What is that makes these annoying amusement arcades so darn alluring?! Walking by Palladium…read moreearlier, I barely batted an eyelid. That is, until I spotted the 2p machine. Looking all lonesome and unoccupied. And I was in, darn it. With my three 2ps, which were naturally gone within seconds. Scouring the room, I noticed a variety of different 2p and 10p machines, plus a lovely little machine which offers to transfer your larger coins into 10ps. How nice of it. Armed with my ten 10ps, I dashed to the nearest machine and stuck the first coin in. Out popped a wealth of 10ps...first time lucky or what?! Ha, well within five minutes, the rest of those 10ps, plus the nine remaining from my pound had disappeared into oblivion. Isn't that always the way? Another pound later, and I was in exactly the same position, except a couple of pounds poorer. Fortunately, I knew it was time to stop, and so I avoided the second half of the arcade (18+ only, and given past circumstances, I would probably be ID-ed, and due to lack of ID, wouldn't have gotten awfully far anyway). If you have a couple of 2ps and happen to be walking past Palladium...BEWARE. That's all I'm saying.

I cant believe anyone would go into the Palladium without at least some vaccinations, the palladium…read morehas been around for years and years and used to be a proud amusement arcade that would attract families and kids on a seaside getaway but now it is run down and attracts the local teenagers planning no good. The facilities are not what they used to be, they have got a bit dated and I really think the Palladium is in need of a facelift. Maybe it is because I am from Bangor and therefore no longer see the novelty in this place. I am going to try and look at it from a tourists eyes for the rest of the review. Okay, so what does the Palladium have to offer? 18+ gaming, a few two penny nudgers, some teddy scams, sorry I mean teddy machines with the big claw and a few pool tables. I suppose if you are visiting a seaside town you expect to see this sort of place but it could portray itself in a much better light and with a lick of paint could rake in the summer time cash. One redeeming feature is definitely the staff who are always friendly and polite even if the customers are not.

Since my sister turned 18, she's been itching to do all the legal stuff, bless her. We've been to a…read morepub for a drink, and er, that's it really...but today she decided she wanted to go into an arcade, and this one was strictly over 18s, so that made it all the more exciting. Unfortunately, her dreams of 2p machines ("I'm soooo good at them Lynne") came to an abrupt end when we ventured into Pleasuredome. Apart from a couple of pool tables, there were only slot machines, and a few casino style games. Oh deary. I must admit, I was a bit gutted myself. What is an arcade without 2p machines? If you go to any decent amusement arcade in the likes of Portrush or Newcastle, there will always be plenty of 2p / 10p machines, simulation games, dance mats and the like, so this was ever so slightly disappointing. As my sister uttered on the way out (completely inadvertently), "I am not amused..." Amused...amusements, geddit?

Super, fantastic, joy, flashing lights, epileptic no go zone, noise, screaming kids, sirens, bandit…read moreland! This place really is an absolute joy if you are six years old but if you are any older and respect your sanity and ears then I would probably avoid it. Full of tuppeny nudgers, 10p a spin bandits and teddy bear scams I can not imagine that this is a land of fun for many parents. Sure if you have a jar of coppers and want to get rid of hem then head down to Funland. Despite my criticism of Funland, I do not think a visit to the seaside is complete without a popping in to Funland and squandering some money. You might even win a soft toy that will fall apart before you make it home. These seem to be a must for British seaside towns and Newcastle County Down is full of these types of arcades. Funland is a bout the best of a bad bunch as it has a wider variety of games and arcades. This place serves its purpose on a summers day of keeping the kids and local scallywags away from the mountains and Beach and gifting parents and the older generation some peace and quite. If you read this you would think I was 53 not 23 but I am old at heart!

I recently was invited to some magical new fangled gathering (for me anyway) call a Lan party at…read morePONG. I discovered quite to my pleasure that this meant sitting around with a bunch of friends, playing computer games and digitally kicking each others arses in an all nighter at PONG. For the gaming nerd, this place is a god send. To my knowledge, this is only shop of its kind in Belfast. There was one in Cityside, before it became Cityside but that was a long time ago. At £20 for an all night session of online gaming adventures, get your spot cream and pot noodles ready (but please don't eat by the computers!)

This is a gamers' paradise. If you're into online gaming then this is the place for you. Regular…read moretournaments and all-nighters every 2-3 weeks ensure that this place has a strong following among the local youth. Prices start from £3 per hour, and £20 for the all-nighters. For me it's a good place to go print out things from the internet, as there's a lack of internet cafes in this area, and in Belfast as a whole for that matter.

Brilliant Brilliant Brilliant !!! Theres very little for toddlers to do (in doors) in belfast and…read moreI'm sick of looking at Funky Monkeys. So I was delighted to know that this bowling place had small shoes for my daughters age group and also stands to help her play. They also put bumpers up for her!!!! She loved every minute of it and I would recommend this to any parent looking something different to do with there kids. Great family fun for the winter times that ticks every box, food, drink, games, music and of course bowling. :)

This brought me back to my childhood. I was taken bowling back home with my brother and my uncle…read morewhen I was little and my uncle told me all of the various ways that it was possible to get hurt in bowling, even telling me a story about a friend swinging the ball back and smashing someone in the face... Needless to say that was the last time I went bowling. I wasn't going to risk my life! I'm not stupid!.... But many years later, after getting over my fear of being hit with a bowling ball in the face, I went down during the day with my girlfriend. There was only a handful of people about so ask I broke into my stride and bowled a record score, there was no one else to witness it apart from my girlfriend who 'claims' it never happened... Never the less I won all three games! Upstairs is a wee arcade type area which is a great place to bring children, but can often attract the hoodlum crowd which seems to be drawn towards this sort of place. With food and drink available in the building as well, you are guaranteed to find something to give you pleasure... even if there is no one there to witness and confirm your record score

There's a saying that we get the politicians that we deserve and this is a truism like Pareto's…read moreprinciple; I mean just look at the bunch we have elected. It's the same truism for restaurants. I had the misfortune of eating in the fast food outlet here and it was very poor indeed. When I lifted a menu it was sticky with a dark tomato ketchup residue. The last time I found this lack of proper cleaning I was in a Nando's in Manchester. It's either carelessness or laziness. I then scanned the overhead display to buy the least offensive food and ended up with a kids chicken goujon meal, essentially breaded chicken & chips. It was under £4. The chips are 2 out of five and just poor. The chicken was zero out of 5 as it was just awful. Food hardly gets much cheaper than this factory-made rubbish. The meal came with a medium sized machine dispensed drink so I got Diet Coke. I also got an Americano that was alright so it is 3 out of 5. The saving grace was that they served Heinz tomato ketchup and proper HP sauce. Also the food portion was decent but I certainly didn't eat it all and the staff mega friendly. So overall it's only just a borderline 3 star as I'm in a good mood but I can say with confidence that I'll never eat in this place ever again.

This place is fun! Arcade games, bowling and cinema. What else do you want? #Legenderryread more

Yikes, what a dump! When we used to be allowed to smoke in public places everywhere was so smelly -…read morewell this place still is - it literally smells like an ashtray! don't get me wrong, I generally love a wee flutter of the 7's machines or a spin of the roulette wheel but this place is nothing but depressing! Wall to wall machines with toilets at the back and a free tea making machine pretty much sums this place up. Forget the glamour of Las Vegas, this is just an awful smelly place to spend anytime - yet i'm sure the regulars, who are probably skint and have a wee gambling problem, might disagree. No skill, no fresh air, no allure at all.

Great venue, saw Mrs Brown Boys Live here and the costumer service was AMAZING! Decent sized venue…read moreand cheap drinks!

It really is in a people and disabled unfriendly location. We always opt to walk here now as we…read morerefuse to park in the adjacent car parks as once a concert is over it can take ages to escape. So we park in the city centre and take a 15 minute walk to get here. Once inside the main door and through the bag search we were processed quickly and the staff are always courteous and helpful. Our seats were upstairs and we were quite far back from the stage with a great view. As with most concert venues in this city the seats are barely comfortable, the space between the seats is almost non existent, so you are forced to be very near to total strangers and I'd rather not thanks very much. The food and drink pricing is more akin to airport charging. I noted that the price for a small Coca cola, from a drink dispenser into a paper cup, was £3.10 for an ungenerous portion, or put shortly daylight robbery. If it's comfort and relaxation you want to enjoy a concert I can assure you you're in the wrong place so it's as well Andrea Bocelli and friends were in top form.

Suitable for kids of all ages... Even 50 year olds. I have photos to prove it…read more We visited we are vertigo for a friends 30th Birthday. We didn't really know what to expect, but gave it a bash anyways. The place is designed for kids but if you are a big kid you can have fun. The trampolines are good fun, it does get a bit boring after a while, so make sure you try the dodge ball & other activities. There is also in door skiing although this is pretty much a giant treadmill but it looks pretty cool. There is also an indoor adventure for actual kids but it looks like you could let your children run about here for hours. Overall it was a great day out, and perfect for the family. So you should check this place out just for a bit of fun. Price wise it is a bit expensive, but this is a unique place to hang out over the holidays.

If you're thinking of going to We are Vertigo I would buy a Sat Nav first because it's a nightmare…read moreto find, it's terribly sign posted and if I was in charge that's the first thing I would address, literally! Myself and 3 others visited We Are Vertigo 4 days after it opened, we weren't really sure what to expect and before we arrived we questioned how trampolines could keep us entertained for an hour? They ask you to book online and arrive 30 minutes before but this isn't really necessary - the safety briefing last about 5 minutes and getting ready for action (they give you special socks with rubber grips on them) only adds another 5 - there's a coffee shop and soft, not bouncy, seating and a few air hockey tables etc to keep you entertained for the other 20 minutes but to be honest if you got there 15 minutes before your booked time that would be plenty. Set up in what is essentially a warehouse it can be pretty cold if you are waiting around so I would suggest bringing an extra layer. Once you get bouncing you can shed your clothes as it gets sweaty pretty quickly. The trampolines are split into sections all manned by staff who make sure you're not getting over confident like I was. There's a dodgeball zone, a balance beam that you duel on, think Gladiators circa 1995, basketball hoops you can practice your slam dunks on and some extra springy professional trampolines. At first we weren't really sure what to do other than bounce up and down but then we found the dodgeball court and a group of guys willing to battle us and that quickly passed time. We then spent the rest of our time at the basketball courts doing impressions of Michael Jordan and on the balance beam battling each other. At £12 it was pretty good value and we definitely made the most of our hour. I think if you are in a smaller group like we were an hour is just about enough time to enjoy all the facilities and work up a sweat but I think if you were in a big group you would need 2 hours. This place would be ideal for a stag, hen or birthday party and it definitely offers something different. The staff are all really out going and will get involved in banter, we even got one of the girls to referee our Dodgeball game, there were a few dodgy calls but I will let her off! All in all this is a really welcome addiction to Belfast's activity scene - make sure you wear comfortable clothing, the less zips and buttons the better.