Welcome to Wiff Waff bar, where shots are banned and they don’t want you to get hammered

Aber’s newest business venue on Market Street wants students to move away from the “let’s get hammered culture into the culture of let’s go out and have fun” by providing drinks, quality food and table tennis.

Wiff Waff’s owners say they won’t serve shots or do 2 for 1 deals, because they want to be “responsible”.

On Facebook Wiff Waff is advertised as “the only Ping-Pong Bar and Restaurant in Wales” where customers can either play Table Tennis or sip a cocktail in the on-site library.

Wiff Waff is an early name for Table Tennis

Owener Chris McKenzie said: “Ping Pong is a fantastic game to have a lot of fun with. That’s the beauty of it. It’s not like playing Darts, for example. Anybody can play it. You don’t really have to be skilled.

“And that to me was the exciting thing about it. You’re active, you laugh a lot and that to me is great.”

Customers can just pick a table and play – no need to purchase drinks or food

He added: “With snooker you kind of have a gender thing, whereas with Ping Pong anybody can play. You don’t have those kinds of cliques, if you like.

“We’re very inclusive… And it’s the only Olympic sports you can play in a bar.”

Operations Manager, Jazz continues: “We don’t want to be seen as a pub where you can get in and drink irresponsibly. We want to be responsible providers for our students… it’s not Beer Pong.”

Both “Sports Hall” and “Library” are themed old school

Chris says: “We have a deliberate policy that we will not do shots, we won’t do 2 for 1’s or all this kind of cheap alcohol types. I’m not going to get into that market. I think there are a lot of places in Aberystwyth who do that anyway, they do that a lot better than us.

“I don’t think Aber needs another bar, Aber needs something different. And that’s what we are doing. We supply something that’s not here currently… It is really about more having a fun time.

“New stuff always takes a bit of time to get through. So we’re going to provide a quality environment, quality food, quality drinks. I’m hoping that quality and that level of service will be a defining factor as opposed to being cheap.”

The Library – for people that don’t want to get actively involved

Will this environment lead to a more responsible drinking culture?