We’ve all missed after work socials with colleagues; and as it’s been a while since you last organised one, the pressure is on to make it an evening to remember. To help we’ve found central London’s best competitive socialising spots – perfect for reacquainting with your team. So, grab your colleagues, and alongside great food and drink, why not throw ping pong, darts or high-tech bingo into the mix for an office gathering that’s fun for everyone?
Bowling - All Star Lanes
Holborn, Brick Lane, White City
Slick bowling lanes with good food offerings can be found across London; but if you’re looking for something for a work outing, then the All-Star Lanes edges ahead of the competition with its full AV facilities at most of their locations. Have your meeting in a private room followed by bowling in your own VIP lanes. There’s a decent selection of burgers and hot dogs and the cocktails are well priced.
See also: Bloomsbury Lanes is another good option, particularly as it has its own retro diner which serves up giant 26-inch pizzas.
Rowans in Finsbury Park is a great neighbourhood experience with late-night DJs
Curling - Queens
17 Queensway, London W2 4QP
If the Winter Olympics have seen you positioning yourself as an armchair pundit for this sport, maybe it’s time to put your money where your mouth is and tried curling for real. At Queens you can book a package of curling plus MEATliquor’s special edition ‘Olympic Rings’n’Burger’ and a ‘Bobsleigh Rum & Raisin’ hard-shake. Even better, money from every ticket supports the England Curling Juniors & GB Speed Skating team.
Bingo - Hijingo
Shoreditch - 90 Worship St, London EC2A 2BA
This hi-tech version of bingo is light years away from any perception you may have of the classic game. Hijingo provides live entertainment, pumping music and a lot of audience participation making it particularly good for groups, plus pretty decent prizes to be won. Food-wise expect street food with an Asian twist, so Korean fried chicken, pork belly skewers and aubergine ‘wings’. With two cocktail bars plus a VIP section for special occasions, there’s room for the whole office to enjoy themselves here.
Mini golf - Swingers
Oxford Street & The City
The founders of Swingers were the first to coin the term ‘competitive socialising’ when they launched their first pop up crazy golf spot in East London way back in 2014. They now have four nine-hole courses with genuinely impressive spaces with designs inspired by the 1920s English countryside and seaside. Add to that a variety of bars and well-known street food traders serving up burgers, tacos and pizzas and you’re all set for a great office outing.
Mini golf- Puttshack
Bank, White City
Puttshack’s venues are neon spaces with tech-inspired courses which feature balls that work out your score for you - handily avoiding any inter-departmental wrangling about points. The food is all about shareables with Peking duck bao buns and veggie dumplings, and there’s an impressive spirits offering.
Darts - Flight Club
Bloomsbury, Islington, Shoreditch & Victoria
Social darts, courtesy of Flight Club, introduces Londoners to a complete reinvention of the game, making it perfect for groups to get involved in. As you might imagine, the menu at Fight Club is largely focused on sharing dishes – whether that’s pizza paddles, veggie platters or truffle fries for two. Their brunches are particularly popular, particularly when there are cocktail slushies on offer.
Shooting - Clays
55 Moorgate, London EC2R 6LL
Forget having to don your plus-fours on a muddy country shoot, this interactive shooting range is firmly for city dwellers. Watch HR thrash Accounts on their huge screens before enjoying food and drink all pre-ordered in your private booth. Handy interactive screens make it easy to keep the sweetcorn ribs and scotch eggs coming. The culinary director here used to work at The Ritz and The Dorchester so the pizzas (or loaded breads as they’re called here) are particularly interesting with options including za’atar spiced focaccia with hummus and rose harissa or cumin and turmeric focaccia with tikka masala and cucumber raita.
Ping Pong - Bounce
Old Street & Farringdon
Ping Pong, whiff-whaff, whatever you call it, there’s something about this game that unleashes everyone’s true competitive spirit. At Bounce you can play the traditional game or opt to take on rival teams at Beer Pong. The menu here is pizza-led with sides ranging from loaded nachos to popcorn cauliflower.
See also: Bat & Ball at Stratford goes one step further, offering Prosecco pong for group fun.
Cricket - Sixes
Fitzrovia and Fulham
One of the newest sports to be turned into a competitive socialising activity - cricket at Sixes sees groups battling it out either at normal batting nets or with high-tech glow in the dark UV nets. Best of all, the cricket ‘teas’ are particularly good as the Sixes founders are the guys who brought us Mac n Wild. Expect lobster popcorn, pork belly spice bags and cricket-themed dishes including a Beefy Botham burger and triple cooked chips with Ashes seasoning.
Shuffleboard - Electric Shuffle
London Bridge & Canary Wharf
Having ‘supercharged’ the old pub game, Electric Shuffle now uses tech to work out where your pucks are on the board with big screens so everyone can keep score. For food, it’s halloumi fries, satay skewers and pizzas while their cocktail offering also includes an inventive selection of non-alcohol options making it perfect for the whole team.
Arcade Games - London Games Room
Farringdon, Shoreditch, Islington, Clerkenwell, Hoxton, London Bridge & London Fields
This group of bars all have something in common – they’re cracking places to drink if you fancy food and drink along with a game of Pacman, Pinball or Foosball with colleagues. What better way to get the office on board than an outing revisiting the games of your youth? Each venue offers a variety of vintage arcade options, whether you’re into Super Mario or just massively fancy yourself as a Pinball Wizard. Food options vary according to the venue but range from Lebanese dishes to NYC style pizza.
If you’re REALLY after something new...
Axe Throwing - Whistlepunks
Vauxhall
What better way to relieve any tensions that have been building up over return to the office teething issues than hurling razor-sharp axes into boards to a suitably banging soundtrack? There’s no food or drink offering here - other than soft drinks - which you can kind of understand but it’ll certainly make for an interesting after-work social. Head to nearby Embassy Gardens afterwards, where you can pick from a range of places to eat and drink like Darby’s, Homeboy or The Alchemist.
And not forgetting...
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