Bat & Ball Covent Garden: Darts in Covent Garden

Bat & Ball Covent Garden is a games bar built for groups who want to play while they drink, and the darts is the high-tech kind rather than a corner board with a chalk scoreboard. You get interactive boards with digital scoring, so nobody argues about the maths and the room keeps moving. It suits after-work crews, birthdays and anyone who fancies a competitive hour without taking it too seriously. Beginners are fine here. The scoring does the work and there are game modes like Killer and Around the World to keep things fun.

The venue spreads across two floors and mixes darts in with ping pong, shuffleboard, pool and karaoke rooms, so a mixed group rarely runs out of things to do. Darts is booked by the oche rather than free play, charged per person per hour, with off-peak slots cheaper than peak. Bookings cap at twelve people per oche, which is the sweet spot for a decent team game.

It sits on Earlham Street near Seven Dials, a couple of minutes from Covent Garden tube. Evenings and weekends fill up fast, especially around big sport, so book ahead rather than chancing a walk-in. Daytime and early-week slots are calmer and a bit cheaper.