Even although I haven’t performed darts for many years, Oche grabbed my consideration, as a result of it promised an perception into the brand new period of so-called gastro-gaming. An oche, in case you don’t know, is the road behind which it's important to stand when throwing darts, and this new, moderately stylish, central London venue with about 30 digital dartboards additionally has oysters, ceviche and sliders on the menu. The decor is heavy on the pinks and peaches, and contains a rhapsody of faux succulents and neon “Reside Chuckle Love”-style indicators, so it’s a bit like a rich teenager’s Instagram content material studio. Oche could be a darts bar, however when you’re chucking arrows, Valrhona chocolate desserts are being delivered from the open kitchen underneath cloches and billowing smoke. In the meantime, on the display screen above the dartboard, your victories, or embarrassments, are broadcast for all to see. Darts purists will sneer to seek out that Oche affords one sport that counts down from 201, and three others with a fantasy vibe that includes swords, shields and axemen.
The time period gastro-gaming, which options massive on Oche’s PR materials, intrigues me, as a result of lots of its traders clearly sense that that is the longer term. Sure, a number of bars specializing in darts, ball pits and loopy golf have opened in recent times, however Oche is far sleeker and, effectively, grown-up. There’s no try at a pub darts vibe, and I’d hazard that nobody taking part in on the Saturday we went would get the importance of Jim Bowen’s Bullseye or staying “out of the black and into the crimson, nothing on this sport for 2 in a mattress”. The gastro-gaming panorama is for a demographic who missed out on sticky-floored pubs , and who desire a venue with an exercise the place they'll eat Korean-inspired bao buns alongside their pornstar martinis.
Frankly, simply taking part in darts at Oche isn’t low-cost – off-peak within the afternoon, it value the 2 of us £16 for 85 minutes (at peak occasions it’s £12 a head) – however what Oche is basically pushing is its meals. And that's the place the wheels actually start to fall off. The sharing platters function tiny, finger-food parts of feta croquettes, spicy tuna in a minuscule cone and lumps of low-quality, blue-veined cheese shoved on a plate with a ramekin of brined artichokes. 5 plates are available at £19.90, however we went for the eight-plate “chef’s menu” for £29.90 a head and fully flummoxed them by asking to swap out the pork bao as a result of Charles doesn’t eat pig. By this time, we’d spent £76 with out drinks and had sussed that Oche’s state-of-the-art darts software program was susceptible to including issues up unsuitable, that means we needed to override the pc a number of occasions a sport. The employees had been effectively conscious of this, however appeared to treat laptop errors as enterprise as traditional.
My largest error, in the meantime, was not ordering a pizza. Oche affords seven “connoisseur” pizzas, with margarita with buffalo mozzarella at £12.90 and 4 cheeses at £15.90 however, foolish me, I used to be set on the complete gastro-gaming expertise. First got here an oyster every, dotted with rose petals, wasabi, yuzu and inexperienced onion oil. It was weirdly good and the primary time I’ve ever knocked again an oyster whereas making an attempt to hit a treble 20. This was adopted by hummus with dry flatbread, which had the unmistakable really feel of Sainsbury’s Moroccan hummus zhuzhed up with a touch of additional oil. Subsequent got here some anaemic-looking nocellara olives, the cheese, a bowl of chutney and people drab crostini that scratch the again of your throat.
A tuna cornet with lime-flavoured goo was fairly sufficient and arrived ostentatiously in a bowl of salt and topped with salmon roe, however it was a mouthful at finest. Subsequent got here some not particularly recent halibut ceviche on a corn tostada, after which beef and smoked bone marrow brioche sliders with chipotle mayo that had been most likely one of the best factor on the menu. The ultimate course was a riff on a Mini Magnum, albeit served with dry ice.
Bang, it was throughout. Regardless of the pc being wholly unreliable at including up our scores, it was exceedingly immediate at realizing when our time slot was up and kicked us off mid-game.
My principal feeling once we left was confusion: who on earth is Oche geared toward? The meals guarantees to be a “thrilling” deal with, however is as a substitute a number of fancy mouthfuls plus a number of bits from a Marks & Spencer’s choosy tea. The dart boards are unreliable, so you may merrily throw a treble 12 and it'll rating you 9 factors. And if it’s extra aimed on the new breed of non-drinking, healthful, younger individuals, why are there no alcohol-free beers on the menu, and little or no for vegans or vegetarians? Gastro-gaming sounds good on paper, however proper now Oche is means astray.
Oche 105 Strand, London WC2, 020-4540 5603. Open all week, noon-1am (11.30pm Solar). Pizzas from £12.90, five-plate sharing menu £19.90, eight plates £28.90, all plus drinks and repair.
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