Whomp. Within a few seconds of entering The Keys you’ll hear the meaty thump of bowling balls smacking onto timber. And a few seconds later, the polyphonic rattle of pins falling down to groans and/or cheers.

It’s a nostalgic, comforting soundtrack that’s become rare in this city – even with Strike Bowling on the scene. But considering the effort high school mates Tom Peasnell and Jon Rowatt put into making it happen, it makes sense so few others are giving it a shot.

Modern bowling lanes are typically made of cheap yet hard-wearing laminate printed with a faux wood grain. Peasnell and Rowatt loved the feel of bowling on traditional maple and wanted it for their 12 lanes – something no-one’s done for a long time.

We think you might like Access. For $12 a month, join our membership program to stay in the know.

SIGN UP

“There was only one guy [AMF Bowling] had to [install] it,” Rowatt says. “And he’d retired and moved to New Zealand, so we had to fly him back over to instruct the guys how to do it.”

This stubborn attention to detail is apparent all over The Keys, the duo’s 600-person venue with three bars, a bowling alley, gaming arcade and massive beer garden. The Preston site is ambitious in a way we’ve never seen from Peasnell, the chef who co-owns Dexter, Takeaway Pizza, Nico’s and Dom’s. (His usual business partners, brother Sam Peasnell and mate Adam Goldblatt, are not on board here.)

It’s in the intricate leadlight signage above each bar, which was never planned but young leadlighter Jodie Holm, a bartender at Dom’s, ended up installing with spectacular results.

It’s in the flotilla of 700-kilogram granite tables outside, which builder Rowatt improvised from a solid block bought from a quarry near Castlemaine, to save money on costly off-the-shelf tables. They can’t be stolen or vandalised, and they don’t have to be brought in at night. (“It’s like a communal park,” Peasnell quips.)

And it’s most definitely in the antique cast-iron columns from the former Spencer Street Station (now Southern Cross), and the immense timber beams salvaged from North Wharf in the Docklands and Gellibrand Pier in Williamstown, to create grand, weathered staircases with iron spikes still in them.

These invaluable pieces came from Hamish Knox, a builder in his seventies who’s spent decades collecting historical debris at his Christmas Hills property and turning away buyers angling for private use. (“He really wanted [the columns] to be in a public place,” Rowatt says.)

While this ad hoc construction process would never work on paper, the results speak for themselves. Like Stomping Ground and Bodriggy before it, The Keys has more warmth, charm and personality than a place this big ought to. Not to mention a comfy pub-like ambience where everyone will feel welcome at any time, without a booking.

“We really wanted something that would last a long time,” Rowatt says, “That would stick around, become part of the community and an institution.”

“The mindset the whole way along was, ‘It needs to look good kicked in’,” Peasnell adds, referring to the wide use of tough materials that will age gracefully, rather than deteriorate.

When you’re ready to kick things in – metaphorically, of course – the options are many. The Keys was largely inspired by grown-up bowling alleys the duo discovered in the US, including Highland Park Bowl, Spare Room, Brooklyn Bowl and The Gutter.

“They’re these cool bars that you want to be at, regardless of whether you’re bowling, but then there’s a fun activity too,” Rowatt told us last year.

The Keys is 100 per cent this sort of place. There are DJs and live music from Friday to Sunday, and 48 beer taps rep the likes of 3 Ravens, Molly Rose, Kaiju and Bodriggy. White Russians are also on tap for fans of The Big Lebowski, while party cocktails like the Margarita, Espresso Martini and Old Fashioned are mixed fresh, with fun twists. And there are plenty of young, new-wave wines, too.

The food menu is shorter than you may expect – a necessary sacrifice for the kitchen to keep up. There are deep-fried snacks, pub classics like a burger, parma and schnitty (albeit with fancy kombu and bone marrow butter), and a handful of interesting gas-fired pizzas with echoes of sister venues Dom’s and Takeaway Pizza. The Hot Boi, for example, features pepperoni, jalapeno, fermented spicy honey and scamorza cheese.

Bowling starts at $16 per game for adults and $12 for kids (until 8pm), and four lanes are always kept open for walk-ins, to retain that drop-in spirit of the pub, where you never have to call ahead if you don’t want to.

The machinery underneath the lanes is modern, but as with their hard-won maple playing surface, Peasnell and Rowatt insisted on fittings and signage with more character. Key pieces are custom reproductions of originals imported from bowling alleys in Michigan and Wisconsin at great cost.

In the end, this almost obsessive attention to detail seems to have paid off. After they’ve heard a few of those satisfying whomps, customers can’t wait to make a few of their own. Or maybe have a nostalgic game of Time Crisis, Daytona or Big Buck Hunter in the arcade.

“No one’s on their phone – everyone’s talking and doing stuff,” Rowatt says.

The Keys
1/188 Plenty Road, Preston
(03) 8844 4124

Hours
Wed & Thu 3pm–11pm
Fri 3pm–12am
Sat 11am–12am
Sun 11am–11pm