Situated just a ping pong ball’s throw away from Holborn station, Bounce is built on the same site where table tennis was originally trademarked by J Jaques & Son Ltd in 1901. Complete with blue plaque, the venue is home to a swanky cocktail bar, an up-market pizzeria, a DJ booth and 17 table tennis tables – including an official London 2012 table.

Drawing on the success of similar venues stateside, it’s the brainchild of entrepreneur and accomplished table tennis player Dov Penzik and the co-founder of All Star Lanes, Adam Breeden.

Adam said, “Ping Pong is such an accessible sport, and we believe the most fun sporting activity there is and Bounce is taking the game back to its roots by combining the sport with socialising, entertainment and a touch of glamour and on the very birthplace of the game!”

For more info, visit bouncelondon.co.uk

Other activity bars in London:

Bowling at All Star Lanes
There are no bright lights or flashing arcade games at All Star Lanes – this is boutique bowling! There are four lanes in Holborn, six each in Bayswater and Brick Lane and a whopping 14 at Westfield. Each has a modern American restaurant and cocktail bar, as well as private rooms.
allstarlanes.co.uk

Table Football at Bar Kick
Mostly famous for their many football tables, Bar Kick also offers basement events, lovingly cooked food and cocktails. It is also a great place to watch live football and every 3D match available is shown in the basement
cafekick.co.uk/bar-kick

Snooker and Pool at the Hurricane Room
Open 24/7, the Kings Cross Hurrican Room has recently undergone a £500,000 refurbishment. The swish venue now houses 10 snooker tables, six English pool tables, nine American pool tables and two poker booths. Coaching available.
hurricaneroom.co.uk

Karaoke at Lucky Voice
Lucky Voice bills itself as the UK’s Number One karaoke experience. Hire a private karaoke room for you and your friends in either Soho or Islington, choose from thousands of songs to sing and use the “thirsty” button for waitress service. Discounts and special offers available online.
luckyvoice.com

Darts, Pool, Table Football and a Nintendo Wii at The Bell
The Bell is an independently owned Victorian pub on the fringes of the City. But don’t mistake this for just another city pub as it’s far from it, according to management. Traditional pub grub and space available for private hire.
thebellpub.co.uk

Indoor Golf at Urban Golf
Urban Golf offers a virtual golf experience on simulators, so no matter what the weather you can try your skills on more than 50 of the world’s top courses. Whether you head to the Smithfield, Soho or High Street Kensington branch, you’ll find about seven simulators and a full bar and menu too. Coaching available.
urbangolf.co.uk

Do you have a favourite bar that does more than serve great drinks? Let us know in the comments below

A work Christmas party where no one’s allowed to talk is rather odd, even for the most dysfunctional of offices. And yet, the digital team at VL towers chose to attend Silent Night at Dennis Severs House as part of our end-of-year celebrations.

On a frosty evening in mid-December, we congregated on the cobblestones, not quite knowing what to expect. After a rowdy table football tournament at Bar Kick, entering the hushed, candlelit environs of Dennis Severs’ house was rather a shock. But that’s exactly how they want you to feel. The house has been set up as a museum-cum-”experience”, where you get to immerse yourself in the sights, sounds and smells of 18th-century London.

The guide who lets you in requests you maintain a strict silence while in the house. It takes about 45 minutes to make your way from basement to attic as you take in the house’s five floors and 10 different rooms. The quiet is punctuated only by other visitors’ footsteps, clocks chiming, and a few recordings to evoke a bygone era such as horses clopping by in the street. This, coupled with the home’s only light of flickering candles, immediately puts you in a more receptive state of mind.

There are a few descriptive notes dotted about, but they’re not particularly detailed, and you’re encouraged to let your mind wander and be open to the idea that perhaps the past, and the people who dwelled there, are closer than you think. In fact, they may even be in the next room! Each time you enter a different area of the house, it seems like the original inhabitants have just departed, leaving unmade beds, half-eaten mince pies and hastily-scribbled notes behind.

You go on a journey of the senses and, to some extent, the emotions. I felt a warm satisfaction in the ground floor dining room, where the table was groaning with a Christmas feast. The first floor sitting rooms were also convivial – one a blokey, Hogarth-style drinking den, the other an elegant ladies’ parlour that wouldn’t be out of place in an Austen novel. Another floor up, the family bedrooms were cosy and crammed with bits and bibelots. But the garret rooms, where the servants slept, were shabby, draughty and cold, with straw stuffed into the cracks in the rafters and ragged clothing strung sadly out to dry. It was a relief to return to the warmth below.

I really enjoyed my tour of the house. It was an interesting experience to learn a lot without reading it or being told verbally. This is also one fantastic East London attraction that really comes into its own in winter.  Dennis Severs Christmas Season Silent Night tours are sold out, but after 6 January normal service will resume. Visit the Dennis Severs’ House website for bookings and more information.

The Visit London web team booked two of the 10 solid wooden football tables and organised teams for an evening of competitive festive fun. Games are just 80p each and a quick whip-round raised more than enough tokens for a serious tournament.

Table football turns out to be exciting and obsessive. Even if you’re not in the slightest bit interested in football or sport, you’ll have a good time. The games got pretty serious and I gouged a hole in my thumb with my index finger while spinning rows of gormless little footballers. But it was worth an injury to score a magnificent goal!

At half time, we filled up from Bar Kick’s bar menu which offers hearty portions of comfort food with lots of cheese and sausage.

Imagine scoring the goal that wins the match for your team. I have to imagine it – despite sensibly ignoring rules which we didn’t like, my team came second from last, only narrowly missing out on getting the booby prize, an imaginary wooden spoon.

It’s always match day at Bar Kick (and sister bar Café Kick in Clerkenwell). Challenge your friends, family and colleagues to some football fun.

www.cafekick.co.uk