Pub Quiz Night @ Three Lions Cafe

In the past year or so, a few local pubs have started doing Pub Quiz Nights. In case you don’t know what a pub quiz night is…

“Pub quizzes (also known as live trivia, or table quizzes) are often weekly events and will have an advertised start time, most often in the evening.

While specific formats vary, most pub quizzes depend on answers being written in response to questions which may themselves be written or announced by a quizmaster.” Thanks Wikipedia.

I’ve been wanting to go to one of these pub nights for a long time now, so finally last Tuesday after work I went to The Three Lions for some beers, food, and pub quiz action. Action kicked off shortly after 7pm, the questions were extremely varied and actually pretty difficult(topics covered music, celebrity, movies, history, science, literature, sports, pop culture), and the MC was energetic and entertaining (he won me over when he threw in a saved by the bell trivia question to replace a much trickier geography question.)The coveted prizes included a light-up sword and “How to play harmonica” kit.

Our server was adorable, friendly and fantastic. She was great with food recommendations and attentive without smothering us. Her top picks on the menu were the Steak and Guinness pie or Lamb Curry.

I ordered a Cumberland Hoagie ($9) from their “lighter fare” section, described on the menu as a “Fresh grilled baguette with Cumberland sausage, English mustard, caramelized onion, and piccalilli.” It sounded very British without being too heavy, meaty, or buttery. I was actually surprised at the plate that came out. It looked like a fancy hot dog with a side of fries…and that’s pretty much what it was. The rich, flavourful sausage itself was awesome and cooked to juicy, almost crispy perfection. I was wowed by the sausage toppings which included pickled asparagus, zucchini, pepper, lemony cauliflower, and a light dijon mayo/mustard. The baguette was too thick and much bread and unfortunately took away from the delicate flavours of the veggie toppings. So I left most of the bun. The fries were pretty damn tasty especially with the tableside malt vinegar.

My pub quiz team-mate is vegan so there weren’t a tonne of options for him, so he went for the Beet Salad ($13)”Orange Scented beets with grilled asparagus and crumbled goats cheese” without the goat cheese. The flavours in this dish were so fresh and dynamic (loved the bbq flavour on the asparagus) and the dressing was a rich balsamic. The presentation was pretty impressive but the plate was…pretty puny and it was probably a good thing my team-mate had eaten earlier because I really don’t think this dish could make a dent in anyone’s hunger.

They also had pints of Three Lions Lager and Russell Lager on special for a thrifty $3.75. I’m not sure if those pints helped my trivia skills- or were a detriment to “Team BBQ Big Bird” because we definitely didn’t win.

Although neither meals were mind-blowing, I still give this place (and their pub quiz night) a thumbs up. Great staff, reasonable pricing, cool atmosphere, an impressive beer list, plus their brunch and dessert menu (THE BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING) are awesome.

Three Lions Café

1 E Broadway
Vancouver, BC

threelionscafe.ca

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