Not for the faint-hearted, The Retro Bar is probably the most defiantly (and refreshingly) different gay bar anywhere in London. Hidden away on George Court - a tiny passageway off the Strand that makes Diagon Alley seem easy to find - The Retro is the bar of choice for indie kids, rockers and punks of a homosexual persuasion and indeed for anyone who doesn't, or doesn't want to, fit in elsewhere.

The soundtrack - from the scene's only Britney-free juke-box and from occasional DJs - is loud and cool and black-and-white photo portraits of music legends from Adam Ant to Siouxsie Sioux line the walls. By the bar is the famous Wall of Shame cataloguing regulars' and visitors' worst liquor-fuelled demeanors in pictures (incredibly, BarCock has yet to appear, but it's surely only a matter of time). There's a comparatively quieter lounge upstairs which is also used for events (Tuesday's pop quiz is a hoot) and plenty of space to smoke outside. Famously formidable landlady Wendy may have moved on to pastures new but the hardcore, hedonistic atmosphere she nurtured over many years lives on.

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