please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Large Young's pub that was showing the football on a Saturday teatime so was worth a stop for a few pints. Busy inside with most people watching the 2 games on the screens, there was also several families with young children.
Long straight bar that has 5 hand pumps, 3 ales on I had several pints of Hop Stuff’s Pale Ale, a nice pint poured and kept well. Better than the pint of Wandle I had on a previous visit.
Even though it was busy we managed to bag a table to settle and watch the match.
Modern interior and as previously mentioned used to be the local post office.
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Good pub
Friendly reception
Went twice over 3 days
Drink only
Met nice people
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Good suburban boozer - a real contrast to the decidedly rural village-y Running Horses round the corner. The building is a former post office - big, spacious, high ceilings. The vibe is somewhat akin to the nicer urban Wetherspoons, but it's smarter, cleaner and inhabited by - dare I say it - a better class of drinker. In the early evenings it's mayhem, loud and bustling, but can get pretty quiet after 10pm. Decent range of beers, just the one cider on tap (Aspall), but a really good range of whiskies. Dropped in late one night after a session in the Running Horses and had a luscious Laphroig - mmm, I can still taste it now... decor is smart and the walls are covered in interesting historic photos and maps of the local area. Haven't tried the food yet and disappointing that such a busy pub only manages one draught cider, given the wide range of beers available (I probably shouldn't say this here, but I can't stand beer - tried various assuredly quality ales in many pubs and hated them all!), but every landlord tells me the same story, no market for more cider here...
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When I posted back in Oct 2009 I had a bit of a downer on this pub and Leatherhead in general. I am more than pleased to reconsider these statements that I made as I have made a number of visits to the town recently.
Yes, the pub is still fairly quiet and fairly pricey but at least someone seems to be having a go at getting this place up and running. There are a couple of TVs showing sport, the beer quality has improved and staff seem very pleasant. They also had a promo recently during the Olympics and when a gold medal was won by a Brit the price of beer went down to �2.12 for half an hour after the success. So thank you very much Ben Ainslie for me to enjoy a pint at these very agreeable rates! Do they have the same promo for the Paralympics?!?
Much better and will make return visits.
PS. I did think the promo was exclusive to here but it also applied to the Boathouse in Putney.
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Popped in for a couple of pints at lunchtime. Very overpriced. 2 pints of Krony and a pint of bitter come to �11.20, where it's less than a tenner in my local in Hampshire. Real ale is typical for a Youngs pub, although the Tribute that was on was superb. Won't be coming back though until I win the lottery or get hired by Lord Sugar.
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In here last Saturday and a posh Youngs House. Comfy sofas etc
Two screens showing the footy.
I picked up a leaflet advertising their 180th Aniversary Cask Ale Festival.
Only 8 Beers listed and 4 of them are their own!! That's not a Festival.
Beers on offer are Youngs 1831 Anniversary Ale-�3.50 Wells Bombardier-�3.40
Youngs Special-�3.35 & Youngs Bitter-�3.20
Guests are Doombar-�3.60 Hogsback TEA-�3.60 Moles Rucking Mole-�3.60
& Bath Ales Hare & Hop-�3.50
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Good pub, good selection of beers but on my last visit i had a dodgy pint of Wandle.
Slightly spoilt my visit but i'd still come back as i like the pub, the atmosphere and the layout.
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Lovely pub with real fire and large outside area. its such a shame Youngs dont make more ale in their pubs and that it can be a bit pricey. had sunday roast and was lovely, good portion too.
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Pub is ok, but staff is not so friendly and having a go to a customer. especially girl with RED HAIR so rude honestly i never ever seen in my life attitude like hers and she is so rude. to be honest not only my opinion as mostly of my colleagues says same RED HAIR girl is rude, so why we stopped going to Penny Black Leatherhead is because of her. if i wont go to Penny until they will sack her.
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Get your credit card out your going to need it, no really, you are, its over priced in my opinion, especially when they don't even do carlsberg, what sort of pub do you call this? it is very clean and tidy, almost un pub like, it dose look smart but they still shouldn't charge as much as they do in my opinion, its never really busy when ever I go in the penny, maybe they should try charging a penny or two less, honestly you'll be lucky to get change from a 20 if you do a small round! I've always found the staff quite friendly and quick to serve but ive never found it very entertaining myself, I've heard good things about the food in the past if you have any money left.
If it was a bit more entertaining, better value and they served carlsberg maybe I would drink there more often, but its really my cup of tea at the moment
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I love this pub you can choose the music and the staff are always smiling and are so polite never had food from here but this is the first pub I go to on a night out! :D
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Tried this place today and was not impressed - Staff having a go at a customer , she was very rude. Tills didnt work - i know it can go wrong. Cold food and no manager in sight with a rugby match on - COULD DO BETTER!
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A nice one.
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A bit pricey (no obvious reason why) but good enough. Went there for a quiz evening a little while back. Ok place but nothing special.
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Passed through the other day, have to say it was a wonderful lunch, had been to this pub before and it was ok, however this time I had an amazing HOMEMADE lunch of the chefs daily specials list Spanish chicken and my partner had the Homemade beef lasagne which was divine(I kept eating his ) ok it wasnt cheap but was really worth it, staff had changed and management, you could really feel the different in the whole place, pretty candles, newspapers,flowers and the general feel of the pub, beautiful fire place, very please, thank you !!!
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Youngs Special and Wells Bombardier. Youngs Ordinary and Winter Warmer were off. Various Wells Youngs bottles. Hasn't changed too much from it's Hogshead days. Adequate
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My new review. I still love this pub but it is out of my pocket. Way too expensive tho i shall still go there as it is a charming place (either that or a bottle of plonk from sainsburrys)
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Managers and staf f aint rude or vulgar, I am presuming I am reading an old review> I can't see the date. new management and staffare a joy. Beers a bit dear but for peace of mind away from other pubs, that is the one for me and my friend. Thumbs up, now i must gtry to find dates of reviews on here
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Oh dear what is it with Leatherhead?
When this pub re-opened as a Youngs house it had a very promising start with good beer and food. Sadly like with the rest of Leatherheads pubs it seems to have gone into a dive (unusual for Youngs and wouldn't surprise me if they pull out soon) which seems to be more expensive than some of the breweries more upmarket rubadubs. A real shame but it does have potential to refind its glory days.
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a pub where the staff and managers are rude and vulgar,,,only go here if you want to get a kicking or worse,,,,,a horrible pub i couldnt even rate it
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Popped in here on Sunday as we were overnighting in the Leatherhead Travel Lodge and it was the nearest pub.
Have to say I found it OK on our visit. Well decorated, two flat screens for the sport, and with the full range of Youngs Ales, of which both the bitter and special were perfectly fine. The paved outside seating area (you can�t call it a garden as this would imply something green) was quite busy as the sun was out, and has the novelty of an outside pool table. I wonder if the balls get slippery when it rains. Also has an outside speaker, which annoyingly blared out the commentary from the footy which was being shown.
All in all I thought the Penny Black was a decent enough boozer based on our one fleeting visit.
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ridiculously expensive and nothing to write home about...
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Have spent many a night in here. The pub is now a great place to drink. I enjoy spending time here. There is never any trouble and you are guarenteed a great night out. There is a fantastic atmosphere here on Fridays and this is by far the best time to come. This is the ONLY place to drink out in Leatherhead. You must try it if you havn't. The food is good and i thought it was good value. I cannot wait for the summer when the Beer garden comes into its own. Highly recomended. I met the other half here so have good memeries of the garden :-). See you here soon......
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I for one love drinking down the Penny now.
As far as the manager goes, I applaud him (and the other manager there) for continuing to barr the "Scum" that insists on visiting the venue, leave them to drink in Spoons and The Dukes I say!!
Nice to see the food is a bit cheaper now, and better than it was 6 months ago. I took my parents out with us both last week - even they didn't complain about anything - and they are hard to please!
Beer is still quite expensive, but you get what you pay for I guess, and I'm happy to pay a bit more for a pub I know I can stay in without any trouble kicking off around me.
Well done guys, keep it up.
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Simonkey7 -hehehe. The skanky morons live in the high streets two erm pubs
The Penny Black I enjoy as I haven't seen trouble there unlike those other two (It may happen but not when I have visited) staff are friendly and food is good
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Not a bad pub it just costs the earth snd not much fun....but as i said, its not a bad pub and the beer is quite good, well it should be at those prices
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Very nice lunches. I had a great burger 24 June and it was served really quickly by very friendly [and attractive]staff. Also the Youngs Best Bitter was tasty and as it was warm outside we sat in the shady terrace to the side. There was loads of space at lunchtime and it seemed a very good pub.
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Great pub these days!! Used to be skanky and full of morons, but that was then! This place is by far the best in town now, it is clean, smart, has a great atmosphere, beers are good and the wine excellent. Not eaten here recently but will do very soon! To all those who know and dislike the Penny of old, try it again, you'll love it!
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Hi, Having visited this pub and tasted the excellent food, I have been somewhat surprised to read these ratings. But then again, they are all very old. In fact, reading some of them, I found it hard to believe they were talking about the same pub !! If you haven't been for a long time, I can recommend another visit and soon. The outside seating area is very pleasant and even now with an outside pool table. When I visited again for the first time in a long time, I was truly pleasantly surprised by the changes. Clearly new staff, new clientelle have done justice to this once-upon-a-time 'pub to be avoided'. I am now a regular customer and at my age, that is surely saying something good about it. I'm a fussy pensioner !!
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Went to this pub for the first time in about a year what a change!All for the better aswell pub is much cleaner and outside area is the best in Leatherhead with an outside pool table aswell. Not overly keen on the bouncers but upon speaking to staff found they have to have them due to stpulation on the licence by police.
if you havnt been here for a while i would recommend trying it again it will suprise you.
anonymous - 4 Sep 2007 10:50 |
What an awful pub, un-friendly, quite threatening, and very expensive. Please do not go there if you want to have a nice pub experience. The place seems to be populated with gorilla type thugs who seem determined to make the place their domain, they roam the place as if they own the territory and will openly 'discuss' the slightest grievance they may have with clients. Steer well clear and go somewhere else!
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The last couple of times I've visited this pub it's been alot less busy than usual. I know it's had a bit of a 'reputation' in the past and that at weekends Police vans were parked outside as a matter of course, but surely there's no need for the group of huge, black clad, muscle bound, meathead bouncers that dominate this pub at the moment. They create a horrible, unrelaxed atmosphere more like an underground Russian mafia club than a Youngs pub. And �4 for a Peroni is pushing it surely??
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Has not been a Hogshead for sometime now - it's a Youngs pub, with their usual range of beers. Two TVs, and can be a bit dominated by them. Usually full of a young-ish crowd. Good TV viewing facilities if that's what you're after.
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Sorry, I meant 'I swear', not "I sweat" :)
j9gal - 13 Feb 2007 13:54 |
One thing I like about Penny Black is its town centre location. The food and range of drinks are average, and the glasses and tables tend to be grubby.
On the plus side, prices are reasonable, and it's a decent place to go to watch the sports.
I try to avoid PB, mostly because it is so smokey - I sweat, it is so smokey that even my underwear ends up smelling of smoke. Not cool.
j9gal - 13 Feb 2007 13:52 |
This place used to ooze cool and was greatness.
Now it has turned into a trendy wannabe pretentious circus of fools.
It was the best pub in Leatherhead but now it is trash there is no point going to Leatherhead at all unless you like fighting, drinking until you vomit and being served crap booze.
Avoid!
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Agree, it's for the younger generation, which I still consider myself to be part of. Comfy seating, good service, nice decor. Kept the rain off my head, although it was very quiet inside, mind you, it was a Tuesday afternoon. After walking around Leatherhead and realising there were only four pubs, I went back a little bit later on, when the pub was a little busier, and the music sounded good.
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One for the younger members of the Leatherhead community and definitely not one of the better pubs in the area.
Nice enough beer but 'production' food not up to the mark i'm afraid...
anonymous - 18 Jul 2006 09:27 |
Smokey as a kipper factory; the smokers'll get their come-uppance next year thank god. Poor, surly service, and an unpleasant crowd of drinkers. It always feels like trouble's about to kick off - and sometimes does.
This pub was so good for the first year when it opened, it's never been even remotely close since. Shame.
anonymous - 2 Jun 2006 15:36 |
Having been to the Plough and the Tylney this place was a clear winner. Live music and a good atmosphere with it, quiz machine too. Can't remember much else, sign of a decent night out!
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the days in leatherhead where great when big t was running that pub wish we could have tony and jackie back hello to all who remember
anonymous - 2 Jan 2006 12:38 |
Well, beggars can't be choosers. Shame about the Leatherhead Losers! Old post office.
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Went here at the weekend.
I feel really sorry for them. Nice pub, nice staff, good beer. But still full of the same Leatherhead dickheads who troop from The Dukes Head to The Tilney, to The Penny, to The Dukes etc etc etc.
The only thing that changes is which female is standing next to which male (usually dependent on who's payday it is).
If they could clear out the tossers then it would be a top place.
anonymous - 3 Aug 2005 13:52 |
The length of service must have improved considerably since it was the Hogshead. It takes barely five minutes to get served here and that's when it's busy! Young's pub with the atmosphere of a Wetherspoons (this is a good thing in my opinion). Usual range of Young's beers. Seems like the entire pubgoing population of Leatherhead is in here
Will2 - 21 May 2005 22:16 |
Seems like a fairly popular pub this one. Decent range of ales
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Now back to being the Penny Black again after a period as the Hogshead. Youngs Brewery are on the case. Improvements already in beer, ambience, service.
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stop whinging you lot it's not that bad
anonymous - 27 Apr 2004 15:51 |
Horrific. Used to be the Post Office - the time it takes to get served you wonder sometimes if they use the same staff.
Gerald - 2 Jul 2003 12:26 |
Two words: Sh1t Hole. The decore in the place reminds me of a fire damaged squat. It is always packed with people, many of whom would like nothing better than to knock your teeth out given half a chance. The floor and surfaces and all covered in beer and fag ash (the upside is you can use the floor as an ashtray and nobody minds, really!) The entertainment in either watching a fire on the tv, pool if you can shift the pykies on it, or the ever popular "go-into-the-beer-garden-and-see-who-can-throw-a-pint-glass-the-hightest-contest". The best thing about this pub is you will never get thrown out.
Steve - 25 Jun 2003 15:17 |
I hate this pub - I used to work there and the sofa's make it resemble Central Perks but with pykies...
Matt Le Ross - 23 Apr 2003 15:03 |
Also dire. Always grubby. No matter where you rest your arm, there is always a bit of beer there already.
Matthew - 20 Apr 2003 11:21 |
The best pub in Leatherhead - But that's not saying much.
Angus - 24 Mar 2003 18:38 |
