THE WOODEN façade that makes Driftwood so noticeable on Charing Cross's office block-dominated eastern corner tells the full story.

Here is a student-orientated, funtime-focused boozer that is unpretentious and proud.

Apart from a loose Mexican theme – really only present in the stucco interior – the bar's main selling point is that it's really cheap.

Chart tunes dominate: Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga had some punters out of their seats and fist pumping, so I dread to think of the scenes when Gangnam Style came on.

Mercifully, we were halfway out the door by that point.

Anyone struggling in these straitened financial times would do well to check out Driftwood.

There are student lunch deals, discount shots: even a "big quiz" with a bumper £25 cash prize. There are drinks starting at the bargain basement price of £1, seven days a week.

On Mondays there's a pre-party for club night Sham Pain at nearby Club 520, which touts itself as "atrociously cheap".

And who can argue – a vodka's 79p, beer 89p and you can pick up a bottle of "bubbly" – not Champagne, note for a mere £5.

This kind of recession-busting pricing is little more than dangling a carrot on a stick in front of students. Why wasn't it around before I graduated?