Reviews Blue Ribbon At Brooklyn Bowl London

The best place to have fun

Great cocktails and friendly bar staff.

Pretty extensive food menu for a bowling alley, although having said that we just went for the food!

I shared 8 pieces of fried chicken with a friend (£18) with a side of rock & roll fries (£7). The fries were a definite fave: cheese, paprika and gravy!

The chicken was perfectly tender, but the coating was a little too salty and needed generous amounts of honey. Still, each piece of chicken was huge and had lots of white meat.

Unfortunately, our fries came out a good 10-15 minutes before the chicken. I'm sure this is a one off. We still enjoyed the fries with our cocktails, as an entree, and the chicken after.

We went on a Thursday evening when there was no event on at the o2 so it was relatively quiet.

Did you know there is currently an exhibit at The O2 of Elvis memorabilia that they’ve shipped over from Graceland? It’s called Elvis at The O2 and Brooklyn Bowl London knows plenty about the exhibit. In fact, they've developed a special Elvis menu just to celebrate!

Brooklyn Bowl is located located literally all the way around the arena where we were finally greeted by a bright vintage style lit sign. As we entered we were met with a Check In Desk with lots of bowling shoes and quite the classic bowling alley feel. There was even an old fortune teller like in the movie Big.

We were led us to a separate bar area where our Elvis themed event was taking place. But although the space was separate and even had two bowling lanes off to the side with it, it still overlooked the whole venue.

There was a good atmosphere about this restaurant created mainly by a live band playing some bluesy rock. There are also projectors throughout the bowling alley playing classic music videos, film clips, and funny videos.

Would I Want Seconds?

After a drink and some good conversation, the food started coming out. Our food was mainly ordered from the Elvis menu but we tried a few dishes of the regular menu too.

We started with the King Sandwich (£7) which is a grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich. I have to admit I wasn’t particularly impressed with this sandwich. Peanut butter and banana on toast is a breakfast go-to for me so it’s not a special restaurant dish that I would have.

The next dish we tasted was the Chilli with Buttermilk Cornbread (£8.50). This was really good. The cornbread was a bit sweet (which is one of the two ways I like my cornbread) and the chilli was meaty and delicious. 
Then came out the tasters of their Fried Chicken (£14.50 for the full dinner), Southern Biscuits and Gravy (£6.50) and some Rock and Roll Fries (£7).

Although we only tried samples of these dishes I think some of the quality slipped a bit with the mini biscuits as they were drier than I expected. However both the Fried Chicken and the Gravy were perfect. Absolutely no complaints about either of those items.

Next we had a bite of the Meatloaf (£8.50) which was moist and dense. With the meatloaf, we also had a tiny taste of the Shake, Rattle and Roll Milkshake (£6). It reminded me a lot of the All Shook Up concrete from Ted Drewes (which is also a nod to Elvis) but a lot more smooth and drinkable.

We then tried a couple of the BBQ items from the regular menu and I definitely know that I love a good BBQ. First up was a BBQ Pork Slider (£8 for three). I liked this, the pork was tender and juicy with just the right amount of sauce. The slaw I can take or leave (which I think it probably blasphemous as a Southerner) but there wasn’t too much of it so it worked well with the sandwich.

We also had some Pork Ribs (£15 for a half rack) which I wasn't too keen on. I think they might have been overcooked on this occasion. But it was hard to tell what was bone and there was quite a bit of gristle. The taste was adequate, but I just didn’t enjoy what I had.

Finally we moved on to the desserts were we tried the Southern Pecan Pie (£6) and Peach Cobbler (£5). All I have to say about these is to save room for dessert. It’s so worth it.

After the food it was time to throw a few frames…at least I think that’s the lingo for bowling!

Could I Afford Seconds?

At Brooklyn Bowl you can either got to have dinner in the restaurant or you can bowl and order the food to your lane. The bowling is £14.95 per half hour for up to 8 people (plus £1.95 per person for the shoe rental). So I would recommend saving this for when you’ve got a few friends together to split the bowling fees. 

The food pricing is a bit of a mixed bag. Some of the dishes seem like good value such as the Fried Catfish Sandwich was a ton of food and only £9. The Chilli and Cornbread seemed like a good deal at £8.50 as well.

Other dishes such as the Chicken Dinner cost a bit more at £14.50 but for 1/2 chicken and sides it’s not unreasonable by any means. There are however some dishes which are a bit steeper like the Sliders (£8 for 3) that don’t come with any sides which seem to be £4-5 each. However, I think that they’d be pretty good to share which would be perfect for the bowling atmosphere.

Overall:

I think that I will definitely be returning to Brooklyn Bowl London. We loved the food both from the Elvis menu and the regular menu.

We don’t often find ourselves in that part of London, but next time we do we will definitely be dropping by Brooklyn Bowl London.

Matt black paint and the muted sounds of a bowling alley are dish of the day at Brooklyn Bowl. In the relative mess of ideas that is the O2, where oriental buffets masquerade as jazz bars, and dull airport-friendly eateries like Garfunkels and Frankie & Benny’s sit next to hip young brands like Cabana and Five Guys, Brooklyn Bowl is the well kept secret tucked away at the back.

If one was forced to choose a single place to spend the rest of existence, Brooklyn Bowl would not be a poor choice. The cavernous space within is separated into three areas. There’s the restaurant, with its sports on TV and see-through wall of sinister carnival clowns. There’s the bowling alley, the lanes punctuated by the bright yellow of the O2’s trademark pillars, one of which crashes down right between lanes two and three. There’s the bar, which doubles for the restaurant on quieter days, and as a gig venue by night.

As a venue, Brooklyn Bowl is near perfect. Simultaneously intimate and raucous, as likely to host Dixieland jazz as it is The Dandy Warhols, or Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.

The food, All-American fare (did I see a catfish sandwich on the menu?) is similarly excellent. We share a tray of 16 wings and their Rock N Roll Fries, which are essentially a heady hipster poutine. The wings, initially searing hot to the touch, are swamped in rich BBQ sauce. At the side are two dips - the blue cheese one capable of bringing faith to the atheists and apostasy to the religious. Let’s all worship at the house of blue cheese.

There’s options for more wings on the menu - choose your number based on the size of your party. A group nearby have ordered a veritable mountain of fried chicken - a couple of dozen pieces piled high. To look at them is to taste them. The crisp dry skin obviously hides succelent flesh. We’ll be having them next time, don’t you worry.

I went for a heavy metal gig so I didn't try bowling or the food. For a gig it was great - good sound, good ventilation, the stage is raised so visibility is good from anywhere (and there is a raised area on the right by the alleys giving an especially good view). It felt both nice and open, and close to the band and intimate. There is a long bar so getting a drink was very easy. Staff and security were polite. I can see from the set up of the alleys, and a few people did bowl, that they should be cool - there are nice leather sofas, plenty of space, screens with projectors playing videos; it just generally felt like a more sophisticated and classy bowling alley than the typical "arcade" type I've been to. Obviously I don't know their prices.

Came to a gig here during C2C 2015 and the atmosphere was great (the bowling noise going on in the background added to the quieter numbers!). No bottled beer and the railing around the bar made it difficult to get around when the venue was at full capacity, but we had an amazing time nonetheless.

Didn't eat there but it's a great gig venue. Only real problem was that the queue for the bar was a bit of a mess but a very cool American style small to medium place to see bands and go bowling.

Bowling venue with American bar and restaurant. Drinks are varied but nothing special, came here for an Elvis themed night and enjoyed myself! Good atmosphere

Fantastic looking venue with good selection of draught beer. There was a slight issue with our food order, but it was dealt with swiftly and we were sufficiently compensated.

Best bowling alley I've been to in London, only opened in the past year or so, so its quite modern compared to many of Londons other alleys, and the food and drink selection is top notch.