If you come out of the southeast entrance of Jishuitan subway station and take the immediate right, up some steps and around the side of a restaurant, you enter the hidden world of Xihai Lake. Guarded by dense foliage, the lake is home to a mainly local crowd, largely engaged in fishing and seemingly very little else. As pigeons circle overhead, the eye is drawn to a white, four-storey house, embraced by an external staircase, draped in softly coloured chiffon. Welcome to Ready Bar.

Having started up four months ago, Ready seems to have something of a crisis of identity, with the word "Rain" splashed across both its lake facing walls, and a sign that says "Goo time," with the characters hao shi confirming this to be a translation error and not an advert for a swingers club. The roof terrace seems to have been started and then forgotten about, and with cracked tiles and no surrounding wall, probably isn't the best place for children or those smashed enough to have reverted to an infantile state. The inside however has received much more attention as a cool mix of eclectically decorated and furnished seating areas give every little chill out zone its own personal flavour. Above the bar on the ground floor are some wooden steps leading up to a neat little hidey hole about three foot high, but with plenty of floor level seating. Drinks are 20 yuan (US$2.5) for a Qingdao, 30 yuan (US$3.8) for soft and 30 yuan for most spirits.

While not the place for a big night out, Ready is a marvellous place to take a date and impress her/him with just how lao Beijing you are.

Location: No. 4 Xihai Xiyan (Western bank of Xihai Lake), Xicheng District
Opening time: 1 pm-2 am
Tel: 010-66173231