South American Tapas and pizza restaurant and bar with shuffleboards and an escape room, The Shufflehouse.
The Story...
The Shuffle House, located at 68 St John’s road, is a quirky restaurant and bar. Ismail Refet, known as Ish, has owned St John’s Yard with his wife Julia since 2009. They acquired the building next door in 2019 and quickly turned it into what is now The Shuffle House.
As the name suggests it has a shuffleboard area where the guests can book and play against each other, this makes it one of the hottest joints in town. The two-floored South American tapas and Neopolitan stonebaked pizza restaurant is exactly the sort of place Tunbridge Wells needs more of. Vibrant, social and bursting with flavour. It also has the Clue Cracker escape room which proves a popular group activity.
Popular with young and older Tunbridge Wells residents as it has a fun environment and the food packs a punch. It has South American flavours where most can find something they will love.
Shuffleboards
The exciting game of shuffleboard takes place on a large wooden slab which runs almost the length of the table, on which the steel pucks glide with silky smoothness. High scores are achieved by getting your pucks into the zones nearest the end of the board whilst avoiding dropping off at the end. Henry VIII once even banned it for distracting his troops from archery practice. Paired with great tapas, pizza, friends and cocktails checking out this place was a brainer. The Shufflehouse has two 14-foot tables which can be booked free of charge for 1-hour slots.
The decor consists of large fish aquariums, neon wall lights and South American themes throughout the space. It also boasts a long list of cocktails that are sure to strike home with all guests. From its bold exterior to its funky interiors, it’s the perfect place for a bite to eat and a good time.
The food
The place is very appealing to locals. So much so that it was where the Other Space office had their Christmas shindig. We can definitely vouch for the amazing food and a good time. We spent the evening battling it out on the shuffleboards before sitting down to our South American feast that had flavours of Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Puerto Rico and Mexico.
When we visited our tapas of choice were the tempura pork belly chicharrones, Padron peppers which are a staple and Argentinian red velvet panko crumbs red shrimp which were recommended by the waitress. The Argentinian mixed grill board was so good we ordered two! It consisted of sirloin steak, chorizo, chimichurri lamb and Peruvian chicken. One of their best pizzas is the Truffle Buratta. It is a white truffle base pizza with fresh Italian sausage, burrata, mozzarella and basil.
