If you like your pubs untouched by the hand of progress, gimmicks, poncy gastro-types and braying yuppies, then take a trip to the Elm Park Tavern, 76 Elm Park, Brixton, SW2 2UB.
Most definitely a boozer of the straightforward, no-nonsense variety, the pub survived a recent sell-off scare and happily remains open for business.
The pub quiz
The pub is renown for its peeling wallpaper, fine beer, thick curtains, random assortment of ill matching chairs, friendly staff and, of course, its legendary Thursday night pub quizzes.
The quizzes have been hosted by a series of fairly eccentric characters over the years, but the latest quizmaster seems to be outshining the rest, as ianw reports:
This was great fun – quite a bizarre, eccentric night out, felt like an old school Brixton night out. The new quiz master is quite a character – one of the guys who used to be in a team in the back bar. Not Muffdivers For Satan or whatever they were called, but his team sat next to them. Anyway, he was quite a sardonic, funny guy, dressed up as Obi Wan Kenobi.
He kept his hood over his face for most of the quiz and mumbled the questions into the mic, and spent the rest of the time either slagging off the questions, or varying people in the bar. Apparently he dresses up as something different each time – he was the Invisible Man one week, he was saying (he turned out to be a friend of one of our team) – which is funny because he has the least dress-up personality imaginable, more of a grumpy sarcastic type. Anyway, he was brilliant and finally a worthy successor to the Kiwi guy no one could understand.
There’s apparently a big refurb coming up this year, but so far the budget only seems to have extended as far as the sign outside.
Either way, this is a great local pub and is well worthy of your support. Pay it a visit!