Smash in Reading

Tried getting in with myself and 7 other friends, the doorman came up with all kinds of excuses not to let us in and were so rude about it.

I have been to Smash Reading on numerous occasions and think the concept is great. However the booking system is not fit for purpose, with multiple methods of booking being handled separately (over phone booking written on a piece of paper, web bookings directly into the system after validation), which on 50% of the times I have visited has resulted in tables being double booked. Additionally the bar can be very understaffed at peak times (~9pm), with queues of up to half an hour for a drink when you might only have 1 hour on a table tennis table. This place is doing itself a disservice and I believe could be much more profitable if it had a pre-paid debit card booking system and put on an extra member of staff on Fri/Sat late evenings.

1 barmaid 100 people at least! Service shocking but those people pro ably spent £10 each maths = £1000 takings! Invest in more staff so i dont have to wait 30 mins for a drink and spend my time writing this #review!!!

Ikke finn på å gå her. Servicen er helt elendig. Du blir ikke behandlet som kunde, men som dritt. Vaktene i døren burde virkelig fått sparken.

Celebramos la fiesta de cumpleaños número 30 de mi hijo en Smash Reading. Teníamos unos 40 amigos y familiares. Toda la noche fue un éxito fantástico y el personal no pudo haber hecho más. Emily (que gestionó toda la reserva) no podría haber sido más servicial y servicial a la hora de satisfacer nuestras necesidades y horarios (a veces cambiantes). Reservamos pizzas y bebidas. Las pizzas estaban deliciosas y calientes y las bebidas se servían frías y en cubos de hielo. ¡Incluso pude conseguir un cubo de hielo y agua para empapar mi tobillo torcido! Había una selección razonable de bebidas. En general, fue una gran experiencia y volvería de nuevo.

I took my 3 children (10, 14 & 16) for a pizza and a few games of ping pong as it's a bit of a quirky place. When we arrived we paid £12.50 for the ping pong tables and then I had to leave my bank card behind the bar as a deposit for the balls and bats (which were falling apart anyway!). We tried to order food but the menu was pretty confusing. A pizza with a green leaf next to it (which indicates Vegetarian) had anchovies on it? Other veggie pizzas included parmesan and pesto-both of which are not usually vegetarian products. The staff didn't seem to be aware of this and we were told to order our pizza but just omit the bits we didn't want. I tried to order 3 portions of fries but the restaurants delivery hadn't turned up so we went without. When the food arrived it looked dry. We asked for ketchup to be told this had also run out! This was a no brainer for me and I told the staff member that there must be a local shop near by where they could purchase a bottle of red sauce! Despite the rain, they did do this a 5mins later we had our ketchup which was very much appreciated. I will not be going back here for food but would pop in for a drink and a bit of ping pong only next time

Ok, I realise that the table tennis is just for a bit of fun and entertainment but the facilities for this are awful! We arrived when they had just opened. The table tennis tables were sticky and marked with spilt drinks. Of the four tables available two are pushed up against the walls due to lack of space. The bats provided were all falling apart, with the surface material hanging off and flapping about. We were provided with two balls only, the rest we were told were on the floor or under the tables, help yourselves. I have been to bounce in London several times which is top notch compared to Smash. 100 times better. Run efficiently and good facilities. Bounce is more expensive but you get what you pay for. On a good note. The staff at Smash were very pleasant. Good selection of beer and other drinks.

Pizzas are great, food & drink deals very good & the table tennis tables a good laugh with friends - definately another trip planned & the staff very friendly

I invited 2 friends to Smash Bar for a pizza and beer. Took them an hour to bring pizzas with an half empty venue. One of my friend left asking for a refund. The girls at the bar said manager was preparing pizzas (?) because chef was not there and dealt with a large order before us. I haven't seen anybody else eating pizza and unfortunately I don't like to be told untrue excuses, the whole experience marred the whole evening.

Where do I start..... We booked a work event, Pizza and Ping pong for 30 people, first off it was so hard to book and get through to them but because we had such a good time last time I kept trying, final got through and got our booking on. Pizza oven broke and they did not inform us and didn't seem to care to be honest. I had 30 people to feed and they don't do any other food so we were stuck! Didn't let us order in. The customer service was terrible, they didn't seem to care, the guy behind the bar could do with some customer service skill training! I was a Retail Manager for many years and this is not how you deal with issues. No one else seemed to be around. If you knew you had a large group coming in you should have more than one employee working! The guys got an hour of Ping Pong then we had to leave, went to Pav's who sorted us out with food with 20 mins notice. Don't use them for big groups, they don't know how to do this at all! Overall we will not be coming back for a work event.

Omg! First I order a bottle of wine with 2 wine glasses and I receive a wine glass with lipstick on return to the bar and get asked would you like a Prosecco glass ummmm no. So they have hand washed the only wine glass left in the building (my wine glass).Then we decide to have a pizza then get told it’s an hour wait there are 4 tickets on we can see the pass and there are 3 tables sooooo no. So we then decide to drink on the terrace clearly sign posted With the toilet to then find there is no terrace it’s a badly sign posted.

I visited here with a group of friends for my birthday. As soon as we walked in the staff were unhelpful and didn’t want to give us any attention. After asking for help finding our reserved table a staff member told us she would go and find it for us. She walked off and then never returned. After about 5 minutes of waiting we ended up just asking all the tables of players when there booking was and taking over someone else’s table. When we ordered food it took exceedingly long to come out and only did after we checked on it, I wouldn’t be surprised if it had been forgotten about. When it did eventually come out several of the meals were wrong - for example the sausage pizza came out with no meat on at all. The tables are squeezed in to far too small a space to that makes it very difficult to play without knocking in to others stood around drinking. We were only given two balls to play with which were soon lost in to the crowd of people/under tables. When I asked a member of staff if it was possible to get some extra balls she turned her nose up at me and snapped ‘pick them up off the floor’. When I explained I had been looking on the floor but couldn’t find any she relented and got me a new pack. This is the first time I’ve ever written a complaint but overall the whole night was so bad and the staff so rude and unhelpful I have felt obliged to do so. Definitely would not recommend to anyone.

I pre booked this as I was bringing a group of colleagues after a meeting, booking was easy and follow up with a call - all good so far Attentive service when I walked in , easy to pay and quick to order drinks all good 👍🏻 The issues came when we were ready to play ping pong . The bats are in need of being replaced half of them had rubber loose on them and therefore were not ideal for playing .. the biggest issue however was the fact they had run out of ping pong balls.. despite an apology it we had to wait around 15 minutes for a colleague to run out to the local shop and buy some more .. really not great when the main USP of the bar is to play ping pong . We ordered Pizza which was very nice 👍🏻 Overall the visit was let down by the equipment needed to play ping pong and the odd time where no one was around to help as there was minimal staff working when we visited so if one was pre occupied it generally meant we would be left waiting .

Had such a fun, relaxing afternoon at Smash celebrating a friends 50th, the manager could not have been more friendly and accommodating to all our requests, the service was brilliant and the table tennis was excellent fun, with everyone around us really getting into the spirit of it (and not minding how bad we all were !!).

I booked a table for 15 of us and a table tennis table. When we arrived they had not reserved our tables. We waited at the bar downstairs by the table tennis tables which seemed like forever only to be told that bar man was only serving the private party? What private party I table was with the rest of the people?? So we queued at the upstairs bar where there was two members of staff and it took forever to get served any drinks. It was a very disappointing first experience and unfortunately I won’t be returning.

Working with the Smash team to organise a corporate event for 23 people was really simple, emails and phone calls answered quickly and though they normally open at 5pm, they opened at 1pm for us so we had full use of all the tables and space for the afternoon. We were divided into two groups, one went to Escape Rooms Reading, the other to Smash for a Table Tennis competition, we then swapped, then joined up at the end for a final competition. The team at Smash were very helpful and accommodating, looking after us well. The pizzas, garlic bread and chips were really nice and washed down with a good selection of beers and cocktails, what more could we ask for!! Thanks loads to Smash for a great afternoon.

The food was excellent and was great value for money. The staff were very attentive to any wheelchair accessibility issues, which was very much appreciated.

Great atmosphere, prices very reasonable and the pizza was incred! Table tennis tables were full size, equipment all in good nick. Rekorderlig on tap was a welcome bonus 👌🏼

Booked a table to watch the football, great atmosphere! Very busy but didn't take long for drinks or food. Pizza was pretty good too for a bar!

We called in at Smash for drinks.A cool looking bar with a great selection of beers and cocktails to suit all tastes.Staff were friendly, but took a while to get to the bar area as there are two huge sofas in the Centre, which is impossible to navigate when the bar gets busy.

Awesome venue!! Would definitely recommend this place to anyone, staff are great to. Customer service on point

Great atmosphere, very helpful and friendly staff. Great cocktails and had lots of fun and will definitely be coming back!

Came with a few friends for the quiz night on the Wednesday. Had a ‘smash’ing time, and won a £50 bar voucher. All in all, amazing night! Plus the bar manager was nice enough!

Visited Smash last night with friends for the Quiz, we all had a great time! Complimentary pizza and a couple hours of ping pong was great fun!

Upon arrival the bar was extremely understaffed with two bar staff on a Saturday evening... As well as this, not only did it take at least 20 min to order a drink but they also overbooked a table tennis table after promising we would gain one table and get another through walking in. As well as this, after consulting with what it looked like to be shift manager, he acted as if it was our fault he got the booking wrong and started swearing to himself in disappointment. I feel like as a business it needs a lot more effort and motivation in its staff and services’ they are providing.

Visited here recently with some friends and bar has a nice atmosphere. Football was on and we booked a table tennis table to play on, which is great fun and a little different. Not much room to play though. Would go back.

I booked a table for a group of 14 of us and was contacted by the bar who asked for a £30 deposit which I paid. When we got there we were given 3 small tables in a tight corner of the bar, I spoke to staff who said reserved seating is a mixture of standing and seated which would be fine if I had been told that when booking as 14 of us wanted to eat so standing wasn’t an option. The guy did find us another area where we could all sit down so not a problem. We all ordered various pizzas, most came out burnt and to be honest was the worst pizza I’ve ever had and for £12 each we weren’t impressed. One friend who ordered a vegetarian pizza received one with meat yet the staff told her it was the one she ordered. It wasn’t until she took a bite and had to spit it back out that she realised! The staff then had the cheek to say well that pizza is for one of your group so can the person who it is for have it even though part of it had been spat out! If I hadn’t of gone to the bar at the end of the night to request my £30 deposit back I don’t think I would have got it. We also complained about the pizza situation and were given a £12 refund for that one. We didn’t manage to even play ping pong as the wait time was like 2.5 hours. Disappointing evening.....

The tables are knackered and there is barely any room around them to play. They even cage the underneath off, but only at one end so all the balls disappear under there. There are only 4 tables in a space that should fit 2. And they close off all the gaps so that people have to walk right in front of you to get by. The food is ok, but just about. Coupled with quite a few of the staff having attitude problems, it’s not a good experience. There’s a decent cocktail list but most weren’t available on a Friday night because clearly someone can’t manage to get the ingredients in. Obviously too much trouble to send someone out to the supermarket round the corner. Nice idea but needs some better management.

This is a very lively venue on a Saturday night. Loads going on inside. Great selection of drinks. Just a little gutted we couldn't get a ping pong table.

Went here for a calzone when it first opened and it was amazing, must of changed chef as calzone now consist of 80% bread. Bland boring and wont visit again

First time here with several colleagues. It's very popular got really busy but then it was a Friday.Pizza was great but nightmare getting served at the bar, seemed to be limited too, no Bacardi!!! Which wasn't the case as we spotted some later, guess barmaid wanted to serve what she had to hand. No JD either.Didn't go down to the ping pong area but looked like fun.Unlikely to visit again, due to the drinks availability and sour faced bar staff.

Had a great evening here, Good food and good drinks Recommend the pingstar martini and the pollo pizza

Good afternoon there, we have had a pleasant evening at Smash, preordered the table, got 20% off, Cray cray, what more do you want homies.

Good Evening, Pizza was NUTS, good night playing ping pong. Had the best night with my girls 💁‍♀️😬😂😏🎉

Top notch. Great night with the nutty Netters. Great deals- several free bottles of prosecco and pizza to soak it up. It's nuts!

Great service from the barmen, nutty drinks and pizza - overall a good night, would recommend for predrinks before a big night over

Top barman, he’s the nuts 👍🏼 pizza was good too, no nuts though. Nuttin’ to complain about 🙃🙃🙃🙃

Such a nutty night drinking prosecco and playing ping pong! The pizza is great tooN I definitely recommend to anyone in the area!

I had a wonderful evening at this place. Highly recommend the margarita pizza and Long Island ice tea. Nutters x

Saturday 23.12 about 11:30 pm, bar half empty and only only one (blond) guy working. Doesn't have a clue where drinks are in the bar, doesn't know where shot glasses are. We were waiting 25min for him to serve 3 drunk girls who were messing him about and at the end we just walked out as he was just useless. Other bar was open but girl couldn't be bother to serve us and told us to use other bar

Not a bad place for drinks - 2-4-1 cocktails are great value.difficult to get a table and despite booking for 10pm, were made to wait until 10:15 and then we were asked to leave at 11:00 despite paying for the hour. then took 15 minutes to get the deposit back even though this takes all of 5 seconds (seriously) and there were staff just loitering, telling us to just "give me one minute".Arrogant barmen or 'cocktail makers' if you prefer, with sarcasm and rude retorts when making a suggestion for clearer offers on drinks.Honestly, if it wasn't for the pizzas which are incredible, and a couple of very friendly staff, it would be a terrible place to go.

We held an afternoon celebration for the team of 40 people. We have a great time playing table tennis on the 4 tables and enjoying an interesting range of beers and ciders. The food was good and enjoyed by everyone, and the staff & management were very helpful and friendly.We all had a great time and will try to find an excuse to go again, soon!

Interesting place - a bar with table tennis tables; the concept seems good and lots of people were playing.The food (pizza and fries) was very nice.However they only do a selection of "Craft Beers" - so if you're not into that then it's not the place for you.

Out for a couple of drinks and snacks with my friends and had a great night in Smash. the staff where amazing and very accommodating. In particular Kim, I am a vegetarian and she recommended a very tasty pizza for me. We played ping pong which was great fun and had a few cocktails. Would highly recommend this place and I would definitely go back!

Great staff, a unique place to have a drink. Ping pong, pizza and beer!! I would Recommended for big partys, couples and familys during the day.

Nice bar in the centre of Reading, with the added bonus of table tennis. Good staff, friendly service. Well worth calling in for a drink.

Amazing location, friendly staff and very nice in general, food was brilliant even a try me pizza was available and a shot of lager was avalible to try also

Good place to go to for drinks and some ping pong. Great idea and good fun. However, the service is quite poor and very slow. Needed to line up for nearly half an hour to get a round of drinks. We didnt bother trying for a second and decided to leave.

My friend had booked a table for the night however when we arrived there was no table reserved and the staff had to quickly kick someone off a table for us, which made things a bit awkward. The table was only for 4 people however our booking was for at least 9 people, so people had to stand around. Service was pretty speedy though. Cocktails were nice and chips were a good size portion. This is the main reason im leaving a review the lady who served us was lovely, extremely helpful and friendly and had actually only worked there an hour! Which we found a bit ridiculous as it was a busy Friday night and a bit overwhelming.Bit of drama trying to get a ping pong table. My friend was told a time and then we went to get bats was told he hadn't written it down and we'd have to wait another hour.Nice night out but I felt there were too many gimmicks rather than focusing on one idea and making it good!

The pub and the beer is good, however the staff let us all buy full pints and then immediately shut the bar and kicked us out. We tried to stay and finish our pints but the staff got aggressive and started swearing at us. Would never go again.

Booked a table here for dinner and ping pong. When I made the booking on-line I asked a specific question in the comments section, to which I didn't receive a response. That really sets the tone for what could be a great place to go, but in reality is a restaurant / night-out disaster on every level.The waiting staff, or at least the ones we dealt with had no clue. None at all. Nada. They forgot to bring drinks, service was slooooow (it wasn't busy), the food took ages (40 minutes) to come. Of the drinks we (tried) to order during the time we were there, 4 were not available. So, no draft cider.....2 of the bottled beers we ordered were not there and they couldn't serve a Moscow Mule, presumably because they didn't know how to make one.So, the food. Pizza. Was it any good - yes, it was ok in a 'not as good as Pizza Express' kind of way. It's the kind of quality that would seem amazing if you had had a few too many drinks and a few games of ping pong. Here's the thing though: the tables for diners are too small for the wooden boards that hold the pizzas. For example, if 4 of you are eating and you're seated at a 4 person table, you can only just fit them on the table. Try doing it for 6 on a table for 6 and you might as well take it outside and sit in the graveyard on the opposite side of the road.The place has no air-con so if you are in there and sitting at the front (away from the ping pong tables) it is roasting hot and totally uncomfortable. At the rear, I think there was air-con and this would make sense given its where people can play and they're going to get very hot without it.Generally, this place was woeful. If you want to pop in for a quick drink before going somewhere half decent, it might be worth taking a punt, but it's unlikely they'll have the drink you want and even if they do, it'll take so long to come you could have gone to one of the other bars down the road, ordered, drunk it and gone back.

We visited this establishment on 12/06/17 at around 9/10 and were shocked by the rudeness of the staff. While being served we asked to book a table tennis table and the bar tender didn't even reply and just walked off. Then while we were playing the bar tender came over and slammed her hands on the table and very rudely asked if we had booked the table even though she had served us and taken our payment.We then also asked politely for another bat and even offered to pay extra and she very bluntly gave us a no without explanation. We like the concept of the bar but unfortunately the service was so unbearably rude we left shortly after and will not be returning.

The ping pong tables make the bar a fun night out and the long happy hour(s) of 5-10 meant our evening of drinks was sorted! We picked up a bottle of prosecco and two delicious pizzas for only £20! For this price we expected cheap microwaved meals but the bar staff reassured us that the pizzas were hand rolled and prepared from scratch on site. This place is something different from most bars and definitely worth a visit

Initially, the idea seems a good one. A few pizzas and cocktails with your friends and then some table tennis to round off the night. Or that was our plan before we arrived. Assuming that you can fight your way to the over crowded, under staffed bar chances are the seemingly exhausted bar staff will eventually get you a drink. It may look like they have a wide variety of drinks available, but this is a trick of the eye, you don't want any of those drinks. You want a normal lager, like a Bud, or a Carling, or a Carlsberg. They are big names for a reason. So once you've spotted a familiar name (Peroni or Red Stripe) you then have to gamble if there is any in the keg. If fortune swings in your fate then enjoy a cold pint of something recognisable. If not and they don't have any pint glasses (trust me a bar of this size has managed to run out of pint glasses, at fight night the other week it was bottles or two halves), then you'll have to choose something from the baffling bottled menu. Good luck. You'll recognise about 5 of the seemingly never ending list of beers you've never heard of. And then the bar staff who are close to falling asleep or losing interest or have disappeared to go get stock will struggle to find your bottle of "beer" resulting in a claw game like set up of "left a bit, down one shelf, left again, no the other one, back, right, yeah that one!" at least you've worked for it! Your vocal chords will have shattered trying to shout your order at the poor staff over the naff music from the DJ or the rowdiness from the lower floor. Eventually, your order will be complete and you'll have to pay, but one of the tills is down so you will fight your way back down the bar to get to the till that is so you can gawp at the ridiculous price of a few beers in a bar before resigning your fate and paying. Then comes the battle of weaving past the ever growing crowd at the bar to somewhere where the music is only mildly deafening to enjoy not chatting with your friends. Ordering food is a whole different kettle of fish. Once again, fight your way back through the crowd of nasty suits and wait for a bar staffer to spot you, but oh no! They are in the middle of making a trillion of the ridiculous cocktails for one guy, and the other bar staffer is trying to find a pint glass. Eventually, someone gets to you and you can place your order, either the staff can't hear you or the till doesn't match the menu when it comes to food so another top of the lungs exchange with much pointing and gesturing eventually you hand over some money to the single till and hope that something resembling pizza will appear at the table you gestured at within the time it'd take a human to starve. The pizza is quite good, and get two with a bottle of prosecco and it's well priced at 20 quid. Cocktails, don't go there if it is after 10. Before then, the offer makes them relatively affordable if unlike one drunken gentleman who was enjoying loudly proclaiming he'd won the lottery. But you haven't won the rollover so you just look at the menu and imagine what the semaphore for Wiff Waff is. You decide that perhaps it'd be easier to try and use the universal sign language for porn star martini. Or at least a variety of playground like gestures, and drinking motions, coupled with some pointing to the sticky menu. The barperson (its 2017) then will cobble your drink together out of what they have with them. I'm sorry but who offer's a minty cocktail and doesn't have mint! Finally, the ping pong, seems novel, but it's been done, what was wrong with pool tables? Pool tables don't involve being run into by a drunken woman in a bad suit. You can get a table but the waiting list can go on to the next day. Seriously, we contemplated waiting till 1 in the morning for a table. Then we went to Purple Turtle.

Really enjoy nights out here. Quick service at the bar and Friendly staff Good offers on the cocktails and a really good atmosphere. Excellent music and overall great night out. Had a leaving doo for a friend and she had the best send off.

Visited today and would not return for food/drinks. Firstly, a tiny glass bottle of coke is £2.65 and the draught coke tasted vile! The card machine was not working so we had to go get cash out. We ordered 3 pizzas and some fries and we were waiting 40 minutes for our food to arrive at the table even though there was no one else ordering! When we asked staff they were unhelpful and not very apologetic, then said a kitchen staff member was ill (but still why would 3 pizzas take that long?!). Side plates and mayonnaise then took 5 further minutes to arrive. Bad service from all members of staff. Luckily the ping pong is good fun, so I would return for that but never eating here again!

I booked some tables for a family celebration for my Daughters 21st. The booking was made online and a deposit paid. I also called to confirm the booking.We arrived and the staff had no knowledge of the booking and the tables were full. A refund of the deposit was given in cash as they couldn't do it back onto my card. We asked for a round of drinks but they would only let the Birthday girl have one. Didn't want to give them any of our money so left. I have since emailed my disappointment and had no reply. I wouldn't advise booking for a special occasion. Disgusting.

Wild horses wouldn't drag me in this place again. Staff grossly incompetent and could not give two hoots what you may think about it. Not particularly busy but still queues built up at the bar as they wander round aimlessly disappearing with no apparent hurry. Pizza was grotesque - makes me wretch even thinking about it. The particularly delightful AJ screamed in my face and called me a liar when I asked for our table tennis bat deposit back after finishing. So I'm still owed a tenner but he and the whole place seemed so unhinged I actually don't want to give them any of my contact details to complain, or indeed go back in. Looking forward to the inevitable day this closes down - there's only so many ping pong lovers in Reading who will keep flocking back for glacially slow service, rotten pizza and to be treated with total contempt.

I visited this place on a Friday night - hence fairly busy - and was unimpressed to say the least. There are 2 bars, and each bar was manned by just 2 members of staff. I waited good 7-8 minutes to get served because of the skeleton-staff system that was on, and the fact that they were making cocktails for every 1-2 customers, thereby taking much longer per customer (why not have 3 members of staff, with 2 doing cocktails and 1 doing pints?). The barman at one of the two bars told me I'd have to queue up again at the other bar as they didn't stock the flavour of cider at that bar (rather than use his initiative and fetch the drink himself). I witnessed staff disappear from the bar to get ingredients for the cocktails on numerous occasions whilst a line of customers were waiting to get served. Additionally, I ordered a cider from a bottle and had to ask for a glass and ice. The surly waitress then provided me 1-2 ice-cubes and so I had to ask again. The glass then had congealed ketchup on the rim. I asked for a new glass and this one had a crack in it!Overall, a badly-organised and poorly-managed service.

Un lugar diferente, para estar en grupo y a parte tomar algo, se puede cenar de manera informal, decoración y ambiente muy original, la gran sorpresa las mesas de ping pong, un trato genial, buenos coktails y trato muy agradable

Spent here a night with a team, we had a good time after all. The food is OK, however for a group of 10, it might be hard to have a decent dinner, as the tables are not very well placed. But, if you would like to drink only, that is not a problem. The place has four ping pong tables, so you can get wasted and play table tennis at the same time, throw logic out of the window! :D It is kind of strange to feel as you are getting drunk but getting better and better in ping pong... or is it just your mind makes you believe it? Probably yes. :) Give this place a try!

We visited for a quick Sunday cocktail and Pizza and were very impressed. I like the fact that the cocktail menu isn't massive as it makes it much easier to decide. 2 for 1 cocktails from 5-10pm every day is a great deal. Food wise, the pizzas are delicious. The atmosphere was great too. Will return.

We came here for our company work party and a great evening was had by all Yummy pizza was served for us to help ourselves, and the ping pong tables in the middle was a great touch. Most of us participated in a game at some point. Great fun! All in all in it's a great bar with a relaxed friendly atmosphere Would definitely return again

We held our Christmas party at Smash this year and it was fantastic. I'd had great communication the whole way through booking with the Sales and Marketing Manager Emily and we had pre-ordered food and drinks a few days before. Our booking included an hours ping-pong which everyone seemed to really enjoy. Initially I'd booked an area for 30 people but as the event drew closer I realised that far more people were interested in attending than I'd anticipated. I emailed to let them know that we were at 50 people and counting and Emily called me back straight away to discuss options. We were moved to a private room above Sakura called The Loft which has its own bar. Everyone was extremely impressed with The Loft and the private bar, especially as the bar was fully stocked with everything that anyone could have wanted outside of our pre-ordered wine, beer and prosecco. There were two severe nut allergies in our group. Typically at this sort of event they miss out on food as the venue's are usually unable to confirm that the food is prepared in a nut-free area. Smash were fantastic and the chef confirmed that he would prepare these pizzas separately. I also asked if it could be flagged to me when these pizzas, as well as the two gluten free pizzas for the coeliac's in our group, were ready so that they weren't eaten by anyone else at the party. One member of staff, Ethan was really attentive all night and tracked me down when the food was ready. One of my colleagues who is coeliac commented that it was the best Gluten free pizza he'd ever had and it's really fantastic that he was able to enjoy the food as well as normally he has to eat before coming to these events.Our Christmas parties are a self-funded and consequently we ask everyone to pay a set amount up front. Every time we looked like we were running low on the pre-ordered alcohol I topped up the bar with money from the kitty. Ethan was so attentive and just seemed to appear everytime I needed to buy something. We try not to return to a venue once we've had a Christmas party there, just solely so that there is some variety. However, feedback from everyone who attended was that if the party were to be exactly the same next year, they'd be really happy. We've even been asked by a few who were unable to attend if we could think of a reason to host a party early next year as they felt that they missed out.Thank you so much Smash, and an especially large thank you to Emily, Ethan and all of the staff that helped us. You made it a really fantastic night.

Being hitting up at smash for quiet a few months, recently took more friends in and had a bizarre experience, apparently no cider on draugh, but then a bar tender was coming to change the barrel, then again no cider pretty rude! Also one shot cocktails is that right? Nah smash more like trash

We popped in (group of ten) after our Team meal and I had a great time.The venue serves a selection of different beers such as Samuel Adams (Boston Pale Ale), the staff were extremely friendly, helpful and accommodating.The venue has four table tennis tables set up which is a strange concept which was well received by my colleagues and I.There was quite a wait for the table tennis tables however when we finally got on it was fun .Needless to say however that if they were busy then we may have struggled to get on the tables and play.Good fun, would come back in the future if passing.We did not eat as we had already eaten so cannot comment on the food.

I was really looking forward to go to this place the minute I heard about it. I love ping pong and more even I love some good pizza! They claim that their base is home and hand made! Well, maybe, somewhere in a factory and then driven in by a truck. Don't bother, I asked, as usual in England, for the pizza to be well done, or in my words, crispy! It came soggy and not cooked. Now my stomach, can't take that. Anyhow, I asked some 18 year old waiter which was serving pizzas if he could take it back and put it in the oven again, he looked at me as if I was from another planet and insisted, (even after showing him my sons pizza which was clearly cooked) that this is how they serve pizza. I then said I won't have it and I'd like my money back (as you pay upfront at the bar). He then said that they would not do that as I've taken a bit out of it! I argued for a while but I gave up on the sheer unbelievable argument. Now, booking a table is funny, you book one at the bar, the person then takes 5 pounds of you or your card for a deposit. Then you play for an hour (which you decide when it's over as no one checks) and then you get your deposit back. Only problem with that, some people will never get to play simple as that! I am very disappointed in this as it could be so much better! I hope they improve soon as otherwise they will end as anything else in reading is...

popped in for a quick bite and pint as most other food establishments were too busy with bookings. Bar staff were friendly and the pizza was good.

Booked a table of 6 for a colleagues leaving do as it seemed a fun place to try out. We arrived and the place was dead except for a few people playing table tennis. Greeted by a pleasant girl who told us to go and speak to the young lad dealing with people who had booked. I could see the person dealing with the bookings talking to the customer in front who had also booked. Immediately got a whiff of that condescending tone from him as if he worked from some exclusive London club - as opposed to a ping pong bar next to subway in Reading.... Considering the place was dead, and he was about 18, I couldn't really get my head around it. When he was done with the person in front he abruptly told me no table tennis tables were available for the next hour and pointed to a table where we should sit. Didn't like his attitude so just told him to cancel it and we went elsewhere. Smash is basically a poor man's Bounce unfortunately. You would have thought booking a table for food and booking table tennis would somehow be connected (like Bounce), they aren't, it does seem silly they basically have no system in place for booking the tables / queuing for them. I also don't understand why they book the table tennis tables out for an hour at a time as opposed to 30 minutes (or shorter) if they don't have a system for it, surely that would make more sense. I don't expect to make another attempt at this place, the staff have clearly retained that "Sakura" vibe that they've had for years, i.e. pretentious kids given a little too much power for their pay grade. Doesn't really fly with people ten - fifteen years their elder who came out for a couple of pints expecting to be treated like customers. Even at somewhere like Bounce, in a typically pretentious area of London, the staff don't act in quite as much of a self-important manner as they do in sakura / smash. Avoid if you're not a teenager.

Visited here with a group of friends for my birthday and it was great fun. As there were 20 of us we preordered food and it was delivered with no hassle. They produced a pizza for my gluten-free friend with no issues. Many friends commented on how good the pizzas were. The ping-pong was hilarious and easy to organise. Mark of how good the night was has been how many texts I have had today saying how much fun it was.

Great music, nice cocktails and big flat screens to watch sports (like UFC last night). Great place for losing a few hours of the night.

Most of my evening was top notch.The bar staff didn't skip the gents for the girls in low cut dresses, the bar was clean, the punters were all having a good time. The door staff were nice and not ignorant.Sadly the evening was letdown when a staff member bumped into my other half. Not once but twice. Both with no apology. I then decided to say to the staff member "manners would be nice". He came back over immediately, not to apologise but to say "I beg your pardon". When I replied don't worry, he said "good" as if it was a threat. Upon requesting the bar staff to get a manager. Guess who appears. The same gentleman who bumped into me and the other half. He IS the manager.Rather than apologise. The manager decided to make excuses and explain he felt we should of moved out of his way and that we were aggressive by not moving. (to note we were standing at the bar. Buying drinks. Being customers).Sadly it took 5 mins of me explain the lack of professionalism and poor customer service before the manager realised I was not another drunk 18 year old he could talk down to.I then received a half hearted apology and loose hand shake.Once again another bar where employees feel they can bully the punters as their inebriation makes them easy targets.

Went with some friends for a drink and to play ping pong, needless to say we couldn't play ping pong? The system dates back to the medieval ages, the ppl on the table get an hour and then its first come first served or if your their mates then you just go straight on for another hour! Tables are literally a foot between each other and you have a generous 2 foot behind! Don't bother going if you want to play ping pong, go to bounce in London, much better atmosphere and they have a working booking system!

Great idea and copycat of bounce on a small scale in London. Good lunch deals here, but the menu is very limited. Want fun and lunch, deffo worth a visit.

Great night out! Booked in on a Monday night for a team night out with work. We had two tables for ping pong and we had a great laugh reminding ourselves how to play. We all had pizzas which were a bit different to the standard pizza places and were all delicious (even if we had to wait a bit for a couple of them) and they were happy to make adjustments to pizzas to accord ate a couple of vegetarians? They had an amazing selection of craft beers which went down well with the guys and Monday night was 2 for 1 so it was great value. Nice to have something a bit different in Reading.

Basically this place focuses on table tennis - plenty of people come here to play some, eat a good pizza a drink some good beer. I had a great time here!