Review for Strike Bowling Wintergarden…read more I held my son's 7th birthday party at Strike Wintergarden and unfortunately, the experience was deeply disappointing, particularly with regard to the handling of food allergies. Despite noting specific allergies (dairy-free, egg-free, and coeliac) in our booking and confirming them again on the day with the host, there was no suitable food provided for three of the children with dietary needs. Knowing the severe consequences of an allergic reaction, we were alarmed to see that the chips & nuggets brought out had been cooked with other items containing egg and dairy, which would have made the children very unwell had they eaten them. The nuggets also contained the allergens. We then asked about the vegan pizza alternative that we had been promised by email with the booking team, only to be served a pizza that was only gluten-free, not dairy-free as required. This left these children unable to eat anything while others enjoyed their meal, leading to a very uncomfortable situation. If the children had eaten this they would have been very unwell. Additionally, the basic logistics of the event fell short. Items like a lighter for the birthday candle, plates for the cake, and a knife to cut it were only provided after considerable delay. The plates never arrived. I was under the impression we'd have a dedicated host for the party to assist with these details, these things just added to the stress of the day. Given that three children could not safely eat the food provided and the lack of dedicated hosting, I have written on several occasions with no response. I'd hoped for a worry-free celebration, and while the kids enjoyed the bowling itself, the experience with the food was unacceptable and handled very poorly.

Deals, deals, deals. And boy, is their marketing spot on and absolutely hilarious…read more You want laser tag and bowling? Oh, why that's the bowl and blast for $25. Or come on 2-fo-1 Tuesday. Or go nuts on unlimited laser tag for $15 on Thursdays. But holy cow, Sunday Funday... that's where the real deals roll. $25 bones for unlimited everything - bowling, laser, pool, karaoke. Blizaooow! Outside of that, it's a bowling alley night club. Prepare to be impressed by their music selection, savvy marketing, and how exponentially better you get at bowling the more $10 patriotic mint juleps you down. The best thing about the place is that they make it nearly* impossible not to have fun. *Fun is hard to unlock if you're on a first date and you're situated one lane away from a rowdy group of Bogans with confusing accents and mesmorising dance moves. Trust me.

Bowling sits squarely amongst the sports I do very poorly at, which is all of them. What's worse…read morewith bowling is that I seem to get worse the more I try. The upside is that most of the patrons at Aspley Ten Pin Bowl are doing almost as badly as I am. This is probably because on most visits I've been surrounded by five-year olds and absent-minded parents taking the family out for the night. When the lights go out and the disco balls start up, however, the families are replaced generally by teens on dates. Seriously: teenagers still go bowling on dates. I know. And they can't bowl, but that's probably not the point. I visited this place almost a decade ago and several times recently. Not much has changed. No matter which counter you go to - customer service, shoe hire, food & drink - no one will be there. You thereafter have the option of waiting around or tracking staff down. The latter is easy to do, since on most nights you can glance around from any spot and see every single person in the alley. I'd attribute the relative quietness of Aspley Ten Pin Bowl to a general diminishing public interest in the activity. And even though I suck - and couldn't fluke one strike on the last visit - I'd still advise going here. It's a social game where you're allowed to suck. And afterwards you can play air hockey, video games or those money-sucking crane games at the back of the room. Bowling blues can always be countered with a Daytona win. In other words, get out and go bowling. Stand up, get in the car, turn the key and drive to Aspley Ten Pin Bowl. Even if you only play one game, you can say you left the house for half an hour. Oh, and don't think this bowling alley is the right environment for some Big Lebowski quotes. It's too family-oriented and you'll just come off sounding feeble.