Fayre Play — Restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne

Went on Saturday (6th of Sep) with some friends (6 of us). The queue to get in was quick and the gentleman at the front desk was welcoming and friendly. Wish we could have gotten his name to put it here ! He had blonde longish hair that was a mix between a mullet and wolf cut. Then we decided to start on games as the queue for drinks was quite long and on the slower side but staff is still training and even though there was pressure and many ingredients for drinks they were all lovely! (the best drink is the one with the little duck it packs a punch) We got started on games but were a bit unsure about the process of stamp collection but Katie helped us out and answered our questions. We also made our way over to a game where you have long stick and need to collect duck on hooks with it (not sure what the name was). There we were helped by Lily! I was so surprised that it was their trial shift as they seemed confident in answering our questions. They had effortless banter and really cool pink hair! Overall each staff member were helpful and very kind. With this we did unfortunately encounter a few disappointments during our visit that I think could easily be fixed by management such as the prices of drinks (a student night with cheaper prices three times a month would I think really bring in a good crowed), lack of direction when it comes to games/ rules for stamp collection (signs saying how the score cards and point collection work would be beneficial especially since it can get quite loud), too high of a score to even collect stamps on your score card (20 ducks in a bucket with a short timer is and was unrealistic I think that the number should not be set by who got a high score and should instead be set by a median as it makes it more fun especially for the harder games but games that are easier should be based on a high score), only two places that are real designated photo locations (make it like Disney land and have a photographer come around to take pics that can be purchased at the end of the night instead of one photobooth and a single horse from a carousel...), too many booths and not enough space where the games are (this meant balls were flying everywhere and the seating area was dead space. People were being hit by basketballs, expensive drinks were being knocked over and I accidentally hit Lily with the wooden pole due to the lack of space. We came to play games so there's not really any need for that much seating and its the selling point, the food is a second thought - also make it like a walk up and order food situation if you want it because that screams carnival or a fair!), there were too many glass cups that could break (sippy cups that look like ducks in the game area would be so cute!!), and finally many of the games weren't fully functioning which is disappointing as its not been open that long. A big positive note the staff was extremely attentive especially when my group said that the music was too loud to even hear them explain the games and if they could turn it down which they did right away! I think it is a fun experience and we all had a good time but unfortunately we aren't keen to return as we spent most of our time waiting be it for games or drinks (almost £14 for a double vodka and coke - Bally's the casino next to it for example is about £9 for the same drink) which ultimately made the experience a bit boring, the complete opposite of what a carnival or fair should be. I hope that some of the disappointments my group had are smoothed out and that some of the solutions are taken into consideration. There is a lot of potential and I hope I can see if I can convince my group (with some tweaks here and there from management - the general staff killed it our qualms are with the music not the instruments)...

Club level loud music, broken games machines, over priced and understocked.

When entering the music was so aggressively loud that you had to shout in each other's ears to hear most of the time which wasnt a great start. staff were very friendly but it was down hill from there, we started with food, having to order at the bar which had quite a wait as it had a massive queue of people ordering drinks with only space for 2 to 3 bar staff at a time. the seating areas are ok however there are speakers blasting music at club volume all over the seating area with the most space between speakers being only a few meters so conversation during the meal or enjoyment was next to impossible, they were also out of napkins which wasn't helping thr greasey food but it was pretty ok food but nothing too special. One of the special drinks on offer was a fish bowel however they only had 8 bowls for the whole place meaning that they couldn't make the drink without using a small pitcher without a reduction in price (drinks tokens are not valid for higher priced drinks). They also had very limited stock of bottled drinks such as corona (they had none left).

Moving to the games zone, more than half the games had at least one lane out or were broken almost entirely with staff having to manually do alot of it, with these games and the prizes you get for them it seemed that the only people winning some of the games were the ones who waited till staff didn't look and used some form of cheat, which is fair enough when you see how impossible some of them are which is to be expected from fair ground style games but some of the scores to reach were insane.

Generally the place seemed to be a great idea with poor execution and maintenance but with a price for a premium service. It's sad that these ideas of both often poorly executed and for some reason accompanied with ear bleeding loud music. Would avoid, will not...

This is a strange one. First of all every member of staff was lovely. Food was great. Drinks were reasonably priced. Everything was great outside of the main attraction. The carnival games themselves.

I walked out legitimately thinking an actual carnival would be easier to win at, between our party of four only one of us left with a duck.

Several games barely worked (laser gun targets, skee ball was poorly made having cracks and poor quality tracks). Several spots on games were out of order meaning a party of 4 couldn't all play together. All games were supposed to be coin operated but few of them worked, resulting in staff members having to push a button to override. On top of all that, several games were point blank impossible because of the dis functionality or the points needed being straight up impossible. (Hook a duck requiring 10 ducks and for those all to be pushed down a ramp. A target ball throwing game where you can only throw one ball at a time. A reflex based button pusher where even being perfect, you do not even get half the required points).

A staff member told us they often had to give out IOUs for the big ducks which require you to win 8 out of 9 games. At a push. You can win 3 of the games consistently with skill. The rest are damaged (skeeball, Laser gun targets). Cheaply made (laser gun targets). Unreasonable (both ball throwing games being a tiny target and restricted to single ball throws for the multi target). Or have an unrealistic expectation with score (ducks, button pushing, basketball (which at an arcade I consistently make it to stage 3)).

I left the premises full, a bit buzzed, but frustrated by how faulty and rigged the main selling point was. Thank you to all staff that were exceptionally polite, lovely, and sympathetic regarding the blatantly...