Plonk
177 Hoxton St, N1 6PJ
Crazy Golf
£10
Plonk has several venues across London, Hoxton being its first ever establishment. It is much more than just a bar on a slightly odd street, as it has a 7-hole crazy golf course, pinball machines, and foosball - to name a few of the activities on offer.
We were booked in for a game of crazy golf around 2:30 on a Saturday. On arrival, we were given a free first drink and 5 tokens included in our ticket by a very friendly bar lady who told us that we could enjoy the vending machines and arcade games whilst we waited for the golf course to free up. We went to play a game of foosball, followed by pinball and a kind of digital air-hockey. The venue wasn’t busy, with only 3 other groups being there when we arrived (two of these being couples obviously on a fairly fresh date).
The venue itself is very simplistic, retro, shabby-chic. It could do with a lick of paint, and the chairs look like something out of an old classroom, however, this does, I guess, add to the overall charm of the place. The golf course was much less jazzy than other crazy-golf venues I have visited in London, such as Swingers – where we originally wanted to go but couldn’t due to the fact it was booked up a month in advance! Despite this, Plonk was still really fun, with most of the golf stations manageable even for a beginner. One of the later positions was utterly impossible for me to get my head around, however, Asta did manage to master it, proving that it could be done.
After the golf I got a little peckish, so ended up ordering some cheesy wedges with some blue cheese dip (cheese on cheese – what can go wrong?) Although these were nice for the first couple of bites, they soon did get a little sickly – the cheese being more of a sloppy sauce than a topping, making the wedges themselves pretty soggy. Another slight disappointment was the photo-booth downstairs being out of service – an issue the bar lady told me they had been trying to fix for weeks.
Overall, Plonk is an easy, relaxed and fun way to spend a couple of hours. The venue is by no means upmarket, and you will not be blown away by either the facilities or interior. The service, however, is friendly and helpful, and the venue gives you an unpretentious space to realise how competitive you really are.
OVERALL RATING: ***
https://www.plonkgolf.co.uk/venue/hoxton/
