It takes a lot to get me all the way to east London.
I live west – always have – and I love it over here, so it’s a rare occasion when I’ll venture across the city to the hipster hub of Shoreditch.
Image credit: Ben Gibson Photo
But last week I was invited to an event that sounded so fun, and so unusual, that I decided to throw caution to the wind, hop on the dreaded Central line (it was a heatwave, people. This required sheer bravery!) and leave leafy green west London for the gritty streets of Shoreditch.
So what was this exciting event, the one so appealing it got me out of my comfort zone on a hot Wednesday night?
Shuffleboarding, of course.
Yes, shuffleboarding. That sport most commonly played by retirees on cruise ships and in retirement homes the world over.
But this low-impact geriatric sport is making a comeback.
All of a sudden, it’s trendy, played in graffitied warehouses and accompanied by cocktails and wood fired pizza. You’ll find it at The London Shuffle Club. Here’s why you need to book it for your next night out.
London Shuffle Club Review
The London Shuffle Club is primarily an indoor venue, but I arrived on a balmy July evening, so the small outdoor area was being fully utilised.
Image credit: Ben Gibson Photo
Lights were strung above two bright blue shuffleboard lanes, a wooden deck was packed full of people eating pizza topped with mac and cheese (a stroke of pure genius!) and a slick silver Airstream trailer served as a bar, where icy cold cocktails and boozy slushies were being served by a bartender with a killer twirly moustache.
We booked ourselves onto a shuffle lane and ordered a couple of drinks while we waited: a Boomtown Buck for my plus one, which was a delicious combination of gin, Pimms, bitters, lemon and ginger ale, and for me, a Coral Spritz: Aperol, elderflower, rhubarb bitters, lemon, soda and bubbly. Yum.
We finished those at one of the park benches while we enjoyed the warm evening light, and then it was time to play!
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What is shuffleboard?
As this was the launch party, we were placed on a lane with two other people – although if you visit London Shuffle Club on a regular night you can book the entire lane and play with your mates.
A knowledgeable shuffleboarding pro explained the rules to us and gave us a few pointers. It’s pretty simple stuff – here’s the deal:
Each team has one tang, a long stick with a kind of two-pronged fork at the end that you use to move the four coloured biscuits, or discs, into the scoring zone. The lane has two ends, each end with an identical pyramid of scores, which range from 10 through to -10. You all start at one end of the lane.
The first person uses the tang to shuffle the biscuit along the lane into the scoring zone on the other end. If the biscuit lands inside an area marked with a number, your team gets that number of points (or loses them, if it’s a -10). If the biscuit is on the line, no points are given.
Players take it in turns, and when all the biscuits are at the other end, the score is counted and recorded, and play starts again from the other side of the lane. Play continues back and forth until your time is up.
It’s simple, but not as easy as it sounds. It’s also, perhaps surprisingly, far more fun than you’d think! We had such a laugh, drinks in hand, trying and failing to get that coveted 10 point score (although I did get plenty of -10s).
In the end, we won – by a whisker – shook hands with our excellent and fun opponents, and went to explore what else London Shuffle Club has to offer.
A night out at London Shuffle Club
London Shuffle Club isn’t just about the shuffleboard.
There’s a DJ, two bars serving unusual and refreshing drinks, and unbelievably tasty wood fired pizzas. Which, really, is the perfect recipe for a brilliant night out in London.
Image credit: Ben Gibson Photo
Let’s just go back to those pizzas for a sec, though. Honestly…they’re amazing (oh, and there are gluten free bases available for an extra pound, hurrah!). At 9 inches, they’re a decent size, and with prices starting at £8 for a classic margherita and ranging up to £10 for pizzas with fancy, meaty toppings like roasted cajun spiced chicken, you’ll get a sizeable feed for a reasonable price.
And those toppings! I already mentioned the Mac Daddy because hello! Mac and cheese on pizza! What an incredible combo! but there are other options, including vegan flavours and plenty for veggies.
Image credit: Ben Gibson Photo
The shuffleboarding might be the main event, but you can easily make a night of it, with food, drinks, music, and an outdoor area that’s perfect for summer nights.
How much is shuffleboarding?
You pay by the lane, by the hour, regardless of how many people there are playing.
A lane is £40 per hour in peak time, and £20 off-peak, and you can have as many as eight players per lane (although the recommended number is six). So it’s an affordable, fun night out, and one that’s definitely worth the journey across the city!
I’ll definitely be making the trip back to Shoreditch for more shuffling fun! Thanks to the team at London Shuffle Club for having me for a brilliant night.
The London Shuffle Club
4 Ebor St, Shoreditch
London, E1 6AW
Have you tried shuffleboarding? Will you give London Shuffle Club a try?
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OMG Elle, that building above the Shuffle Club is literally my workplace! This place always looks so cool when I look out the window at it – glad you had such a great time xx