Players Bingo
Every Thursday & Saturday
Mecca Bingo, 180 Arlington Rd, Camden Town, NW1 7HL
£10 each (group booking for 4 - £12 single)
When I say Bingo, you say: old ladies, small-towns, wings? What you definitely don’t say is trendy, fun, reimagined concept which builds on established traditional methods and modernises them for a millennial crowd. That is, until Players Bingo, held in iconic (for some) Mecca Bingo hall in Camden, which is bursting with nostalgic charm and originality.
The old bingo space has been transformed into the ‘Players Lounge’, a supposedly ‘slick’ bar complete with red neon lighting and old bingo memorabilia, and the Gaming Arena, which was exciting and colossal, to be fair. The night promised not only big prizes, but a mixture of comedy, live music and entertainment, as well as drinks curated by mixologists and delicious pop-up restaurants. Sound too good to be true? Probably because it is.
Now, don’t get me wrong; I had a great time down at the Bingo. The host was great fun, explained the game quickly but well, and guided us through the evening’s festivities – we even won £20 in the first round! However, the ‘sublime service’ advertised on the website unfortunately ended there. The bar staff were pretty unfriendly and by no means mixologists… the £10 cocktails being a bit of a rip off as half of the tiny martini glass was packed full of ice. We swiftly moved on to a bottle of Rose (the only one on the menu - £20), which was sickeningly sweet, followed by a bottle of white (£20) which can only be described as having undertones of smoky bacon (yes, it was gross), and finally another bottle of Sauvignon Blanc (£20), which tasted better than the previous, however, this was probably due to the fact we were completely pissed by this point.
The ‘amazing food’ from ‘delicious pop up restaurants’ consisted of a choice of three burgers: standard beef patty (£7), beef patty with bacon (£8), or halloumi (£6), as well as sides such as sweet potato fries (£4), onion rings (£3) and BBQ sticky wings (£4). We weren’t hungry so didn’t order anything, however, looking at other people’s they didn’t seem at all like the large and delicious cheese-dripping patties advertised online. There was live music as promised, in the form of a house band who played along whilst you played along… a nice touch, complete with instrumental versions of all your favourite well known songs, but again, not exactly what I was expecting...
The overall experience as a Bingo virgin was really fun, and there were genuinely plenty of chances to win. We only won the once, however, a guy called Stu (who looked like he really didn’t need the money) won £50 twice, as well as a fridge and a brand-new bike. I’m not saying don’t go to bingo, I just might be saying I wouldn’t do it at Players again as I think it promotes false advertising and tries to rip you off a bit with disgusting wine and hyperbolic language. I’ve heard Bongo’s Bingo held in Clapham Grand is a must – so maybe I’ll give that a try next.
OVERALL RATING: ***
https://www.players-bingo.com/
