Cocktail in front of retro video game machines at NQ64

NQ64

Retro games. Fun cocktails. Craft beers. If these three things sound right up your street then I urge you to visit NQ64. They have venues across the UK and as an arcade bar, allow you to sip on some creative drinks whilst playing old, retro video games.

I recently visited their Edinburgh branch for the first time so that I could try their new cocktail menu and here are my honest thoughts on whether it’s worth checking out.

They’re located on Lothian Road (so basically as central as you could possibly get!) and it’s absolutely free to get in. When you walk in you’ll be greeted with a whole range of old games in a dark room with neon art all over. 

Neon entrance to NQ64
Entrance to NQ64
Bar area at NQ64
Bar area at NQ64

It costs £8 for a cup of 15 tokens, with each game taking 1-2 tokens per person. It is worth noting there are also 5-6 consoles which are free to play if you don’t want to buy tokens or run out. 

They recently launched their new cocktail menu which has 12 different drinks all inspired by different games and brands such as Super Mario, Final Fantasy and Starbucks. They seem to be based on standard cocktails (Long Island iced tea/pornstar martini) with an NQ64 twist.

Cocktail menu at NQ64
Cocktail menu at NQ64
Cocktails from NQ64
Kong Island Iced Tea and Lake Springfield cocktails

I tried the:

Lake Springfield

Not my usual choice, this drink came served in a toxic waste-esque glass and was neon green. It is made from Jack Daniel’s Apple, Midori and toxic waste cordial. It was sweet, sour and a fun drink to try.

Kong Island Iced Tea

A Long Island Iced Tea made using vodka, tequila, gin, rum, pineapple, tea and sour peach. It goes without saying that this drink will get you tipsy real quick!

Power Star Martini 

This is basically your standard pornstar martini except instead coming with a shot of prosecco, it comes with a shot of Hoola Hooch. It is also topped with a cute rice paper star power-up from Super Mario…just be sure to eat it fast as the texture when it gets soggy is not pretty.

Cocktail from NQ64
Kong Island Iced Tea cocktail
Person playing retro pinball machine at NQ64
Person playing Star Trek pinball machine

They had plenty more on the menu that I’m yet to try but if the three I tried were anything to go by then the rest will be nice too. Comparing them to a nice cocktail bar, the drinks are certainly more gimmicky and taste more juicy than alcoholic. However, if that’s your thing you’ll have a lot of fun making your way through this menu.

NQ64 is not somewhere I’d want to visit regularly. The prices for the cocktails are quite high for what they are (£9-£11.25) and you could make your way through all of the games you want to play in a few hours. It is fun to try once and if you want to go somewhere different to bond with some pals over games and cocktails. 

Disclaimer: This was a PR Invite but all views are my own.

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