I think it's fair to say that I am no bowling expert. I do, however, know a thing or two about having fun which I think gives me enough authority to write an accurate review on Bowling Front de Seine. That said...
I made a reservation to go bowling on a Saturday night at BFS two weeks in advance without any problem. This was both wonderful, and disconcerting at the same time. I had already called three bowling places around Paris who told me they were "complet" on Saturday night. So why was BFS so available for my group of 20? I took a walk by on Saturday afternoon to check out the place and saw it overrun by screaming kids and their underwhelmed parents (note: don't go bowling on a Saturday afternoon). The place is a little tricky to find being that it's located in an alley between two big apartment buildings, and the inside was a bit lackluster-- no music, depressing lighting, minimal decor. At this point, however, there was no looking back.
Saturday night, nine out of the 20 of us showed up together, and the staff took care of us immediately. They told me that we'd have 3 lanes instead of 4 as originally planned, but that we'd all be next to each other, fair enough. They were running a little behind schedule which was no problem for us since we were still waiting for the other half of the group. Naturally, we headed over to the bar to warm up. Pints and cocktails here are around 6€, not too bad for Paris standards, but not the bowling alley prices I'd expected. Snacks include tartines, sandwichs au jambon et fromage, kind of airport French food. Although clearly overwhelmed with the amount of people turning up, the staff at BFS was helpful, and above all nice, as they ushered us through the process of dividing up the group in to lanes and getting us all shoes. Next thing, we were on the lanes, rolling strikes left and right, spilling beer and having a classic good ol' time bowling.
I was a bit disappointed by the lack of atmosphere. There were no disco lights and the music coming from the speakers was actually a radio station. This is not the kind of place where you want to bowl sober with three of your best friends. This is the kind of place you want to come to when you are a group of twenty and you could care less about everything else around you. The prices are awesome, after two and a half hours of bowling (2 rounds) plus shoes, I paid only 14€. Plus beer, you're looking at a Saturday night under 40€, when was the last time that happened to you in Paris? Oh, did I mention this place is open until 4:30am?
Eat, drink, bowl and be merry.
Boisson: 6/10 Bouffe: -- Ambiance: 5/10 read more
