All Star Lanes new Nashville menu offers a true taste of Tennessee

With its retro-chic bowling lanes and state-of-the-art karaoke, newly renovated All Star Lanes is rapidly becoming a one-stop destination for a top night out.

But don’t overlook the food and cocktails in this grown-up playground in the Great Northern. The Lanes Kitchen has given its menu a summery upgrade to go with the relaunch.

There are lighter, seasonal dishes perfect for the summer months, from bang bang chicken and colourful rainbow chopped salad to healthy grilled salmon and prawn skewers.

There are also tacos stuffed with slow-cooked pork rib or vegan-friendly roasted squash with refried beans, while burgers include crisp golden buttermilk chicken or jackfruit with guac and tortilla chips.

But there’s also a fun new Nashville menu, packed full of all-American classics. So we went to try it out. Bring on the barbecue, bourbon and buffalo sauce.

First up, a couple of cocktails.

A Nashville staple, fruit tea (usually made with tea, sweetener, lemonade, and fruit juice) is a sweet twist on iced tea.

All Star Lanes have created a boozy homage to the classic Tennessee tipple with their Southern iced tea (£7.50), a sweet, refreshing long drink made with Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey whiskey, black tea and peach puree.

Shorter, sharper and punchier is the The Bitter Spare (£8), consisting of Jack Daniel’s No.7 whiskey, Aperol, Angostura Amaro liqueur, vanilla syrup and fresh lemon juice, served on the rocks.

A dip made with pulled chicken, melty mozzarella, sour cream, creamy mayo, hot sauce and toasted breadcrumbs (£6.50) is a welcome starter to soak up the booze, scooped up with crisp lightly salted tortilla chips.

Cajun salmon bites (£7.50) are deep-fried and deep golden, lightly spiced and served with a punchy chipotle mayo to dip.

Onto mains, and no Nashville menu would be complete without hot chicken. Famous for its spicy bite, it’s all about buttermilk-marinated crunchy coated chicken pieces doused with a cayenne-infused hot sauce.

All Star’s version (£13) is made with juicy Southern fried chicken thighs dressed with a smooth, hot and sour buffalo style sauce with cooling whipped cream cheese, crispy shallots and sweet potato fries.

And of course there’s a mammoth barbecue platter (£25) designed to share.

Think heaps of cumin marinated chicken thighs, jalapeno and cheddar cornbread, sweet sticky maple glazed pork belly bites, and chunks of smoked American sausage. And there’s buttery chargrilled corn, cheesy hasselback potatoes and a side of smoky, savoury beans studded with shards of crisp bacon pieces, too.

The meaty mountain deserves more cocktails, so we try a Peach Lynchburg (£8), refreshingly cold and fizzy with Jack Daniel’s No.7 whiskey, Triple sec liqueur, lemon juice, sugar syrup, sweet peach puree and soda.

A Tennessee Old Fashioned (£8.50) is a smooth, well-rounded take on the classic cocktail, made with Gentleman Jack whiskey, soft brown sugar, and plum and orange bitters.

For sweeter toothed diners, a dessert-like cocktail on the Tennessee menu is the Honey bee shake (£7.50), a sweet fluffy mixture of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey whiskey, vanilla ice cream, milk, Chantilly cream and crisp honeycomb crunch.

But there’s no substitute for a proper pudding, so how about a banana pudding sundae (£5)?

A Southern staple, the Tennessee dish is a classic sweet treat so popular it even has its iwn annual festival over there.

Bringing out everyone’s inner child, All Star Lane’s sundae version is all about layers of creamy vanilla custard, banana puree, crushed shortbread biscuit, sliced banana, whipped cream and delicious caramelised banana.

With barbecue, bourbon and banana pudding, this new menu offers a true taste of Tennessee. But you only have to go as far as the Great Northern.

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