like stepping into Changing Rooms on acid (I would imagine) - jade and orange walls, a bar decorated with old doors, ornamental lizards crawling the walls and a wall stacked top to bottom with every type of spirit you could imagine, and some you didn't know existed.

This huge alcohol selection contributes to a vast cocktail list. Every one is in equal parts delicious and lethal. Particular specialities include the Evil Smoothie and Heaven, a chocolate lover's dream. They also do a mean Mojito and house gin is only £1.

Drink in hand, you can either retire to the back yard to enjoy the cool night air or move upstairs. The first floor has plenty of large tables for groups of mates which are ideal for playing the board games stacked around the place, and there are also computer terminals for surfing the net.

If you can be bothered to walk right up to the top, you'll find an oasis of leather chairs and dim-lighting. People often forget it's there so it can be pretty easy to grab a seat on a busy evening.

The music in Evil Eye is controlled by a computer for the most part and tends to be eclectic, although it always seems to lean towards ambient drum 'n' bass on Friday and Saturday nights. It's never intrusive though, so you can always chat to your friend without having to shout.

While Evil Eye may not have a late licence like many venues in York, it does have an off-licence at the front, meaning you can pick up some drinks to carry on the party at home.

An incentive if ever there was one.

Evil Eye Lounge, Stonegate, York, 01904 640002, www.evileyelounge.com.

Opening hours: Mon-Sat 10am-11pm, Sun 11am-10.30pm.

Coming up this weekend:

Live music fans are in for a treat this weekend with two excellent nights at City Screen's Basement Bar.

Mr Green's Onion Club returns for its monthly slab of full flavour funk tonight, with a guest set from Big Daddy Moochin'.

Resident DJ Mr Green says the band have played Leeds' acclaimed Hi Fi Club in the past and come "highly recommended". He'll also be joined by DJ Duke Dylanja.

The pace moves down a notch tomorrow night with The Little Num Num Club, which features DJ sets and acoustic music from Chris Helme, of The Yards, Hayley Hutchinson, Rob Hughes and Danny Slack.

Entry to each of the events is £5 and doors open at 8pm. Contact 01904 541144 for more details.

Updated: 16:09 Thursday, September 02, 2004