A review of Hollywood Bowl, Cardiff
My husband and I were recently invited to Hollywood Bowl in the Red Dragon Centre, Cardiff.
Following a £150,000 investment, we were excited to see the new look Hollywood Bowl for ourselves.
Today was that day!
We arrived around 10.30am and were shown to our VIP lane!
Decked out with Neon lights, Hollywood stars on the carpet and luxury seats, the VIP area certainly oozed star quality!
The black and white photos on the walls of various famous people was a nice added a touch.
We brought out three year old twin girls along with us for their first ever game of bowling.
My husband and M wore flip flops so they had to change into bowling shoes, but myself and R were allowed to wear our own shoes. I wore boots and R had trainers on.
They got the hang of it pretty quickly with M getting two strikes in quick succession!
I didn’t even get one strike!
The bowling alleys were decorated with funky brickwork and neon signs. The stars at the end of the lanes and the disco ball hanging from the ceiling were nice added touches.
Our girls used a ramp to help them roll their balls onto the lane and they really appeared to enjoy themselves!
They did a celebratory dance after knocking some of the pins down!
One of things that I like is that by pressing the service button you can order drinks and even food to be brought to your lane.
We ordered two cokes and a drink for the girls, but decided to finish our games before heading to Harry’s Kitchen for some lunch.
Harry’s Kitchen is located inside the Hollywood Bowl complex and is a fairly spacious diner with modern red booths to sit in and larger than life art on the walls.
We ordered chicken nuggets and chips for our girls. Other options on the children’s menu included burgers and hotdogs, all of which are served with skinny fries.
I ordered a chicken burger (pictured below) and my husband had a beef burger.
The food was really tasty and the portion sizes were very generous.
The girls loved that there was a slushie machine behind the counter as it reminded one of from when we went on holiday! They had a slushie each, whilst my husband and I opted for a coke.
The food was served quickly and all of the staff were friendly and helpful.
Overall Impressions
We had a wonderful time bowling and will definitely remember the girls first time with fond memories.
The layout and design is modern, the food tasty and the staff were friendly.
I checked the website after our visit to find out how much the two games of bowling we had were and discovered it would cost £40. I’m not sure if the VIP area is more as I couldn’t find this information on the website. I do think £40 is a bit expensive for two games of bowling which took us about an hour to play.
Our meal in Harry’s Kitchen was £32 in total bringing our total to £72. This doesn’t include the drinks we had whilst at our bowling alley. I’m not sure if they were free or if they were extra.
If you’re looking for a cheap day out with the kids, this probably isn’t for you, but if you’re happy to spend a bit of money then I’d highly recommend it as we really did have a great time!
For the purpose of this review we were given two games of bowling free of charge, as well as our food in Harry’s Kitchen. All views and opinions are 100% my own.
14 Comments
Random Musings
August 10, 2015 at 12:53 pm
Hollywood bowl has certainly changed since I went there as a teenager. it looks much nicer now, although back then it was only 50p a game! The food looked nice though and like you pointed out, the portions were very generous 🙂
Thanks for linking up to #AnythingGoes
Debbie
Emily
August 10, 2015 at 6:33 pm
Hi Debbie, it's changed so much since I went too! I remember sticky floors, struggling to find a bowling ball and shoes with holes in! It's come a long way and definitely for the better! The food was delicious, really tasty and full of flavour x
Katie Davies Two Under Two
August 10, 2015 at 3:43 pm
Looks like you had a lovely day
I'm sure when wwe used to go bowling it was only £3 or £4 a game though, £40 does seem very expensive!
Food looks lovely too x
Emily
August 10, 2015 at 6:34 pm
Hi Katie, thanks for your comment. It was pretty cheap when we used to go! Food was amazing! x
Lucie Bright
February 12, 2018 at 6:28 am
Sounds not much different… £4 a game x 4 people for 2 games would still be £32.
If you select the Just add friends deal (for adults) it’s £10 pp for two games with a drink included. If you go for the children’s drink and game option it’s cheaper, I think about £6 pp.
Kim Carberry
August 11, 2015 at 11:25 am
Oh gosh I remember going to our local Hollywood bowl about 20 years ago….It sure has changed!
It looks like you had a great day….Shame it is so expensive though x
Emily
August 12, 2015 at 9:03 pm
Hi Kim, thanks for your comment. It has changed a lot! We had a lot of fun, but agree, it is expensive x
fashion-mommy
August 11, 2015 at 9:49 pm
We use the Hollywood Bowl in Wolverhampton and it is a really nice place, this looks lovely too.
#Tried/Tested
Emily
August 12, 2015 at 9:04 pm
Thanks for your comment. I was impressed with the new design. It's really brought up to date x
Kate Fever
August 12, 2015 at 10:30 am
Wow, look at the posh VIP lane! Can't beat a bit of bowling for family fun. Thanks for linking up with #TriedTested
Emily
August 12, 2015 at 9:05 pm
Hi Kate, thanks for your comment. The VIP lane was lush! Loved the seating and carpets too! x
Teen Tween Toddler
August 14, 2015 at 1:47 pm
We have a Hollywood bowl near us and we always enjoy it there but this one looks really snazzy 🙂 #TriedTested
Emily
August 15, 2015 at 7:51 pm
This one is pretty snazzy! It's really modern and clean and tidy. We had a great time x
Sian {The Mama Story}
August 16, 2015 at 1:37 pm
Wow this looks like such fun! Hadn't thought about taking my 3 year old bowling. Expensive though!
#TriedTested