Hillhead Bookclub

THE Hillhead Bookclub turns five this month: a fact that sent shivers down my ageing, rapidly-deteriorating spine.

It's not just that I remember the opening night, in all its boozy carnage - vividly, as if it was yesterday.

The bar gives off the feeling that it's somehow just always been there: a grand old building that, with its dimly-lit interior of aged wood and convivial air, surely couldn't have sprung up out of nowhere five years ago.

It's still a space that's as ideal for a polite brunch as it is a messy, riotous night out.

You can take a date here to impress them and you can bring your jaded London pals, too.

The Bookclub's decor was inspired by Hoxton and Shoreditch's hipster hangouts, but it has long since established itself as so much more than an homage to something bigger and cooler.

It's also given us a disproportionate number of truly memorable moments: that first BYOB party was glorious: a last-days-of-Rome scene with food and discarded wine bottles everywhere.

Likewise, Optimo's BYOB party was arguably better (or worse, depending on how you see it).

They've had iconic figures like Felix da Housecat, Greg Wilson and Moodyman over for Boxing Day parties. There was the street party, which saw Vinicombe Street packed in a way it perhaps hasn't been since VE Day. On Sundays, the bar regularly hosts Granny Would Be Proud, which stuffs the mezzanine level full of vintage fashion and hand-made accessories.

It gives creatives and the retro-minded a chance to mingle and shop over brunch and Bloody Marys, and promotes local talent at the same time.

There's nowhere in town that's quite like the Hillhead Bookclub, but then it wouldn't be quite so special if there was.

Here's to the next five years.

Hillhead Bookclub

What was your worst first date experience?

1. Claire Rutherford, 26, Southside, "The guy chest-bumped me as an introduction"

Calum Robertson, 25, Kilmalcolm, "We went to see the film Neds, and there was a bunch of neds sitting behind us"

2. Jennifer Moore, 21, West End

Fav Club? The Garage

Fav Bar? Vodka Wodka

Fav DJ? Calvin Harris

Fav Band? Stereophonics

First Club? Fury Murrays

What you drinking? Vodka and diet coke

Describe your dancing? Utterly shambolic

3. Kyle McLean, 20, Airdrie, "I ended up naked with my two best pals"

Nicola Scrimgour, 20, Johnstone, "I've never been on a date"

4. Emily Parker, 20, Hillhead, "I'm on it now"

Nicole Burke 20, Hillhead, "He turned out to be a woman."

5. Jonny McLellan, 21, Kelvinside, "Some guy came up and asked for our picture."

Katie McKay 20, Milngavie, "On our first date we were asked to be in the Evening Times."

6. Paul Mctaggart 20, "I once took my date back to mine and made chips, cheese and bacon."

"Cheryl Glen, 20, West End, I got drunk once and threw up in the toilet."

7. Hannah Wallace, 25 Partick, "I got punched in the face."

Jones De La Fressange - Stockholm, "I once had to eat chicken hearts."