The 5 best Sunday pub quizzes in London

Right, Sunday pub quizzes in London. The best night of the week for them and the most underrated, because everyone defaults to Tuesday. The Sunday crowd at a proper quiz is the one that actually cares — fewer stags, fewer "we just popped in for a pint" teams, more people with a notebook.

Five of them, ranked.

The Pineapple, Kentish Town

The best Sunday quiz in London full stop. The Pineapple is a proper Kentish Town local that's held its character — wood panelling, old prints, no telly. The quiz is at 8pm, host is excellent, the rounds are properly written. The prize pot rolls over if nobody hits the bonus question, which means by week four it's £200+ and teams turn up properly.

Book a table. They fill by half six.

The Faltering Fullback, Finsbury Park

Famously the maze of rooms upstairs. Sunday quiz at 7.30, well-written rounds, cash prize. Get a beer garden seat in summer, an upstairs corner in winter. The bar staff know the regulars and the regulars are good — bring a strong team or come for the social.

The food is alright, more importantly the Guinness is the right way.

The Royal Oak, Borough

Old-school south London. The Royal Oak runs a Sunday quiz that doesn't tolerate ambiguity — the master gives the answer, you appeal at your peril. Music round is genuinly hard. Walk-up usually works because it's a smaller room and they squeeze teams in.

Don't order the food on Sunday, the kitchen is winding down.

The Old Queen's Head, Islington

Bigger pub, bigger crowd, more competitive. The picture round is the bit that breaks most teams — they make you ID 20 obscure things and it's usually deeply specific. £100 bar tab to the winner. Book a table because the upstairs goes fast.

The Sekforde, Clerkenwell

Smaller and scrappier. The host is the draw — properly funny, doesn't take it too seriously, but the questions still have edge. Crowd is local Clerkenwell people, walk-up usually fine if you arrive at 7.45. Literary leaning rounds.

How to win

A few things:

• Bring six. Most of these cap at six per team. Five-person teams get rinsed in the picture round.
• Don't pick a clever name. The host will read it out. The tradeoff is rarely worth it.
• Music round is everything. If you don't have someone under 35 and someone over 50 on the team, you lose the music round.
• Bonus questions are the difference. The Pineapple's rolling jackpot is won on bonuses, not on the main rounds.

For all the other London quiz nights through the week, the London this-week page lists pub quizzes properly tagged. Beats checking five pub Instagram pages on a Sunday afternoon.

That's your five. Pick one, bring a notebook, win something.