Tipped

An Adult Playground!!!!!!!!

August 20, 2010

Where do I start?? This place is certainly different, a kind of retro, american themed bowling alley, club, bar, AND restaurant. It's like an adult playground!

A group of us came down and had such an amazing time, we bowled and sang karaoke (apologies to anyone my out of tune voice offended lol), needless to say we were a bit drunk by the end and we were all giggling like schoolgirls. I would highly reccomend this place to anyone looking to have a chilled out, hilarious night out away from your run of the mill chain rubbish that are on every street corner.

Tags: bowling, karaoke, dancing, club

What a find!

August 04, 2010

This is such a fun place with almost to much going on. Great for a company night out. You can have a large crowd and everyone will have a good time. Their rates are reasonable and the atmosphere is what bowling should be about. Once this London bowling fad is over, Bloomsbury Bowl will still be going strong.

Food is hearty dinner food and service on the mark.

Tags: bowling

Shocking and chaotic!

July 11, 2010

After my sister's hen do last night, I would have to strongly warn any other large group against going to this venue.
There were problems at almost every stage coupled with some extremely rude staff and a chaotic atmosphere.
That said, some staff were sweet and the manager was very sympathetic when we complained and gave us ten bottles of free wine.
Here are the problems we encountered so you can make up your own minds!:
Bowling: The 4 lanes we pre-booked and paid for had over-run so we had to wait almost half an hour to get on.
When we did, the girl started the machine running but did not let us know, so nobody was actuallly playing & some of the time we paid for was wasted. Also a problem writing the correct names above each lane.
Drinks: One of our party asked for a Mojito but the girl serving her filled her glass with crushed ice USING HER BARE HANDS saying this was “just the way we do them here”. Ewh!
Food: At the restaurant we were told there was nothing to eat except 12 pizzas as they had “run out of food”.
After I pressed the issue, the waitress said that we could all order chips, nachos and 12 pizzas but nothing else.
I asked to speak to a manager and then we were told the entire menu was available, but we would have to wait. We were happy to do this, if the girl had only told us this at the beginning!
No space to explain what happened, but then a male Italian waiter was incredibly rude to us all on several occasions and actually stormed off at one point - actually never seen anything like it!
One poor waitress ended up in tears when she was trying to work out our bill. Not because anyone in our group was angry (in fact we were all trying to calm her down!) but because the system was unable to cope!
Karaoke: We had to walk in to make the previous group leave our pre-booked room. Embarrassing and should have been done by staff.
Ok for a spontaneous studenty night if you just want to get bladdered and haven't prebooked things.
But for anyone over 25, or with ANY expectations of customer service or things actually running to plan, I would give this place a v v wide berth.

Tags: bowling, Bloomsbury, karaoke

a pleasant surprise

June 08, 2010

i was sceptical at first when my boyfriend said he was taking me on a date to a bowling alley, i soon changed my mind when i stepped inside! its not your average megabowl that for sure!
the decor is really nice and different and it seems to have it all with the bowling, a tasty diner (we shared a massive delicious pepperoni pizza!). there were karaoke rooms there that looked like everybody was having funa nd the dj was really good and fun, playing a real mix of music so we had a good dance after our bowling too.
overall a lot of fun and i would recommend for a fun night out. decent drink prices too.

Tags: bowling fun delight

Shake Rock n Bowl Night

April 19, 2010

Hot Saturday night yet packed and great dancing. I have been critical of Shake Rock & Bowl in the past for long queues and rude door staff, however last Saturday was fansatic and only £3 to get in. Beer on draught and a good Camden crowd.
.

Tags: Shake Rock n Bowl, Bloomsbury Bowling, packed, fun, good value

Bowling in Holborn

March 06, 2010

I hesitated to write a review for Bloomsbury's Bowling Lanes until I had gone there a few times because at first I thought it was amazing. Why well, a few reviews I have seen slate the place but its faily clear to me they are being targeted with fake negative reviews. Not that the place is perfect mind you but its well Bloomsbury and out there on its own.

Anyway, I've been to the bowl 4 times now for various reasons: seeing a band, bowling/karaoke and a works thing. Bloomsbury is tastic for all of those things. And the place just LOOKS awesome! The design is fantastic and clearly loved by the staff and customers alike.

Downside: its busy busy. Even a Monday night on our last vist was packed. Avoid most Saturday nights if you don't want a clubby atmosphere. A queue of 200 people is not for me anywhere.

Location is on the surface a downside, but Holborn is a safe area without all the unwanted attention of most club/bar areas.

Karen

Tags: Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes

A pointless night out

February 07, 2010

Saturday Shake Rattle and Roll, got dressed up in netted skirts and piled on the eyeliner. Pre-booked and paid for our tickets yes that's £70 into Bloomsbury bowl bank account from 7 of us. We turn up, our name is on the list and we are ready to shake rattle and roll.

Hold on, what we can't bowl, staff shrug us off "computer says no" style. We try not to be too dispirited as we are out to have fun, Karaoke?????? No sorry can't do that either. Ok so whats left?? the diner...we queue for an hour, we put a cunning plan in place to save some seats otherwise we will be like the girl in the corner balancing a burger on her pink polka dot dress. As the frustration creeps in we ask a passing member of staff about the seemingly crap system they have in place, to be shrugged off with "welcome to the 1950's" beggers belief. Finally our food order is in and we are 60% confident that the waiter will find us, though no guarentee. 6 out of 7 meals arrive, and I spend a good 30 minutes trying to chase down my burger which I then eat alone whilst my friends wander what we should do next. Music is average but doesn't persuade us to head to the sweaty overcrowded area by the other burger eating punters to shake our polka dots at. We give up at midnight and decide we would better off somwhere else.

Useless, pointless, dump with unhelpful and grumpy staff.

If its your 1st time out in London, or indeed out ever, you might think its quirky, Any place that sucks the energy from you on arrival is a failure in my book.

Never again

Tags: bowling, karaoke,

a great night out

December 15, 2009

I went to the bloomsbury bowling lanes for my birthday last weekend and had a fantastic time. I had emailed ahead to get on the guest list which meant there was no trouble for me and my friends to walk straight in - bonus! the lanes were pretty booked until quite late and so it gave us time to get merry at the bar and on the dancefloo before finishing the niht off with a brilliant not so sober night of bowling! the music was really cool all nght, loads of differnt types, and a live band too, which was great. all the staff were friendly, although a little stressed it seemed and there was a queue for the bar but not too long and i could see the bar-staff were rushed off their feet. we had a tasty pizza there too! we're definitly going back!

Tags: fun, bowling, drinks, dancing

Bowling as it should be

April 25, 2009

Years ago I used to drink at the Elbow Room. It’s was unique, always busy and something special. The desire to create a group of hip pool halls killed it. Same for places such as Belgos. Only drones like chains and then it all over in terms of being unique and special to London.

Luckily, The Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes is a one off still. I mean where else can you eat a 24inch pizza, bowl, down German Beers, play a politically incorrect shooting games where you hunt down deer, have a laugh without security throwing you out....dance on vintage carpet dance floor until 3am.

Being hidden away in BLoomsbury also keeps the riff raff away.

Tags: bowling, london, nighlife

Shake, rattle and bowl

January 20, 2009

The bimonthly retro 'Shake, Rattle and Bowl' Saturday night seems to be gathering pace in a big way (unlike my bowling technique). I've heard about this recently through various friends so we went along to check it out and had an awesome night.

It is a novel way to spend a Saturday night out in town - complete with American-style diner, bowling, karaoke, dancefloor boogie-ing to and film screenings.

My tips: Get there early if you want to bowl, eat or book a karaoke room for later; dress up fiftie-esque (we did but not enough people joined in the fun); expect it to be busy and there not to be any wine glasses

Tags: dance club, karaoke, bowling