Review: Eat, Drink, Rock and Bowl at Brooklyn Bowl

Mar 18

Mar 18 Review: Eat, Drink, Rock and Bowl at Brooklyn Bowl

Style Points: 2/5
Price: ££
Overall: 4/5

Brooklyn Bowl Logo

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.

Brooklyn Bowl at The O2

Brooklyn Bowl interior

Check in desk

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.

As a suggestion, I would make on the sandwich to improve it would be to use actual American peanut butter and to not keep the banana pieces nearly whole. The extra large banana pieces made it difficult to eat and the peanut butter…well to be frank, we have sugar in ours so peanut butter here just doesn’t taste the same.

I highly recommend sourcing some JIF peanut butter as it can’t be beaten. The peanut butter and banana combination is something that really reminds me of home and I have always known it was a favourite of Elvis’.

King Sandwich

Chilli with buttermilk cornbread

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. It was even served with sour cream which is how every bowl of chili in my house is served.

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.

In fact, I think I’d really like to return and have the full-size biscuits and gravy because I would expect that to be the most comforting food from home available in this city!

Fried chicken, Southern biscuits and rock and roll fries

Meatloaf and rattle and roll milkshake

Now these Rock and Roll Fries were not quite what I expected. They have gravy and cheese on them and were basically like the poutine I had when I went to Canada. These are not my thing- I didn’t like the ones in Canada and I didn’t care for these either. They were well executed so if you do like these flavours on your fries it's probably worth a try.

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.

BBQ pork slider and pork ribs

Fried Catfish Sandwich

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. Mostly the Pecan Pie. It tasted just like I want my sweet southern desserts to taste. Full of sugar and butter. And it was perfect that way. Seriously, when you go - order this pie.

After the food it was time to throw a few frames…at least I think that’s the lingo for bowling! While we were bowling and although I was pretty full already but I saw they had a Fried Catfish Sandwich (£9) and I just had to make room. Fried Catfish is the number one thing I always want when I go home to visit family in Arkansas specifically from Fred’s. Now I have to say this sandwich was nothing like the catfish from Fred’s. The batter was different so it was a completely different experience. It wasn’t what I hoped it would be - but if I forget for a minute about comparing and enjoy it for what it was then it was fantastic. It was delicious and meaty and the tartare sauce was the perfect companion.

Southern Pecan Pie

Peach Cobbler

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. I don’t know what’s normal in London as I realised while at Brooklyn Bowl that I had never bowled in the UK.

Private bowling lanes

Cosmic bowling balls

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 my husband and I will definitely be returning to Brooklyn Bowl London. We loved the food both from the Elvis menu and the regular menu. It’s unique enough that I don’t have to feel like I'm cheating by going to an American chain that is easily available back home - but the food is familiar enough that it would satisfy any American cravings I may have.

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.