If you've been tasked with organising an office outing or want to meet up with friends and do something a bit different, London's ever-growing competitive socialising scene has a lot to offer (with plenty of food and drink too). So, grab your colleagues or mates, and get ready to play cricket, boules, curling, high-tech bingo and even axe throwing.
Boules
Boulebar
South Bank and Spitalfields (from 19 November)
Also known as petanque, Boulebar (which first launched in Sweden and Denmark) is an indoor version of the very French game of boules. There are multiple lanes and job is to get your ball as close to the jack as possible.
Food and drink: The French theme continues, with bistro-inspired food including pâtés, charcuterie and cheese boards with French beer, crémant and pastis alongside.
Football
Toca Social
The O2
Toca Social brings football to the competetive socialising arena, created by former Fulham and Leeds footballer Eddie Lewis. Much like some of the other games below, you'll be kicking thart ball at a huge screen to get points.
Food and drink: The menu here takes in three cuisines - American diner (cheeseburgers, hot dogs), Latin American food (tacos) and Asian food (gyoza, baos).
Bowling
All-Star Lanes
Holborn, Brick Lane, Stratford, 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 we'd say All-Star Lanes edges ahead of the competition, particularly if you're after a slightly more high-end experience.
Food and drink: There’s a decent selection of burgers, buns and tacos on the food side. The pretty extensive cocktail menu takes in classics, their house specials and a lot of margaritas.
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 you've ever watched the Winter Olympics and have positioned yourself as an armchair pundit for this sport, maybe it’s time to put your money where your mouth is, get on the ice and try curling for real. At least there's (slightly) less opportunity for falling on your face when compared to ice skating.
Food and drink: You'll find an outpost of MEATliquor here, so are haranteed of some great burgers here. Their cocktails are also excellent, a couple of their Grogs can surely only help your game?
Other activities here: Ice skating, bowling and darts.
See also:
The Curling Club (South Bank, Vinegar Yard) - A winter only pop-up, this mixes curling with bangers, bratwurst and nachos.
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. With two cocktail bars plus a VIP section for special occasions, there’s room for the whole office to enjoy themselves here.
Food and drink: Food-wise expect street food with an Asian twist, with spring rolls, lamb samosas and yakitori sticks on offer.
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.
Food and drink: They have a strong food offering with a menu featuring the best of Pizza Pilgrims, Breddos tacos and Patty&Bun burgers.
Puttshack
Bank, White City (plus Lakeside)
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.
Food & drink: The food is all about shareables with bao buns, dumplings and a "skewer tower" all on the menu. As for drinks, alongside the cocktails and wine, there’s an impressive rum offering.
Darts
Flight Club
Bloomsbury, Islington, Shoreditch & Victoria
Social darts, courtesy of Flight Club, introduces Londoners to a complete reinvention of the game (essentially doing away with the blackboards to keep score), making it perfect for groups to get involved in.
Food and drink: The menu at Fight Club is largely focused on sharing dishes – whether that’s pizza paddles, veggie/meat platters or cheese and bacon fries for two. As for drinks, the alcoholic slushies are worth a look, but there's a strong no-alcohol option here too.
Indoor shooting
Clays
City of London, Canary Wharf
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.
Food and drink: Handy interactive screens make it easy to keep the food comin. The pizzette are particularly interesting with options including pepperoni & chilli jam or mushroom, truffle & broccoli.
Ping pong
Bounce
Battersea Power Station, 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.
Food and drink: The menu here is pizza-led with sides ranging from BBQ beef poppers to tempura fish bites
See also: Bat & Ball at Stratford goes one step further, offering Prosecco pong for group fun.
Cricket
Sixes
Shepherd's Bush, London Bridge, Fitzrovia and Fulham
One of the newer 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.
Food and drink: it's another pizza-led menu at Sixes, but they do have a "Botham burger" too. They also have bottomless brunches which you can upgrade to Chapel Down sparkling.
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.
Food and drink: There's a focus on sharing plates with pizza paddles, sharing meat or veg platters, skewers and more on offer.
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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