A while ago we decided we were going to tackle the problem of pub quizzes. Some are great, some are rubbish and some just are never advertised. So, we reviewed the Bedford in Balham and The Railway in West Hampstead and then, promptly forgot about the idea.
But today the hankerchiefs can go away, don't fear Pub Quiz Patrol fans, for we are back! Hurrah!
And the dubious honour of review number 3 goes to...
Name and location of pub
Royal Inn On The Park in Hackney on the northern perimeter of Victoria Park. Your nearest tube is Mile End and it's about a 15 minute walk. The quiz is Tuesdays at about 8.30.
Quality of Beer
The girls were very pleased to see Fruli Strawberry Beer on tap, while others amused themselves with a range of Eastern European beers.
Food
Not a pleasurable experience. The menu was pretty limited and mainly fish focused. The lemon sole was attempted and was apparnatly "unpleasantly bonetastic". Prices were around £12 for a main course, and £5 for starters or main courses.
Type of Quiz
Pretty much general knowledge. But in an unpleasant way. With questions about Kings & Queens and the British Isles spattered throughout, this felt more like a school test than a fun pub quiz.
Pop culture questions were few and far between. We got particularly mad (like only someone who's ever worked on a top 40 show can) when the quiz master claimed the current number 1 single was called Thunder in My Heart. NO! It's called Thunder in My Heart Again. Yes this is important, and no he wouldn't pay any attention to us. Loser.
Length of Quiz
6 rounds long. The first was an anagram round, but is normally picture based. There were no breaks between rounds leaving drink runs pretty hard to do.
Entry price
£1 per team member
Size of teams
No maximum. I'd like to see what would happen if the entire pub decided to be one team. Actually, how cool an idea is that. We should so have a boys vs girls pub quiz one night.
How hard was it?
Well, the Londonist team scored 50 / 60 which we thought was pretty great. Somehow it put us 8th out of 10 though. Rubbish! It might have helped if they had accurate answers though *grumble*.
Prizes
Every team gets a Terrys Chocolate Orange. Yum!
1st place: £10 drinks voucher
Anyone who gets all 3 jackpot questions right gets a rolling pot currently at £100.
Final word
We're not going again. Expect a report back on the nearby Florist and The Approach in Bethnal Green sometime soon.
It's Thunder in My Heart AGAIN, dammit.