Our Review Of Flight Club: Cardiff's Fast-Paced Darts Bar And Enchanted Floral Rooftop

In years gone by, chances are when you thought of darts, images of stuffy, worn-out boozers with questionably sticky carpets came to mind. But since 2015, when Flight Club Shoreditch opened their first activity bar, the rules have well and truly been ripped up, seeing the sport get a massive glow-up. Having visited London Bloomsbury many moons ago, I was eager to see what Cardiff brought to the table… and let’s just say I wasn’t disappointed.

After devouring a pizza the size of a small child? Seek shade in Cardiff's gorgeous rooftop paradise.

DesignMyNight Review Of Flight Club Cardiff

Having only stepped off the train at Cardiff Central moments earlier, we found ourselves on the main high street where Flight Club is conveniently located. If in doubt? Just look for the pretty Art Deco building fronting a canopy of flowers above the door. Wales’ capital city was heaving with Oasis fans attending their first reunion gig, so after navigating our way past the bucket hat-wearing brigade, we stepped up to the ochre, primed for an entertaining afternoon ahead.

Once inside, you can’t help but get a massive dopamine boost from the surrounds, themed around a vintage fairground. Think gold carousel horses and huge circular lights that glimmered, paired with Victorian knick-knacks like fine china, quirky framed prints or velvet mismatched curtains. Also, I adored the cute pink patterned wallpaper that gave me nanna’s house vibes.

The Flight Club cost is a very reasonable £11 per person for an hour of social darts, and as there were only two of us, we were able to try out nearly all of the sets. There’s a lot to choose from, and after helpful guidance from the (exceptional) team, we landed on Demolition. Here, you have to hit the highest numbers from the board totalling 180, making sure you finish on exactly 0 without going over. Seems easy? Not quite, and after many callings-out for cheating, wobbly dart throwing, Bullseye references and an interesting one-leg-in-the-air method, my date won. And the gloating was relentless.  

The Flight Club Cardiff reviews mention how lush the terrace is, boasting picnic benches and indoor trees. 

As you can imagine, this made us rather thirsty, and as we dropped by on a balmy summer’s day (top tip: they have air-con), we opted to try the new ‘Flight Club In Bloom’ cocktail menu, which launched on 2nd June. Just Peachy (£11.75) was a well-balanced, deep coral-coloured tall glass blending Patrón Reposado, peach liqueur, grenadine and pineapple. Aptly reflecting the season, it wouldn’t be out of place on an Ibiza beach bar. Elsewhere, the Sicilian Sunrise (£8.50) proved to be an excellent alcohol-free tipple. Bubbly from the pink grapefruit soda and sharp with lemon and orange, this zippy number definitely cooled us down.

Still reeling from my partner’s win, not helped by the fact you can easily email yourself clips of each other’s reactions (okay, hands up, this feature is very cool), we cracked on with the next round. I won’t spoil it for those eager to discover the matches for themselves, but highlights include Killer, where, embarrassingly, I was beaten within two goes and Snakes ‘n’ Ladders: a fresh take on the classic game. You could go from hero to zero in just one shot, and not going to lie, I loved my boyfriend being taken down a peg or two by the ‘big mamba’.

We’d worked up a healthy appetite by this point, so we refuelled with four items from the Flight Club menu that are designed to be shared, which was plenty as portions were generous. Firstly, nachos (£12). Prepare for a mountain of cool-seasoned tortilla crisps slathered in an American-style cheesy sauce and sour cream, topped with chunky guacamole. Juicy tomato cubes made up a tasty salsa which contrasted nicely with the hit of pickled jalapeños. My favourite dish of the night turned out to be the spiced cauliflower wings (£8); these perfectly crispy mouthfuls burst with flavour, and we had a particular weakness for dunking them into both the red pepper and green salsa dips.

Yours truly attempting to get a bullseye while staying hydrated with chilled cocktails.

Craving an Insta-worthy cheese pull? Try the colossal margarita pizza (£16) that spread over a whole wooden paddle. Thin with a light base, each slice had a nice dusting of oregano. Finally, we picked a staff favourite, the Firecracker waffle fries (£10) and it’ll come as no surprise that this had a big (but not overpowering) kick of chilli. But to the spice-adverse, don’t worry, as the tomato and avocado toppings doused out the flames. In case you’re wondering, we didn’t have room for dessert, so sipped a salted caramel espresso martini (£12), which had just the right amount of sweetness without making it sickly. 

It was now time to head upstairs to the rooftop hideaway, and boy, what a space it was. I scanned the Flight Club Cardiff photos beforehand, but if you haven’t, just imagine trailing ivy, hanging birdcages, lush foliage, forest green walls, summer cabins and, importantly, a real carnival atmosphere (the disco ball helping here). Oh, and don’t miss the red telephone box for photo-opps aplenty. Here, after quaffing a refreshing Sol beer (£5.40), I moved onto my final cocktail from the sun-soaked offering, the playful-sounding Mango Number 5 (£11.50). My initial thoughts were that it wasn’t too dissimilar to a margarita, but after a few gulps you could really taste peach liqueur and lime, with a dash of White Claw Mango making it a unique drink to savour. On the hunt for more alcohol-free cocktails? Stop the search, as our Zesty Ginger Sunset (£8.70) properly hit the mark, mixing up citrusy non-alcoholic spirit with lime juice, grenadine and aromatic ginger beer.   

Flight Club Cardiff Review: Overall

There’s a lot to say about our time here. From the mouthwatering food on the Flight Club Cardiff menu and happiness-filled interiors to the fun challenges that sparked joy, this three-floored quirky gem should be a must on everyone’s summer agenda (even a rookie like me, where most wins were based on luck, not skill). Want more? Our advice is to check out the Flight Club boozy brunch, promising endless pizza and a bottle of prosecco each with a darts taster. You won’t regret it.

Book Flight Club Cardiff to try for yourself.