Hot honey Red Bulls, competitive darts, and a sunny outdoor rooftop — what more could you want from a night out in Oxford?
Flight Club Oxford, located on the top floor of Westgate shopping centre, has just opened its new Summer Terrace, ideal timing for the UK’s concerningly placed heatwave this week. Pairing its dangerously refreshing cocktails with a stunning view of outer Oxford’s meadows, it’s built for a sunny evening of alfresco drinking and dining. We were kindly invited to try out the terrace for ourselves, which, naturally, we willingly accepted.
Firstly, and most importantly, we tried many of their cocktails, including (but not limited to) our two favourites: ‘Hot Peach’ and ‘Matilda’s Margarita’. ‘Hot Peach’ was an all-round Blue favourite due to the surprisingly delicious pairing of their signature hot honey syrup with Peach Red Bull, while Matilda’s lime zest was well-complemented by a generous salt rim. If you needed proof of how much we enjoyed them, Tallulah (our Managing Director at the Blue), deep into her seventh margarita, turned from Scouse to Jamaican in the space of 10 minutes. Not good enough for you? My notes app entry (rigorously written, evidently) says all you need to know.
As for the food, other than our adeptly-described “chicken so good”, I myself would recommend the BBQ pulled pork sliders and the crispy cod tacos. And, for the vegetarians or vegans among us, the corn ribs were delicious. They were the perfect picky bits to supplement our cocktails, conversations, and, ultimately, our somewhat tragic dart-throwing.
Moving back inside, the main restaurant is lined with booth-like seating areas, each with their own dartboard and interactive game system. The scoring is all accounted for digitally, with a screen to pick your next game and see the scores in real time. The games range from traditional darts to snakes and ladders (dart edition). Quite honestly, I expected us to play one game and call it a day. However, given the variety and uniqueness of each of the games, allowing (almost) anyone of (almost) any skill set to get ahead, we stayed for about four rounds. And even as complete beginners, and not particular dart enthusiasts, we felt unstoppable by the fourth round. I can now say that I actually enjoy playing darts. Corpus Christi’s college bar and its battered dartboard didn’t manage that in two years, so I would say that’s pretty impressive.
Additionally, and perhaps my favourite part of the dartboard area, they have installed a small camera next to the dartboard to capture everyone’s live reaction when a player wins. Watching those back after the thrill of someone’s unexpected win (or your own devastating loss) is absolutely hilarious. And if those videos and photos at the dartboard weren’t enough for you, then a retro-style photobooth sits just a few metres away. After finishing darts, we obviously indulged in some black-and-white photos (pictured below for some inspo!) alongside the many we took in their dimly lit, beautifully decorated artist-inspired booths.
A special mention has to go out to the staff — they were incredibly friendly and always willing to help with any dart-related queries, whilst also ensuring we were well-fed (and drunk enough). I would say that they managed the latter adequately.
So, whether you’re super competitive, or convinced you will struggle in simply aiming for the dartboard, Flight Club offers a fab and totally unique night out. And, as someone who previously associated darts with a sticky Wetherspoons carpet and a fear of embarrassing myself, this evening totally changed my relationship with darts.