Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes

Retro fun!

21 Apr 08, 14:40 Above expectations

This is a great place to go with friends for a night out, or family during the day. Great retro style, diner next to the bowling lanes, karaoke rooms, pool table, table football, big couches, great drinks, live music...what more could you want?!

Have hired the place out for a work function too which was great fun!

Would highly recommend this place!

bowl

18 Apr 08, 02:11 Above expectations

This is a really fun place to go with friends. Formerly an underground car park of a hotel, it's been transformed into a retro american style bowling alley.

BUT it's so popular that booking a lane is terribly hard - you have to book weeks in advance, particularly for weekends. In addition there are fun karaoke rooms, a table football table and an american diner.

Drinks are amazingly cheap and their white russians are lush!

Lots of fun

14 Jan 08, 22:05 Above expectations

Situated in the middle of Bloomsbury, underneath a smart-looking hotel lies Bloomsbury Bowling, a 50s-style bowling alley, featuring everything from pool and arcade games to karaoke and burgers. And of course, lots of bowling.

My only real experience of bowling in recent times has been Wii Bowling, and that hasn't particularly improved my skills a great deal, and although the Wii is a good laugh, you don't get that great feeling when you get a strike, and the more likely disappointment of missing all the pins, in real life.

Bloomsbury Bowling isn't particularly high tech - it still has the 1980s computer screens and plastic benches that you probably associate more with your childhood, but that doesn't matter, as these things are all superficial when it comes to the pure fun and enjoyment of bowling.

Apart from the bowling itself, the bar doesn't have a great range of drinks - a massive choice of three beers on offer - but they do have a good selection of foods, mainly American themed.

If you're looking for something to do, a good plan is to get some friends and take them bowling! It's tons of fun!

Great Saturday Night Out

08 Oct 07, 14:57 Beyond expectations

I've been to just bowl at Bloomsbury a few times now, it's a great way to spend an afternoon but I must admit I was skeptical that you could spend an whole Saturday night there. Luckily I was wrong.

We arrived at around 8ish which is just when they start charging. £6 for normals and £4 for students, but if you email ahead (see the website above) you can get on a "guest list" which gets you in at a reduced rate.

The queue to bowl was massive so we headed straight to the diner and gorged on suitably themed American food. The burgers are actually really good, none of usual fast food crap, they actually look hand made. If you're sitting in the diner they'll also bring drinks to your seat.

From then on it's nothing but dancing, and relatively cheap drinks. Tip: try the bowling desk at around 10ish, if they have lanes left it's the best time to try and book. We managed to get one at 1.30 (last lane a 2 for a 3am close) and all we had to do then was drink.

Suffice to say bowling drunk is hard, but bloody good fun. A cracking night out, ignore the naysayers.

What a find Bloomsbury Bowling

03 Sep 07, 22:58 Beyond expectations

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.

And not a Nihilist in sight...

20 Jul 07, 17:29 Above expectations

Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes is a really good fun night out. I’ve been a couple of times now – once just for a drink, the other time for the full bowling experience. I was rubbish. I was rubbish but the place was great.

Of course, since The Big Lebowski, bowling and the taking of White Russians has become pretty much synonymous. Thankfully, they do a fine White Russian here too.

I’ve yet to try the food so can’t comment on that, and it’s unlikely I’ll be sampling the karaoke any time soon. The fact that both of these are also options though has got to be a good thing. There’s also live music.

It gets very busy at the weekends so if you want to bowl or sing, then book well in advance. On the downside, they do have some annoying and seemingly fairly arbitrary pricing policy where they’ll charge a fiver or a tenner after around 9 o’clock, depending on what’s happening inside. It’s also a bit of a trial getting served at the bar.

Overall though, a great night out.

Sing when you're winning

06 May 07, 23:59 As expected

A bit grubby, a bit smelly, but brilliant fun, this is a great venue for cheap karaoke and bowling underneath the Tavistock Hotel in the heart of Bloomsbury. There are three good-sized karaoke rooms, all equipped with a slightly unwieldy list of songs. Bookings are taken, but you can also just turn up (as demonstrated by a tour party of 30 students who chanced it on my last visit). It's worth asking if there are any discounts going - we managed to get 50 per cent off because we work in the media (brilliant!). Bowling is about 30 quid for a lane - though avoid number one (I'm convinced the surface must be uneven - I cannot possibly be that bad...). Food and drinks are pretty good value with a four-pint pitcher and two bottles of wine coming in at 30 quid. Unpretentious, and all the better for it.

Retro style bowling alley

03 May 07, 18:53 Beyond expectations

This is an American retro style bowling alley. There is also a full bar and diner style restaurant. It's a really fun experience; a bit more interesting than your standard ten pin bowling.