Barcadia in Norwich

Few drinks before a night out playing Mortal Kombat, House of the Dead, Pac-man and a bunch of other classics. When they first opened they had an extensive cocktail menu with all game related themes and all very original, menu has since got a bit smaller but guessing that’s due to refining/best sellers. Good atmosphere every time, everyone’s just there to play games and have a few bevvies, and chill. Highly recommend if you’re out in Norwich a bit earlier than usual!!

Decided go to Barcadia for NYE with my girlfriend and it was an absolute blast. Tickets were only £5, which was much cheaper than most other places, plus we were given free cake! Enjoyed the cocktails, enjoyed the drinks, enjoyed the gaming tournament. Great atmosphere. We'll be going back again in 2024!

Need to update their website if closes at 10pm on a Thursday nite. Travelled from Reading on a big recommendation from my GF who lives in Norwich. Got there at 10:15 to be told place shut. Some lame excuse that all other bars shut but we had just left Pogue Mahons 200 yards away at the Mid point in a live Ska band act...wasn't allowed back in there by Doormen as was then at capacity in there. Avoid this place at all costs.

Every couple of months we go to Norwich, and we usually visit the main arcade there, Retro Replay. It's a friendly place and has a lot of games. But, the last time we visited, we chose to give our business to the new kid on the block, Barcadia. I wish we hadn't. Everything was vastly overpriced, the food was seriously terrible - especially considering how expensive it was. It's vegan only, which upset my daughter as she didn't enjoy anything that we ordered (we had to go to McDonalds after we left). The small tray that dishes are served on gives them a slapdash, diner vibe, but the prices are very much NOT in that ballpark. The whole food angle just felt like a lazy cash grab and I don't recommend ordering any of it. Drinks were also, in our opinion, overpriced. My wife wanted to try a cocktail but baulked at the price on principle. The general ambience of the place was poor, especially in comparison to their major local competitor. It's a big bar, but there's no personality to it. It was also cold and empty when we visited. Really not the atmosphere we expected. There are a few arcade machines, but several are in quite a tatty state and a few of them had some functionality issues which is inexcusable, especially when you take the cost of a visit into consideration. The full-sized games are not free to play, you have to buy tokens. I complained about a problem with one of them but was told to play another by a member of staff. The person who was working that day seemed very disinterested and as if they were just marking time. Employees at similar establishments can at least manage a sincere smile and seem to enjoy their work. Customer relations are very important. We will not be repeating this experience and would advise others to keep clear until they get their act together. If our visit was anything to go by, this place will not be open much longer! I can only presume that the 5 star review on this page is from a friend of the business, as this is definitely not in line with the experience we had. We'll skip Barcadia in future, and next visit we're going to try the Albion gaming cafe, another new hangout for gamers in Norwich. I hope that doesn't perform so dismally.

Holidaying in Norfolk, so made time to visit Nostalgia Nerds place and had a fab time! The friendly folks there exchanged some taps of my plastic for ample machine tokens and a pint of fruity cider. Played my favourite PacMan and DigDug machines before settling down to Pizza loaded fries and onion rings. OMG they were awesome, plus i had a mini pac-man machine all to myself right at the table. If only I lived a bit closer this would be my goto Saturday hang out, or maybe i could convince you guys to open a Rutland franchise? This seals the deal though, next years holiday has to be in Norfolk again! 👍 ❤️🕹