Roxy Ball Room launches in Sheffield in iconic Telephone House
The new, modern Roxy Ball Room is bold and stylish with beer pong, shuffleboard, curling and pool. What did Wayne Hoyle make of the launch night?
I was sitting on the dock of the bay before it was kindly pointed out that the karaoke room should really be pre-booked.
And, upon exiting, there was indeed a lengthy queue of people who had done exactly this.
Venturing back out into the impressive new addition to Sheffield’s burgeoning collective of gaming-led venues led to an array of alternative and alluring activity.
Roxy Ball Room, located on Charter Square behind the Light Cinema, is the seventh iteration of this games and booze focused enterprise. Such an approach to enhancing a night out is evidently becoming increasingly popular.
Whereas, in days gone by, evening sports pursuits might have consisted of darts and dominoes, this joint has everything from shuffleboard to beer pong.
And in order to provide a fully informed appraisal, absolutely everything was sampled. Although karaoke was short lived, it was fun while it lasted.
Upon entering, it’s clear that no corners have been cut – from its vibrant visual aesthetic to the indie-centric sound system and, of course, the plethora of games on offer.
This is a cathedral of high-quality entertainment.
For me, it’s the second floor’s offer of ice curling and crazy pool that really sets it apart from similar settings. Crazy pool is exactly as it sounds: 9 holes of whacking a cue ball through increasingly challenging layouts. It’s essentially the love child of Arnold Palmer and Steve Davis.
Also, I’ve seen ice curling briefly on tele but can honestly say that it’s never made me feel the urge to slide a heavy stone towards a bullseye whilst banging out other people’s projectiles in the process. Yet, this is addictively competitive, inducing a neverending stream of expletives.
On top of all this, although it’s still the honeymoon period, staff were genuinely helpful and the food was definitely decent.
Unsurprisingly, it’s not cheap and it’s likely to be dominated by packs of hens and stags on a weekend but it’s undeniably worthy of sampling and provides another stimulating option should the desire to play with a variety of balls come calling.
