The Oldies
My Mum is amazing, she’s nearly 70 and helps out with mine and my sisters’ childcare as well as looking after my dad (and boy does he need looking after!)
So once in a while me and my sister like to take her out for a meal to say thank you which is really nice but can get a bit repetitive so I’m always trying to think of activities we can do together that are a bit more exciting with age ranges spanning most decades. It’s difficult to pick something that everyone will enjoy and can do ‘safely’ Mums’ days of tobogganing down an icy slope are sadly over and to be fair I’m not sure my pelvic floor could handle it either!
We all love a good sing-song so were delighted when I was given the opportunity to review the Bowling Houses’ new private Karaoke booth in Norwich.
Mum used to love singing at a place called Dodgers in Norwich but since its closure shes lost her confidence singing in front of anyone. My sister (not the shy type) loves a good novelty song or rap and I must admit back in my youth I was involved with a number of youth theatres and productions. Mums’ best friend had only ever sung in the shower but by the end of the session was hurling out Abbas Waterloo with my mum like Agnetha herself.
So I think it’s safe to say having a private room allows all your inhibitions to fade away – even the most shy and retiring types will be hard pushed not to join in or at least don some of the fab costumes and props that adorn the sparkly glitter-ball filled room.
Top Tips
Once in the room the kind staff give you a quick tutorial on the tablet. I will say this it is a little bit difficult to navigate at first but you get the hang of it, make sure that at least one of your party has experience with search engines and listen carefully to the operating instructions .
You can search any song or artist but if like us you ran out of ideas after your initial faves you can search by category such as 80’s or 90’s and it will give you popular choices. Top tip… make sure you have some lined up otherwise it will just repeat the same song. You can also skip forward songs and change the volume of the backing track which would be good for younger or more nervous performers.
The quality of the set up in my opinion is really good, I’ve sung at pub karaoke nights and had trouble hearing myself or the track, I thought I nearly sounded as good as in some of my solo car journeys (seriously when I’m in the car I’m like “Adele move over there’s a new girl in town” 😂😂😂) just me?
Booze
One of my favourite touches is the ‘call’ button, and within minutes of pressing a lovely bartender was there to take and deliver our drink orders without us missing any of the action! And you would not have wanted to miss my sisters rendition of Tenacious D even for one of their fab cocktails.
The cocktails are competitively priced but they don’t scrimp on the booze and use quality products and care about the way they are made. I ordered a Norfolk Cider cocktail but was made aware they would be using a Suffolk cider, I’m not sure I would have noticed, but that level of attention to detail reassures you they are committed to serving a quality cocktail. Much better than some weak or overly sweet alco-pop style 2-4-1 deals I see in other bars. Eurghhhhh no thanks!
Need to Know
For an hour the room is just £20 and for 2 hrs £30, I would say for us 1hr felt quite short and there was only 4! If you’re a group of over 4 definitely go for the two hours so everyone gets lots of opportunity to sing.
The decor is retro, quite minimalist and oh so cool. We had fun taking some photos and obviously there’s bowling too! We didn’t try this out but would be a great date night treat.. maybe next time! It’s also in a great location – just a stones’ throw away from St Benedict’s if you want to continue your night out, or if it’s in the day you can park in the old Toys r Us car park for free for 2 hours!
My mum and her friend are already planning their next visit and I hope they take us too. The Bowling House in Norwich gets a massive 4 🍪🍪🍪🍪 out of 5 from my only slight quibble is it did get rather warm in the room and there was no Cilla, I mean.. no Cilla??? 😂😘
So head to The Bowling House for a lorra lorra laughs at 7 Dereham Rd, Norwich, NR2 4HXBook online at bookings@bowlinghouse.co.uk or visit their website www.bowlinghouse.co.uk or more information. Plus, be sure to follow them on Instagram @thebowlinghouse