The Fort Street Cafe - The Friday Quiz

I've been for a pint and snack here before, and for lunch.  Nothing really made it stand out those times, except there's something very slightly odd about the whole set up which I can't quite put my finger on.  Not odd in a bad way, just not quite normal.  One friend was convinced it was a front for a cult.  He has quite fanciful ideas though.  No, not a cult, it's just that the people who go there all seem very similar in a way that's very hard to explain.  They are all post university age.  No-one looks like a bank clerk or legal secretary, and you imagine them having jobs like master carpenter or home-arrangement specialist or wattle-and-daub aristisan.  It's an air of the offbeat culture.  Not quite hipster, not quite hippie. This means anything to you, you'll fit right in.

Friday Night is Quiz Night at the Fort Street Cafe.  I'd never been before, but love a good pub quiz.  It's a staple of the community pub in the UK.  So we go in, grabbed a table and decided to gather reinforcements to make our meagre team of two at least four.  But by the time we could be joined, the place had filled to capacity.  Good sign.

Beer was in the shape of Saltspring Golden Ale (they also serve Race Rocks, Chocolate Porter and Phillips IPA, so double thumbs up there), served at the right temperature (see entries about The Office).  A nice, inoffensive pint, but not quite enough going on to be marvelous.  Add a game of Jenga, and we were set ready for the quiz.  Primer^2 was gonna take the world by storm.

The two hosts are English men. One by the name of Benji owns the place.  The other's name I didn't remember.  The quiz style is comedic.  They don't take it too seriously, and neither should you.  The best description I've come up with is two fifths Vic Reeves Big Night Out, a third Fry and Laurie, and the remainder Coldplay on a lads night out.  But only because Benji looks like Chris Martin.  And those references probably don't make any sense in Canada.  Think surreal, cerebral and silly.

The first round I thought I was on a roll.  With questions about the Teletubbies, Winnie the Pooh and Minotaurs, this was all up my street.  The general knowledge then turned into word association, guessing the order of things, random true and false facts, music, telephone impressions and ascending numbers.  I was ashamed not to know that a dodecahedron is 12 side solid, not a 20 sided.  This meant I guessed the number of Madonna hit records incorrectly.  Still, we'd not have been in a shout of winning, but much enjoyment was had at not coming last either.  As I said, don't take it too seriously... one or two of the questions were a bit vague, or mishmashed up by the hosts antics.  But if you want a staid quiz, watch back episodes of Mastermind.

The beer supply was kept flowing by two friendly and efficient waitresses.  And a plate of crispy Mac'n'Cheese kept the brain ticking over.  This is the house specialty... large crispy tubes of pasta filled with cheese sauce.  Well worth the $4 for snack with the pint.

Location : 742 Fort Street
Telephone : (250) 382-3130
Website : None