Pub Quiz

I went to a pub quiz in Turnham Green last night and quite frankly if there's a better quiz in a nicer pub out there in the whole of London, then I can't wait to find it.

The pub itself is called The Devonshire and ticks the four boxes that I like to think make up my perfect pub. One, there's music, but it's gentle not overbearing - as in, you can have a chat but if you run out of words then the music's loud enough to take its place.

Two, it has a selection of slightly left-field furniture and the whole place looks like it's been around for a while. I know a lot of gastro pubs try to pull this off, and in general I hate them, but in this one it really works.

Three, the food and drink are damn good and not spectacularly overpriced either - you can buy a round for something like a tenner, the portion sizes are large, and the selection wide and tasty.

And four (and this is the real clincher), the place has an open fire. There's something that really makes it about a pub with a fire and this is one's no different. One of my favourite bars in Bristol had a fire even though it was generally open til 4 in the morning and played music obsessively loudly. But I loved it and used to go back time and again because the roaring, open, toasty warm fire just made it in winter.

Oh and the quiz last night? Really hard but genuinely enjoyable, includes free taster portions from the menu and is run by a charasmatic bloke who shuns the use of a microphone in favour of his talented vocal chords.

All in all, well worth a look really.