Your starter for ten, where’s the best pub quiz? - Karen Koren

I went to a pub quiz the other day and found it a revelation. It was much more fun than I thought it would be.
Time to pause for thought in the Newbarns Taproom pub quizTime to pause for thought in the Newbarns Taproom pub quiz
Time to pause for thought in the Newbarns Taproom pub quiz

After all the quizzes we set up with family and friends during lockdown, I thought the last thing I wanted to do was go to an actual live quiz. I was persuaded because our marketing manager Michael was running it and I was required to be there to support him.

To be honest I really wasn’t needed for support as it was jam packed. Sunday afternoon 3 until 5 after a bracing walk – what better to do than join in with a team of friends and use your collective brains.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It was at the New Barns Taproom in Leith and remarkably there were 19 teams in attendance and Michael handled it all brilliantly and professionally.

It’s easy enough for people to cheat and look up the answer on their mobile, remarkably though the teams were competitive and honest, well that’s what I perceived at least.

The questions were easier to start off with and became more and more difficult as the quiz moved on. There was a picture round, music round, “who said” quotes and anagrams, which was the most challenging as we needed time to rearrange the letters to make the appropriate words.

It was more about the taking part than what they would win out of it, though there were imaginative prizes.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The winners got a £50 bar tab for New Barns Taproom, other prizes were merchandise, a scratchcard, biscuits and a booby prize, on this occasion a can of soup.

There was also a prize for the best team names and there were some humdingers – Quiz team Agualera, Quizzly Beers, Quizie Rascal and the Leith Quizers (definitely the more serious team) to name a few.

Michael as the quiz master took his time through the whole quiz and played music throughout to give teams some conferring time. It was all very relaxed, until it became too hard of course.

Michael also runs a pub quiz at the pub Madhatters every Wednesday and the New Barns Taproom Quiz will be every second Sunday. Well worth a visit.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.