Room 101@ The Brickworks, 182 Cowley Road, Oxford.

WHEN I heard the news that Thursday night at The Brickworks was now run by those lovely bearded lads from Saturday night at the Carling Academy, I thought I’d head over to Cowley road to check it out.

I expected many things from these legendary men of rugged countenance, including; even more hairy ‘muthas’ worshipping at the altar of metal, rock and face-melting hardcore, plus sweat, testosterone and perhaps a few lovely ladies with some tattoos on show.

I didn’t, however, think for one second that a night inside Room 101 would take my tongue on a gastronomical roller-coaster ride as I sampled a free selection of fine cheeses. Yes, there was free cheese on offer for eating purposes.

Imagine you’ve just finished a four-course meal at Maison Blanc and selected the cheese board from the menu to bring the night to a trouser-popping finish.

The head chef realises he’s out of the good stuff so secretly sends Alex the pot washer and grimy student stereotype to the supermarket for some more.

What you end up being served is a Dairylea slice, a miniature Babybel and the height of sophistication, some mild cheddar and pineapple on a stick.

Far be it from me to complain! To a hungry drunk these choices are pure genius, like manna sent from heaven (not to mention a very fun gimmick for the night). But I’m really trying desperately to drop the hint to someone that I would like to be commissioned to write a weekly cheese column where I get to travel around Europe scouting out the best dairy products I can lay my hands on for benefit of the discerning reader. Someone … anyone … No? Well, it was worth a try.

The Brickworks packs a lot of variety into such a small venue. It’s the equivalent of inserting Vanessa Feltz into Cheryl Cole and leaving no outwardly visible signs.

You’ve got the comfy, well-lit upstairs bar, the pleasingly dingy and ultra-cosy downstairs bar where the DJs spin the decks, a table football room and a decent sized beer garden with heaters. There’s also a corridor where the toilets are located, if you’re into a bit of indecent loitering.

The night I’d come to review Room 101, takes place in the dingy downstairs dungeon – quite befitting of an alternative night, keeping the subversive sounds of creative youth out of sight and out of mind, as if standing in solidarity with the bedraggled citizens of Lukashenko’s oppressive regime in Belarus. There, I’ve done my bit to highlight their plight – that is until I visit and write about it in more detail!

It was a great night out with my good mates. A lads’ night. No girls allowed. I’d recommend it.

Room 101 should definitely be more popular than it currently is. I know for a fact that there are hundreds of rockers in Oxford.

Thursday nights used to be the hugely popular metal night ‘Sabotage’ at the Zodiac and I refuse to believe that all of those punters have moved on to pastures new.

So come on guys, give it a go.

I was drinking in the style of someone whose time in Oxford was drawing rapidly to a close, because it was. Now I’m living, not out of choice, in Salisbury – where if I was to write a weekly clubbing column, I would run out of clubs in a fortnight.

Oxford is a joyous, cornucopian Clubbing Mecca in comparison to most city’s of similar size – get out there and enjoy it!