Club Havana is a new world music night at Po Na Na designed, I imagine, to appeal to the vast amounts of international students who flock to Oxford for the summer months. It was free to get in for the launch night and having not much else to do when the pub shut my friends and I wandered on down. The first thing that took me by surprise was the quality of the music. Being a bit of a music snob I never expect much but the DJ (O.P.E) was surprisingly good. His mixes of Salsa, Bossa Nova, Latino etc were seamless and his collection of tunes impressive. For a Monday night this was a nice surprise. Po Na Na is at its best when it works with, rather than against its décor, and the world music theme perfectly compliments the drapes and candles feel to the place. But by far my favourite part of the night was the Havana Club cocktails for £2.50. The Havana Fresa was the most popular choice (even had fresh strawberries) and was elegantly made by the super fast bar girl. The kind of service you don't even get when you're paying £6 a cocktail. So, cheap and delicious cocktail in hand I sat on the bed and soaked up the ambience trying to pretend I was in Cuba. It was busy enough to have an atmosphere but not so busy and loud you couldn't sit and chat. Club Havana may well be seeing more of me this summer. Only £3 to get in (unless you got a free ticket), cocktails for £2.50, free sweets at the door and good music. If you want a place to hang out, relax and possibly have a boogie if you feel like it then try Mondays at Po Na Na.

Sophie Harrison 27.06.05