Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes (Bar, Restaurant, Club)

Basement of Tavistock Hotel, Bedford Way, Russell Square, Bloomsbury, London, WC1H 9EU
Cuisine: American
Average Price: £10.00
Tel: 0207 183 1979
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Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes Description
Bloomsbury Lanes: A One Off in London.
Forget bowling past, the Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes is totally unique for London or indeed anywhere!
Bloomsbury is a one off venue that takes a lead for 1950's America, where bowling was the height of style.
Look closely and you will notice features such as the sleek above lane ball returns (sourced from Canada of all places), the bar made from old bowling lanes wood and the pristine 1950's carpet, which had spent 40 years in storage before we found it.
Many guests comment about the fantastic atmosphere in the venue. This is due to the vibrant mix
What makes Bloomsbury special is its status as a one off creation. As they are not part of a chain or concept, you will find better service, customer attention and excellent value for money. You might even find the owners taking your booking or serving your drinks!
Customer Reviews for Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes
Average (based on 17 votes): 17
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The following customer reviews are not endorsed by Fluid London and are simply those of users who wish to publish their independent experiences of Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes.
“The Bloomsbury Bowl is impressive. Maybe I am the last one in the know but it is.
It's a bowling alley. It's a concert venue. It's a diner. It's even kind of cinema? In any case, just popping in to the Bloomsbury Bowl for a drink is enough to take in all of it's activity. One review I read calls it an "adult playground" and I couldn't agree more.
Did I mention its away from all the chaves of the west end and sadly now Hoxton.”
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mike hopkins, [ Unknown ] (10 years 2 months 2 days ago)
“Ridiculously fun place to be. I may not be a huge bowler but that didn't really matter too much. We danced and drank and then got roped into doing karaoke...........needless to say I had drunk quite a few by then!
The whole place was really relaxed and I am definitely going to be going back again and spending the entire night there (but away from the karaoke ha)!!”
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Karen, Islington (10 years 5 months ago)
“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.”
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Hulse, London (10 years 5 months ago)
Show all user reviews for Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes
“AMAZZZING!!! Went there last weekend with some friends and we sang in the karaoke room until 2am! I'm yet to regain my voice. Had so much fun, I've already booked another karaoke booth for next weekend and at £60 for a 2 hour session, it's loads cheaper than other karaoke bars I've been to.
Think I may have embarrased myself a tad when I tried to belt out 'I will always love you'. Lets just say Whitney Houston I ain't. :)”
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matt, Camden, London (10 years 6 months 3 days ago)
“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 some of 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 exactly 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.
Everyone in our group had some sort of bad experience and the bar staff in the Kingpin suite were very grumpy and even took exception to me asking for water!
All in all, maybe 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 very very wide berth. They couldn't run the proverbial in a brewery.”
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lauraclout, Bromley (10 years 6 months 8 days ago)
“we went for a friends birthday, booked for 2 lanes and a kareoke room.. apon arrival we were told we would have to wait for our bowling, ok so we went to get a drink, the bar was packed with only 2 staff serving. after waiting 25 minutes to get a drink we were informed that half the cocktail list was unavailable, we couln't get food for another 1/2 an hour, when we finally went to bowling our lane kept braking and it took a long time to send someone to fix our lane. kareoke was ok, but all in all a stressfull night! i would not recommend go to bloomsbury bowling if you want to have good time!”
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lsomkson, london (10 years 6 months 10 days ago)
“The Lovely Bloomsbury Lanes is always a favourite of mine to take clients. Looks a lot different to 3 years ago when we first visited but still has the charm if perhasp a little bit slick now.”
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Kate VasH, Islington (10 years 9 months 26 days ago)
“London might be teaming with so called “trendy” bowling place, but this place is out on its own as cool. It’s an adults play ground that has no grand pretensions, which is why we all love it. We visited on Wednesday to bowl and knock back a few cool drinks in their courtyard. A good amount of light gets into the place through the windows. Not sure as to what’s with the cows on the wall though? Private Karaoke rooms on the lanes are an original twist/ I hear they have a new place opening in Bethnal Green. Let’s hope it doesn’t get to chain-like...”
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Londoner, Camden (11 years 8 months 24 days ago)
“Having tried other bowling venues in london and we were keen to try out the bloomsbury place which has been much talked about. Overall the venue is a briliant concept and the 50's decor is spot on.
If you are taking a group friends who have different ideas as to what makes a good night this is your venue. Loads to do.
We went to bowl and ended up dancing, karaoking and eating a pretty good take on a new york pizza.”
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bridget, london (13 years 9 days ago)
“Do not go to this place to bowl if you do not have a lane booked. We were informed that if we arrived at 8pm, we would be able to get a walk in bowling lane for 9pm. We were all charged an admission fee of 8 pounds each just to get into this place, which is really a student bar, with tacky lino! Then when we tried to book bowling (which is in an additional cost to the admission fee), we were informed that there were no lanes avaiable until midnight! Therefore, they made 80 pounts off our group just to walk into this place and then leave again! When we complained, the staff were not interested.”
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Emma, London (13 years 1 months 22 days ago)
“Unfortunately my experience was not as good as the others on here. I went for my birthday celebration on a friday night in November. We were greeted by a wooden, rickty staircase (building work going on). As we entered there was an ear piercing, heavy metal band playing, which would have been ok; if it was not for the singer screaming into the microphone. I had been given the wrong information about my booking, and the manager was unhelpful. On the plus side the bar was cheap for London prices, £3 per drink. We ended up leaving, without bowling; as the music was too bad and the seats were taken up by people not wanting too eat; which we were waiting to do. I would not return again!”
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Abbie, Kingston (13 years 1 months 23 days ago)
“The night started badly with a double booking of our lane. Could have gone down hill, but the professionalism of the staff was a credit. They are clearly well used to running a very busy venue. They got us on a lane eventually, but by this time we had had a super time in their karaoke rooms (complimentary) and the men from my our design firm had started on the beer list. Big difference from many venues who put their heads in the sand when a problem arises.”
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Holly O'Conner, London (13 years 10 months 26 days ago)
“Excellent venue for corporate parties. Bowling, good food and dancing worked a treat for our 150 guests.”
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Mark, Chelsea (14 years 6 months 2 days ago)
“We recently held a corporate night at Bloomsbury Bowl for 150 people. The night was managed smoothly by their staff and our clients loved the venue. We went for private hire off all eight lanes, karaoke rooms and used their cinema to show our client ad campaign. A complete venue for entertaining in London and good value for money.
Well Done.”
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James Hunt, London (14 years 6 months 6 days ago)
“Went to the best corporate party ever on the 5 December. What a find, treat it as your local. Bring it on Kingpin!”
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Paul, london (15 years 1 months 12 days ago)
“if you're wanting to come close to anything relating to a time warp... bloomsbury bowling lanes is definitely THE place to swing by and have a drink and collect some awesome atmosphere, and literally..their "swivel" bar works it hardcore. I especially dig the mood lighting which in itself also branches into the vintage feel along with the devine leather sofas...everything has been thought of...it's the details they have accounted for which make it a relaxed and layed back atmosphere..which even comes through the casual and friendly staff, who are ready to give you a quick hint or two about bowling when you embarrassingly know jack.... not that i know about that personally or anything....but seriously a rad night out...for sure.”
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julia, essendon (15 years 2 months 2 days ago)
“I went to Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes with a friend on Friday and we thought it was great! The food was good (mini burger, nachos and fries), so was the music (old school indie and up to date stuff like Kings of Leon). The atmosphere was fun and relaxed. We thought the decor was cool - it may be slightly unfinished but we thought it looked retro and funky. A great place for a party.”
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Becky, London (15 years 3 months 9 days ago)
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Food
Fine food served in the bar, diner or to your lanes
Our extensive menu of eclectic American cuisine will satisfy even the most selective of individuals.
Enjoy your meal in our Bloomsbury diner while watching other bowlers, or have snacks brought directly to your lane.
We also specialise in catering for large corporate parties and events. When enquiring please ask about our Lane Snack canape selection.
Updated 26/11/2009
Drinks
Our Swivel Bar has become a favourite London destination for those looking for an interesting range of drinks in an original setting.
Our horseshoe shaped bar is made out of eighty year old cherry maple wood, which once graced the legendary Lucky Lanes in the New York. Drop in and sink into our fantastically comfortable swivel bar stools, which are only to be found at the Bloomsbury Lanes
Our knowledgeable bar team have put together an excellent premium spirit, wine, champagne and cocktail list. Hardly what one would expect to find in 10 pin bowling lanes!
We also take great pride in our selection of draft and bottle beers.You will not find the usual suspects in our bar. Our current premium draft beer selection includes Bitburger (Germany) , Bernard (Czech Republic) and Meantime (London). In addition we have a large selection of bottle lagers and ales.
Updated 11/06/2009
Additional Information
- Cuisine Type: American
- Average Price: £10.00
- Dress Code: smart/casual
- Group: (Independent/Freehouse)
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