Thunder Bowl

If you’re planning to go bowling with a group of friends at a public bowling alley, I’m going to place my bet and assume you’re heading for Thunderbowl. I’m no psychic, but hey — if you exclude the ones in members-​only clubs, there aren’t a lot of bowling alleys in Hong Kong.
I’ve been to Thunderbowl quite a few times and always enjoyed myself here. It’s located in Whampoa at Hung Hom, so there’s lots to eat and shop around at before and after bowling. The bowling alley isn’t hard to find, and it’s pretty big. I’m not sure how many lanes there are, but the place is pretty spacious.
Unfortunately, if you come on a weekend, you will probably have to wait around for a lane. While waiting, you can order some snacks — my friends and I have ordered French fries and some drinks to snack on while waiting for our turn. The bowling alley is quite cold — the air conditioning seems to be permanently on full blast — so I would advise you to come prepared with a cardigan.
The monitors at the alley are easy to work with and respond quite quickly. There’s a nice range of bowling balls, from 6kg for the kids who are just here to have fun with their parents, to 15kg. I still remember that when I was younger, I would go with my dad and I would have to go around looking for the 6kg bowling balls — there aren’t many! (Here’s a hint — if I remember correctly, most of the 6kg ones are an apple green color!)
Overall, this is a pretty good bowling facility. It’s inexpensive and it’s always fun to come here with friends and have your competitive streaks revealed. I have been to bowling alleys in private clubs before and admit that they are better — they’re smaller, but it’s also much quieter and the idea of putting on a pair of bowling shoes from, say, AMC is a little more appealing than putting on a pair at Thunderbowl that’s probably been with a million times. But that aside, Thunderbowl is a great place to bowl with friends, and thinking about it is starting to put me in the mood for bowling!