Perfect hangout for gigs and dancing and quiet afternoons of bowling and karaoke. Reasonable on the wallet, huge portions of American style food and very good to repeat customers. Helped get me through uni.

Great hangout for a weekend's clubbing and the only place to bowl in central London! Have seen a couple of excellent gigs here (one was DJ Yoda!) and always have a great time on the dancefloor. Can be a bit busy and once was pretty understaffed but the servers are all friendly and it's decent value for a pretty unique night out.

Great spot for a fun night out with the girls! We had a great time on the dancefloor, tasty cocktails and the biggest pizza I have ever seen! Staff were friendly and the 70s music was a lot of fun. Didn't get to bowl though...maybe next time.

I'm a burger & beer freak, so trust me the Bloomsbury Lanes burger is very very good and the range of beers is first class.

What was not so first class though was the security on the doors carding everyone coming in. Lighten up guys I'm 30!

Very cold January night, but all our clients turned up for our annual thank you. Hired the private room at Bloomsbury lanes for the first time this year after attending a fun Xmas party there in December. Plenty to do in the room besides bowling, so all loved it as will the FD when he sees the bill for all 50 guests Good value but pretty snazzy. Will spread the word about it. Downside - no size 13 shoes for me!

Great little place that I found last term at uni. Not exactly a hidden gem anymore but you can definitely see why! The lanes and bowling equipment are in good condition and the prices are reasonable but it is the atmosphere and vibe of that place that really sets it apart. If you want a fun evening with bowling, good food and cheap drinks this is the place!

Great little place that I found last term at uni. Not exactly a hidden gem anymore but you can definitely see why! The lanes and bowling equipment are in good condition and the prices are reasonable but it is the atmosphere and vibe of that place that really sets it apart. If you want a fun evening with bowling, good food and cheap drinks this is the place!

we run operation. Great beer list - Camden brewery on draft and loads of cocktails for the team. Hip bar staff a little slow on the service. Food was excelllent and light on the wallet. Balls newish. Best: karaoke rooms and location. No idiots.

Came here for our work do , had three lanes booked for 6 pm . didn't get to start until 6.30 as the previous party hadn't finished (not their fault) , staff then brought out their food which got eaten at the lanes whilst we stood there waiting to start. Then all left overs and empty glasses/bottles sat there for the duration of our session. only two lanes worked so 6 of us couldn't even bowl . The scoring screens kept freezing and on several times we had to walk down the lanes to retrieve the balls which were stuck in the gutter ! The lager is disgusting , shoes knackered , balls need replacing. all in all shabby and disappointing.

Dragged my boyfriend down to Bloomsbury for their vintage fair last Saturday and we made a real day of it! I bought my weight in dresses and handmade jewellery while he played pool, bowling and pacman in this little old school video game bit! Food was great... American (big portions) style burgers, surprisingly cheap and they played tonnes of 60s/70s music. Highly recommend it!

One of my highlights staying in London. A friend was showing us around and brought us here. Cover was just five bucks and I got to catch some great bands!

The next time I go back, I'm bowling. The alleys are on the side of the stage and you can watch performances from there.

The space is huge and unique and it doesn't take long to get in.

Top stuff. A friend got me to come along to meet some girls, I wasn't expecting too much to be honest having mental images of big horrible bowling alleys full of children, I couldn't have been more wrong, it is a unique, cool venue with a really nice atmosphere.

The decor and theming throughout is excellent, the main room has that retro American feel to it and then there is another really plush, Vegasy style room downstairs! You won't hear any rubbish commercial tunes either, a great mix of old and new anthems from proper artists!!

I was so pleasantly suprised by this place!

Had such A fun time here! Me and some of my friends came down for bowling and karaoke, I was expecting somewhere pretty cool but Bloomsbury Lanes blew me away. It is so retro and chic, there are awesome little touches everywhere like a cinema screen and vinyl pressed into the wall! The music was so good as well, the dj who was on played some absolute anthems and we were dancing for hours. It was a real change from going to standard clubs and I will be making sure I come again very soon!

Happened to go in to Bloomsbury Lanes last night for a couple of beers with some friends. What was meant to be a drink before heading home turned our to be a great night out watching some great bands and i even got to bowl! Turns out bowling isn't my calling, but Bloomsbury was a great place and i would recommend it to anyone looking for something a little different in our fair city. :)

Shocking! 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:
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.
All in all if you have ANY expectations of customer service or things actually running to plan, I would give this place a v v wide berth.

Best for private karaoke rooms and bowling combo. Still packed out and great vibe plus to my suprise AIR CON! Who doesn't remember a hot a sweaty night at the lanes. Like the wood dance floor as well. BB treads a fine line between hip and mainstream, a hard task but done well. Will be back soon.

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 fun 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.

Bloomsbury bowling is wicked fun! Do karaoke as well! Good night out.

You ain't visited a bowling alley like this before.

Bloomsbury takes the bowling alley concept to a new level of hang-out joint. It's an amazing fit-out; even though you can tell they've spent serious time on the place it's got a nice, relaxed, lived-in feel. As mentioned there's different zones for eating, drinking, dancing or bowling, although you can pretty much do almost whatever you want wherever you want.

£3 cover to see some great bands with plenty of room to dance or chillax, DJing there regularly, and a kick-ass beer selection. Oh, and great food too.

The crowd is neither overly pretentious nor particularly blue-collar, and the place is vibing. It's pretty hard to have a bad time at the Bloomsbury Bowling; get on down - you won't regret it.

Bowl of Plenty

Bloomsbury Bowling has a formula. Live Music + Bowling + Tasty simple food + a private bowl area for those not wanting the first two items, such as the corporate crowd.

I love some of their shows here or just coming on a random night while they have their house DJs on.. The cover is usually pretty cheap or free. Sometimes we've had to wait a while for a table at the restaurant or a lane to bowl in but I've never had to wait long for drinks. £2.80 for a Asahi is fantastic and their hard alco cocktails are not bad either.

I'd recommend Bloomsbury to most people, perhaps not those who like a clinical chain feel, but those are few and far between.

This is the first time I've felt the need to review a venue. I and a large group of friends visited Bloomsbury Lanes last night and the lane that I bowled in broke at least 15 times in the 2 hours we had booked, in compensation for the time we spent waiting for the lane to be fixed we were offered 17 minutes additional bowling time which was not nearly enough to cover the time we’d wasted waiting for the lane to be fixed. 10 minutes after our original bowling time had elapsed we were asked to hurry up and finish which we would have loved to have done but the lane kept breaking! In the end we were moved onto another lane to finish the game whilst another unsuspecting group were moved onto the broken lane! We were also offered a free round of drinks but of these 6 drinks one was incorrect and one we strongly suspect had no spirit in it just mixer. The incorrect drink was replaced by a very moody staff member (who others, including 4 people outside my group, agreed had no customer service skills) and again we suspect this had no spirit in it just mixer. Eventually after numerous complaints the manager came to speak to us and we were given a voucher for 2 hours free bowling which goes a short way to making up for the lost bowling time and poor customer service offered by some staff members.

Bloomsbury Bowling is an all-around good experience.

Bowling is universally fun and when you add to that drinking (Bitburger & hard shakes) and good food, it is fairly unstoppable.

Very well done. Really nice looking on the inside.

How a bowling alley in London managed to host HotChip is amazing. There must have been 1000 people in the place and it was jumping.

3 rooms - two are spot on. The Kingpin something is too slick and stylish but no doubt has a market. Main room was slow but has slushies! Bar also near front door worked well as a pit stop.

Will check it our earlier in week as it looks like it cold be a chilled place for works drinks.

This was a completely pointless night out, we were a group of 7 who had pre-booked tickets and were really looking forward to a night of bowling and karaoke hence choosing Bloomsbury Bowling lanes. On arrival staff shoved us from billy to jack when trying to book a bowling lane, only to eventually be told that there were no bowling lanes whatsoever.

Heading to the karaoke we were also told that they were fully booked. We then headed to the diner which is run like a cattle market, you queue for about an hour, order and pay for your food, have no-where to sit and have to just hope that one of the waiters will find you with your correct order. An hour later 6 burgers arrived and 1 person of our group was left hungry, when we went to complain we were told "welcome to the 1950's” helpful.

Three drunken punters dropped their beer bottles on the tiled floor behind us sending shatters of glass into friend’s leg making it bleed. I would never recommend this place it has absolutely nothing going for it, and all the staff are miserable and looked they didn’t want to be there, and I can’t blame them.

Amazing place - the music is always quality whatever the night. We've been there for live band, acoustic and club nights, even on a standard Monday evening the atmosphere is perfect for just having genuine fun.
Would recommend phoning them to find out what's happening on the night you are planning to visit but either way I've never been disappointed. Enjoy!

Over- rated. Give it a miss. We were all staying at the royal hotel above for a conference, and couldn't sleep because we could hear this thumping noise coming through the walls. So we went down and found this queue for a bowl alley. Just as we arrived a bus dropped off about twenty glammed up girls, all dressed up in burberry type outfits and the shortest skirts imaginable. They had enough make up on and cheap perfume to fill the local chemist. I chatted to one of them. It seems like they found Bloomsbury Lanes a couple of years ago and now they come every couple of weeks. They reckon that its the best. Never before in the history of human socialising have so many chavs been in one room together.

We had a bit of a laugh watching all these out of towners get drunk before throwing up then falling over on the slippery floor which was like an ice rink. The food looked revolting, like tired diner style, we even ordered one of the pizzas, which arrived cold, with tasteless congealed cheese on it. The drinks were served by sultry staff (not even slightly cool) and were not cheap, and the staff in general seemed incapable of running the place (though admittedly there were very few of them). Wont be going there again in a hurry.

Ok, fair is fair. I went back again last Sunday and I have to say that it was an altogether different experience. The staff, while very busy and clearly in need of some additional numbers were very good this time. They did the best they could to get through the many people waiting but did so in good spirit. The burger this time was so much better and although very costly at £10 was a decent feed. The bar staff while not likely to win any awards for speed of service did what they were supposed to do and that is fair enough by me. The shoes this time were brand new and actually not the stupid two colour variety we all hate.

The place itself is still looking run-down. It could do with some attention and minor repairs but I would rather the prices do not go up even if this means that the place looks a bit beaten up! It was another fun night at the Bloomsbury lanes and this time made even better by just a few small changes. If they could only improve the booking/telephone system though. Please! I might be spoiling my own nice Sunday Bowl here but if you want to see a different side to Bloomsbury Lanes go on a Sunday evening! Also, my apologies to the Management for my previous slating. It seems like some changes have already been made and I have to hold my hands up. We all have a really great night so my thanks to you for that.

I came here for my birthday last weekend and it was one of my best birthdays ever! I had so much fun! I emailed ahead to be put on the guest list so me and my friends walked straight in, with out having to queue in the freezing cold. inside every one just seemed to be having a great time and it was clear why. a live band were playing as we arrived and they were really cool. we enjoyed ourselves at the bar and dance-floor and managed to squeeze in some late night drunk bowling - which was the best idea ever! my friends had gone earlier in the day and left a birthday cake for me which the kitchen had looked after, and they surprised me with the cake after enjoying a hearty burger at our lane - brilliant! we danced the rest of the night away to so many different types of music (which i wasn't expecting but was definitely a lot of fun!) and I'm definitely trying out one of their karaoke rooms next time!

Just had a terrible experience here, complete chaos and does not deliver to the expectation that their website sets.

The staff were generally very good bar the Manager who definately needs to go on a course to handle unhappy customers of which I would think there are many.

Bowling bookings run hours late here and you may find that you and your party are sent all around the building to wait around for bowling lanes that never materialize even if you book weeks in advance!

Karaoke also poor, if you want to sing go to Lucky Voice which delivers a good Karaoke night, this place has mics that do not work, speakers that do not work the whole place is a shambles. Food ok.

THE MOST FUN I'VE EVER HAD.

Booked a large karaoke room and two bowling lanes and we partied until the early hours of the morning.

The staff were fantastic.. Pretty hot too.RECOMMEND!!!!

Had a quality night out there a few weeks back. There were Que's to the front door later on and at the bar, it was a busy night (best to get down there before 10 we were told).

The bowling was regimented to 1 hour slots which sort of made sense to me (I would've got bored of it after then).

Just as we'd finished around 10pm, 2 funk bands came on who blew the roof off!

The DJ's after were playing ska funk, soul, funky breaks and even the odd drum and bass remix of and old tune here and there later on.

I must admit, I was expecting to hear US 50's retro music when we booked our lane a few days before, but in fairness we didn't ask them and anyway, we were all dancing our socks off til 3am!

I'd highly recommend going back there for another bustin loose event, and to the lanes in general, it's a fun and unpretentious venue!Tiff

There website says "there is bowling and there is Bloomsbury bowling". I agree. This place is crazy and I can see why people love it. It unpretencious yet attracts a smart crowd ranging form city types to indie kids. For some reason it just works. The bar is well stocked and sells Italian Sodas instead of the usual coke etc and tasty thin crust pizzas. I poked my head in their private room as well..looks good.

Bloomsbury’s Kingpin Suite is to be recommended. The large space is different from the Bloomsbury lanes as it is a Vegas theme and very sleek. They have
spent loads on this and it show. The hire price was to my suprise only £400 per hour for the whole venue – that’s five lanes, karaoke room, bar and hot tub room!

Food a bit on the steep side for the portions, but good quality. Excellent venue.

We hosted our Christmas party at the Bloomsbury Bowl this year. What a space. They had something for all our staff – bowling, private karaoke, djs bar etc. Food was surprisingly good and drinks fairly priced. Highly recommend for those looking for a night out in a venue with more than just bowling lanes.

Don't come here if you're expecting a high level of service.

I planned a surprise birthday party for my boyfriend here a few months ago and at every point of having contact with the staff at Bloomsbury lanes they were grumpy, rude and unhelpful.

When I had spent a considerable amount of money booking a Karaoke room for 3 hours, I at least expected to be treated like valued customer.

The lights in our room were not working so we weren't able to see the book of karaoke songs sat in darkness! After complaining twice, the staff begrudgingly found a lamp(!) to light the room.

I'd also booked two bowling lanes which were to be paid for on the evening and when it was time to bowl getting the somewhat merry group together was a bit tricky. We were again met with an extremely rude staff member who told me that she didn't care where everyone was she just wanted the money for the lanes, completely unecessary.

If it wasn't for the great karaoke room, there is no way I'd come back to this venue.

The staff certainly need some lessons in manners and a few customer service sessions wouldn't go a miss either.
Nothing spoils a party more than bitchy staff members who would obviously much rather be on the otherside of the counter.

SUCH A SHAME!

Cracking venue for all occasions. Smart '50s decor and attentive staff. We hired the private room for a meeting during the day and stayed on for bowling, dinner and drinks well into the night. Our boss was last seen dancing to the excellent DJ at 1am.

For a law firm with clients in tow we went to Bloomsbury Lanes worried as to the level of service we would receive.



Glad to report that they have a slick professional team whom seem well used to dealing with large corporate events. Their Lane Snacks were excellent and I have to say it’s great to be able to eat canapés whilst bowling. Cocktails were limited, but what they offered was well made.



More lane side service would be a boost as it was a slight pain to have to go to the bar. On the plus side I did count eight bar staff, so there was no wait for drinks.



The Bloomsbury is an excellent, relaxed venue for entertaining.

Agree with the previous post about the queues. However, when we arrived for our booking on a Saturday night we where asked by the doorman if we had a booking and then ushered right to the front door and into the karaoke room. £50.00 for an hour karaoke is the best value in London and an inspired addition to Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes.



We could grizzle about the busy bar etc, but that’s the deal with widely popular venues.
Anyway the bar prices are fair for the upscale style of the venue and they sell a weird and wonderful range of drinks!



Though pretty damn cool, Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes is still relaxed, friendly and firmly aimed at a London crowd, not uptight people from the burbs.

We went to Bloomsbury Blowling Lanes on Saturday night. The atmosphere was lively and the two bands playing were really cool, one of them was a bit like the Stone Roses. The bowling was good and the karaoke room was fun but our whole night was marred somewhat by the distinct lack of organisation. We couldn't get onto two of our three lanes till half an hour after we'd booked it and the staff were really unapologetic, although we did get a refund in the end.


It seemed from their attitude that this sort of thing happens all the time and they don't feel that they're to blame. Also the song book in the karaoke room was all over the shop. This may seem trivial but when you've only got an hour it can be quite annoying not being able to find the songs you want. I wouldn't let it put me off going back again but maybe we'd book for earlier in the evening and leave a gap between the bowling and karaoke so we aren't rushing from one to the other.



Get to Bloomsbuty Bowling Lanes early anyway as they make you queue for everything even when you've booked.

The Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes are a lot of fun - I guess this is what it was like in the '50s! I really do love the retro feel and I think I might have to take my American uncle - I bet he'd love somewhere like the Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes! Definitely a fun place to go.