Review: Food at Playback Bar in Inverness is all fun and games

There is always a buzz about a new food and drink spot opening in Inverness, and Playback was no different.

In fact, the buzz was potentially even greater than usual as it offers something new to the city.

The Highland capital has often been slated for not having enough for young people to do, so is this the answer? We headed along to find out.

Playback

Playback was an idea conjured up by two mates after a few beers – one that actually came to fruition. Built across four levels, the bar encourages “competitive socialising” with axe throwing, table tennis, whisky pong, pool and more.

There are age limits on the axe throwing and beer pong activities, which you have to be 18 for, but anyone over 14 is welcome to join in the other fun with an adult until 7.30pm.

Though we love a good game, my boyfriend Aidan and I were keen on our first visit to see what the food and drink offering was up to. I had heard great things from a foodie friend, so hopes were high as we headed there last Sunday evening.

Despite the day, we were pleasantly surprised to see the place buzzing – we have been the only ones in a restaurant on a Sunday in Inverness more than once. When you arrive, you just pick a table – from high ones to long group-friendly ones – and order using a QR code.

I know this is something some people hate, and I do think it would have been nice to have some kind of welcome, but I think it works with the laid-back vibe of the place.

The décor is funky with a kind of industrial feel and lots of brightly coloured murals.

The food

I was extremely excited by the menu; think dirty American grub with smash burgers, loaded fries, fried chicken and milkshakes. Essentially, the kind of things that I drool over on Instagram.

There were also salads on offer, which was good to know in terms of variety.

We decided to order a few different bits and share, which we always prefer to do. Ordering using the QR code was quick and easy, but I don’t doubt the team would help you out if you needed it.

For drinks, I ordered a passion punch mocktail (£5.50), a play on the much-loved pornstar martini. I loved this, it was the perfect balance of sweet and tart with a great hit of vanilla.

Aidan couldn’t pass up a milkshake, opting for the BiscOn/BiscOff (£5.75). This was also amazing, a really nice consistency and flavour of Biscoff without being overly sweet.

Food arrived around 15 minutes after we ordered it, so very speedy. It looked incredible and we were very ready to dive in.

I hardly got a look at the bacon and cheese melt smash burger (£11.95) before Aidan claimed it as his own. It was two smashed beef patties, streaky bacon, griddled onion, double American cheese, house burger sauce, lettuce and pickles.

This man does not play about when it comes to burgers and he was extremely impressed, even saying it could be the best in the city. The meat was caramelised and the bun held its own against the generous fillings which is not an easy feat.

Luckily, Aidan isn’t a fan of chicken wings, so the butter buffalo wings with Playback’s butter buffalo sauce, blue cheese ranch and spring onions (£7.50 for five) were all mine.

The crispy coating on the wings was perfect, not soggy in the slightest. The sauce had a great vinegary flavour with a manageable spice level that was balanced by the ranch.

They were messy, but that is to be expected and the sign of a well-coated wing in my opinion.

You need to get your hands dirty for these wings at Playback.

We both love cauliflower so chose the Korea town BBQ cauliflower bites (£7.95) with sriracha mayo, spring onions and toasted sesame seeds. These were moreish, the sauce was a great blend of sweet, sour and salty and the batter wasn’t too heavy.

We did think they may have been better if the cauliflower florets had been bigger, as we only had a few big chunks and lots of little bits. The portion was huge though.

Next up was the loaded hot box (10.50) which was house fries, house fried chicken, beer cheese sauce, streaky bacon and jalapeno with white house burger sauce.

These would be a great sharer as the portion was generous, especially with all the toppings. The jalapenos packed a real punch – which Aidan found out the hard way – and each chip was well coated.

The chicken was nice but a little on the dry side if we were being picky. We loved all the sauces though.

I had also ordered a side of mac and cheese (£5.95) with a crispy fried onion and garlic breadcrumb topping.

This is the only thing I was a little disappointed with as it wasn’t saucy enough for me – I like my mac drowning in cheese. It did pair well with the wings though as I found myself dipping it into the buffalo sauce.

The staff were helpful throughout the meal; chatty when they delivered our food and checking in to make sure we were enjoying it. There aren’t currently any desserts on the menu other than the shakes, so it will be interesting to see if they add any in time.

The verdict

There were some real stars that shone from our meal at Playback like the burger and cauliflower. We felt it was great value for money and left us very full. I can imagine having a fantastic time with friends ordering a feast and sharing dishes to try a little bit of everything.

We stuck to the ground floor for food on this occasion, but I am definitely keen to have drinks on the roof terrace next time we are there, and of course to try out some games.

Playback fills a gap that has long-needed filling in Inverness and I think they’ve done pretty well hitting the nail on the head with the perfect combination of games and grub.