Me and a pal had driving ambition to try out London Mini Golf as part of a recent QYPE event…read more Tucked around the corner from Liverpool Street Station, Devonshire Square hosts an 18 hole mini golf course. For a Fiver you could recharge a little sea side nostalgia and demonstrate your putting prowess over slopes, tunnels, and windmills! The course was good, hitting through a bowling alley and a minutia Battersea PowerStation was great fun and afar cry from the peeling paint of your typical 1950's seaside crazy golf course. It was clear from the first holeI was a bad golfer - from the secondit was a fore-gone conclusion that I will be shamed wooden spoon winner! And indeed I was. My handicap.? A longstanding 'Golf-Elbow!' Of particular interest was the 19th hole (the bar) where we were greeted by a pear / sparkling wine / star anise cocktail courtesy of Cinnamon Kitchen a bar /restaurant next to the course. It was deliciously different and I could have quite easily hit this down in one!! Shortly followed by flavoursome Indian canopies. Yum. I was a little Tee'd off by the banning of drinking on the course and maybe the night could have down with some musical ambience. But, if you are looking for something a little bit different to do in London grab your putter and tap your way to victory at Devonshire square.

What's not to love about mini-golf? It can be as mellow or competitive as you like and is always…read moregood for a few laughs. And just the knowledge that there's a full 18-hole course in Central London (steps from Liverpool Street Station) in a beautifully renovated (and covered) courtyard makes me love this city even more. Managed by Moneypenny Events (http://www.moneypennyevents.com/content/golf-devonshire-square.asp) , this Devonshire Square mini-golf course offers a cheap and easy opportunity for fun. A round costs $5/per which sounds like value for money to me. Weekly and monthly passes are available too. I was there with 14 other Qypers and everybody had a brilliant time. Everybody loved it. At the end we all convened at the 19th Hole for some tasty cocktails and nibbles from Cinnamon Kitchen's Anise Bar (which is right there in the same Devonshire Square Courtyard).

I never thought mini golf could get competitive and fun! but it is!…read more I definitely recommend it for everyone, the music was good and half way through there was a bar. Minigolfing while semi tipsy is great! its a real test on your dexterity.

There are a million bars in London, but this is the only one to offer putt putt golfing with…read moretropical beverages in an underground lair. Four courses, 6 bars, all kinds of fun and tons of photo ops. Junkyard is hidden in a hipster area but isn't overpriced or obnoxious. The courses are themed with 9 holes each, and we opted for the Bruce (named after the shark from Jaws), which has Hollywood pop references (Forest Trump, Lord of the Blings, Jurassic Pork, etc.). The courses can get backed up a bit if there are large groups ahead of you, but grab another (cheap, strong) drink and relax. Saw a couple of "hen parties" here (bachelorette groups), but this was still fun even just as a small group. Super friendly staff, too. TIP: Check website for discounts and freebies, like a frozen pina colada!

The games was nice and too expensive, the need to add value for money, add more different types of…read moregames will be lovely

The staff are very friendly and it is a fun outing for a birthdays and the courses can stay fresh…read moreafter playing them multiple times. The courses also are very high tech . It is very busy so book now if you want to come.

This is a fun, novelty place, which I visited to get out of the house over the Christmas period. At…read morea time of the year when social lives revolve around festive drinks and parties, it's good to get off your bum and do something active. Well, ok, you're hitting a ball at a screen so not walking too far, but at least you're standing up and moving your arms... However, it's not easy. I've not played golf much and this activity requires some level of technique above 'aim and hit'. For a start, you have real clubs so you have to know what the benefit of each number is. Secondly, if you're not very good like me, then your ball will either go into a lake, a sandpit or nothing at all and you will get more shots. This means the embarrassment lasts longer as you take more and more shots to achieve the same distance that your better playing friend hit in one. I also liked the central location as it's inside High Street Kensington Tube station. There's a full bar inside so you can drink while you play, hoping it might relax you into being a better player. Low marks come from the fact that it's more expensive than bowling (£50 per simulator per hour at weekends). For that price, I'd rather bowl as you can get away with throwing hard and a bit of luck, whereas Urban Golf is more technical.

Urban Golf is a good place to play golf (or at least try it) without get tired and with a beer in…read moreyour hand. The interface of the simulator is confusing at first but when you realise how it works is easy. Before that I don't even know "the rules" or how to hit the ball properly (well, I still don't know), it was my very first time playing golf (realistic golf, I mean) and it was way too hard, so I think it should be a really good simulator.

Much smaller space than I expected, with just four alleys, so you really need to book in advance,…read moreand you are more likely to get in, if you book for a meal too. We managed to squeeze in the 50% off deal for food before it expired at the end of January. However, when the portions arrived, not the American size I expected, it looked like we were getting less of the meal, not the full price meal at 50% off. It was good value at half the price but not for full price, it would be quite pricey for what it was and to make matters worst, when the bill came, the discount was not taken off! However, the food is actually very tasty, and there was a lot of choice. Plus a vegan-friendly menu, which was really welcomed by my friend. I really enjoyed my choice of the buttermilk fried chicken in between a warm toasted brioche bun, house slaw and chipotle mayo. I accompanied that with sweet potato fries. My friend also enjoyed his chargrilled chicken tenders marinated in coriander, parsley and chilli, served with pepper pot hot dipping sauce and skinny fries. The chargrilled swordfish steak rubbed in Cajun spices with tomato, basil & sweet onion salad, again, served with sweet potato fries, was very good too. The spicy nacho burger with spiced yellow lentil and chickpea patty, topped with chargrilled courgettes and gooey nacho vegan cheese sauce, also got a thumbs up from my vegan friend. After the meal, we went back to reception to exchange our shoes for the bowling shoes, and waited for our booked slot. Since there were only four of us, the game lasted just over half an hour, but we had a lot of fun. The atmosphere was great and easy going. I had never realised that you could have rails up so that the ball does not run down the gutters, but bounces back and hit the pins, which makes it much easier! But that was not the purpose of the game, so we lowered them down! A good evening of fun and games for groups.

Y'all! This place is a riot! I've never seen so many people suck at bowling and have such a good…read moretime doing it. The food is solid, the people are having waaaaay too much fun, and the drinks are strong. C'mon down! Totally didn't see it coming from the outside, but glad I took a chance. Coming back for sure!

We had so much fun here!…read more The drinks were great, the only mistake we did was trying to play risk yet never having played it before lol! If you're a bigger party make sure to book a table or come early. Food looked great but we didn't try any.

I visited Draughts in a group of six people on a Friday evening- we were all aware of London's new…read moreboard game café through word of mouth and its highly publicized quirkiness in blogs and social media. The primary concern was that we could guarantee getting a table for a group, as lengthy waits and snaking queues are to be expected with this ilk of trendy London venue. Draughts only takes reservations during the week, so we ditched our original plan to meet up for a Sunday afternoon of retro games. Instead, we made the latest possible reservation on a Friday, which was at 19:00. We had a table waiting for us and we remarked that there wasn't an empty table for the duration of the evening, so I would avoid chancing it. The café actually can't sit that many large groups- maybe about 20 in total- and the nature of the activity on offer encourages people to arrive and stay until closing time. The café is open and there's a fair amount of space between tables, which is advantageous for groups who opt for games that require concentration. However, we did remark the strange tone in the room for a Friday night, as there were many groups who had committed themselves to role play/strategy games that were not as social as the games that we happily engaged in (yes, there were no fewer than three rounds of Hungry, Hungry Hippos and Moustache Smash respectively). Our revelry was met with stern expressions and disgust from one table of very serious looking hipsters. The café works like this: there is a wide selection of board games, ranging from tried classics to esoteric curiosities (Salmon Run or Cards Against Humanity- tough call). Games are displayed on shelves in the back of the café, categorised under sections such as 'family', 'strategy' and 'group-friendly'. The staff mingle around and will offer to help you find exactly what you're after- a board game crack dealer if there ever was one- and they bubble over with boundless enthusiasm over each game. You pay £5 as an entry fee (our fees were just applied to our table's tab) and there is a bar with some good local beers- Camden Brewery and Meantime are represented and Crate cider was a nice local touch. There are small dishes- mostly compact but appealing sandwiches for about £5 each or a meat or mezze sharing board that looked appetising. Be aware, though- between entry fees and about three drinks each, we managed to spend about £50 between two people! It was novel and we did have a great time- the nadir was the fact that the version of Mousetrap on offer was alien to our entire table and looked like a cheap knock-off of the version we played as children. We were very curious about the games that other groups were playing and I feel that a second group outing is warranted for more adventurous choices. It's maybe not as cheap for a night out- outside snacks are discouraged, for instance- but everyone should spend a soggy afternoon here. If they could improve the Friday night ambiance, it would be even better for a bit of silly fun after a long working week. It's just a shame about weekend reservations!

As much as the experience is great fun, it takes a long time to get to that point, this time it was…read morea four hour wait before we got to play, which is insane. I get that the idea for them, at least, is so make you sit around so you spend more money (great business plan), but four hours to play two games... The chilli cheese dog was awful, red in skin so closer to a savaloy, and the chili wasn't great. I ordered a 2 pint stein, of which they'd apparently run out of yet hadn't mentioned it to me and then served two single pints. Tater tots were decent though. All in all, I like the idea and it's great fun but waiting around that long, alongside the prices of drinks (pretty much London prices) such as 6.20 or so for a pint, plus terrible food, isn't s great experience. *Updated review* We went back as some friends were down and it was an even worse experience and we'll never be back. Pushy service which we then noticed service charges - it's not a posh upscale restaurant, how can you justify a service charge? The food again was average to bad, spicy Mac and cheese was awful and not spicy, tater tots were lukewarm and soggy, wings were fine but not listed as spicy (they are slightly), the burger my friend got was poor and dry. To add to this, they didn't clean and take away plates and glasses for over an hour. We then proceeded to wait 4 and a half hours before getting into a lane, along the way, we got to 1 at in the queue where we waited 45 minutes and saw numerous people go ahead who were further back in the queue... All because they had kids. I don't think breaking the rules because people choose to bring kids down late on a Saturday is very fair on the people who've been there since before 4pm, it was 8.30pm at this point. I was told (which I knew) if you want to get in quicker, book a slot, but that comes at a cost of £39.99, and that doesn't include any games, food or drinks. I then had security speak with me as I was getting agitated and say, well I'm here to 3AM, after I said we'd been there since before 4pm. Honestly, that's not a great response and insulting. You chose this job, not me, it's not my problem you're there until 3am, if you're unhappy, change jobs? Literally, it's nothing like this at the one I'm Las Vegas which I've visited numerous times now. I would avoid this place like the plague, unless you like wasting money and valuable hours of your life. We'll never be back.

I spent a Saturday afternoon here for a round of miniature golf, or Adventure Golf as they call it…read more 18 holes of pure competitive goodness. It's not the best miniature golf course I've seen, but it does the job. It's £4 for adults and £3 for kids, a really cheap activity to help pass the time. You don't need to be a TopGolf member to play the Adventure Golf course, although members do get 50p off. They have 44 covered bays for the driving range and each golf ball you use has a computerized microchip that tracks your shots accuracy and distance...how cool is that?! I'm definitely going back to have a whack at that some day. They have a full bar and café for food and drinks as well, although I didn't sample any of that.

Nice casino. Here to see Magic Mike. Very nice casino. Clean and doesn't smell like smoke. Very…read moreclean. Staff are super friendly!

Meh, ok casino. But I dropped in to have a drink and cigar on their outdoor deck. No joy, since it…read moredidn't open until 6 pm?