There is something irresistibly decadent about sofa cinemas. When the Electric launched in Notting Hill five years ago, you would have thought that sofa cinemas would pop up all over London.

Problem is, they didn't, and those wanting the full experience had to schlep it to W11 to get their fix.

Hence the joy that The Exhibit - Balham's premier drinking & dining den - has expanded, to make room for a swish new penthouse cinema with tiered leather sofas seating 56, and an adjacent terrace offering alfresco drinks and dinner, with a first class Thai-fusion menu.

The cinema is screening new and classic films, three times a day, five days a week, and today it's launching The Big Break, an opportunity for fledgling directors to showcase new films - either full length or shorts. The first to get its outing will be Frank, a 'micro-budget action thriller' shot in London, by British-Canadian filmmaker Stephen James Bland - its second screening will be at Cannes next month (Balham piping Cannes - how brilliant).

So north Londoners, laugh all you want, we've got something you don't have, and if you stay up north there's more sofa cinema seats for us.