please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Handy for the station. If you removed the Nicholsons clutter from the outside, it would show off its handsome, tiled exterior to the maximum.
Inside, its wooden panelling in a large, airy room with a long bar. A very Nicholsons corporate feel. Transient population, waiting for the trains.
Beer was excellent - good beer guide 2019 recommended and a very fine example of Black Sheep.
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I only had moderate expectations for this pub and was very pleasantly surprised, by the quality of the food and also by the range of quality of the cask ale. To eat I had a beetroot and goats cheese tartlet which was out of this world. To drink there seemed to be a very large range of cask ales, including a mild, which I had and was on good form. The place itself is a typical Nicholsan affair, smart, traditional, and the location is very close the train station.
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Nicholson's pub near the station with a fabulous tiled exterior. The interior does not quite live up to the promise though. Ales on were St Austell Nicholson's Pale Ale & Skipper, Tetley Cask, Salopian Shropshire Gold, Sharps Cornish Coaster, West Berkshire Good Old Boy & Titanic Plum Porter. CAMRA discount offered on pints only. With a long session ahead, we were only on halves. But maybe we should have shared pints - a very silly rule. Handy for the station. But there are many better pubs in Leeds.
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Last couple of times I have visited Leeds totally forgotten the Scarbrough. Anyway went in a couple of weeks ago and to my delight there was Rudgate Ruby Mild on the bar.
Have to say the pie list looked really good and I was sorry I had already eaten. A venison pie would have gone down nicely.
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Owned by the Nicholsons chain, literally a stone's thrown from the station, the pub was a bit disappointing for me. It's a good pub but to say it's meant to be one of the most famous in Leeds it didn't live up to the billing in my opinion. The pub itself has a longish u-shaped bar in what is a reasonably big room (nothing like in Spoons or anything though). The memorabilia included a cabinet with berr mugs and bottles and pictures of various people and places. The beers were doom bar, Cotswold Osprey, Tetleys, Great Heck Christopher, Acorn Barnsley Bitter, Nicholsons own Pale ale, and a couple of beers from Slightly foxed brewery. I went for the Barsnley bitter, a half pint for 1.85, it was a pretty solid drink to be fair. Bar staff were quite friendly and the punters in there seemed quite down to earth/not snooty. Good pub overall but if you go don't over hype it in your head too much.
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Busy chain pub, close to station. Good selection of food, reasonably priced and 9 or 10 hand pumps. A range of beers but could not stay close enough to the bar to note them down! My pint of Nicholsons pale was superb, well kept, crystal clear and a good temperature. Well worth a visit
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A busy but well run Nicholson's pub near the train station, I chose to eat here after wandering the city centre dodging showers & was glad I did. Good food & a discounted pint of their home brand pale ale for 9 quid. Good beer, good food, good service & close to transport equals a good pub.
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Reasonable old school city pub serving a few ales - not so bad for a chain pub.
anonymous - 5 Jun 2015 18:41 |
I keep trying the pubs of Leeds near the station. They keep disappointing me. However, this Nicholsons pub always seems to be a safe retreat amid the fancy, trendy bars.
Great beer, good service, it'll do for me.
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Busy Nicholsons pub opposite the station. The Leeds Brewery's Pale Ale was excellent and there were around half a dozen other real ales to choose from. The food looked and smelled good. On the down side, the drink was expensive - my pint, 2 gin & tonics and a medium glass of red wine came to over£18! Music was too loud, and the bar could have done with a hoover.
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First pub of my Yorkshire weekend break, bang opposite Leeds station and after a 2 and 1/2 hr journey this pub was just what the doctor ordered.
Large and attractive Nicholson's pub with a great choice of ales.
Of the 7 available ales on my visit I opted for a pint of Rudgate, Brew No 8 Cherry Pale @ 3.9%....priced at £3.20 which to me as a London lad is good value.
Lovely interior which has been very tastefully decorated.
Busy with punters both eating and drinking.
Perfect location as mentioned, this is a smashing pub and the perfect place for me to start my tour.....off to The Hop next.
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Stopped here for beer and cod and chips (£9 for beer+pint). Smart traditional decor, well kept beer. Food was fine, good portion, great chips. Best thing was the staff who were very relaxed and friendly. Felt really looked after both when choosing pints and when being served my food. Attentive staff who were chatty and there to help without being in your face about it.
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Good place to wait for a train with all the other hungover blokes on a sunday. A good beer range but the one I had was not in perfect condition. Perhaps reduce the number of pumps and a get a bit more throughput with the remaining ones. A great breakfast stop - much preferable to a Wetherspoons.
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If Saturdays after games are too packed, you wont get this problem on Sundays or Mondays! Nevertheless, very good range of beer, ale was well kept & a varied choice. Excellent pitstop if waiting fora train.
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Perhaps this was not the best time to go to this pub (Saturday evening just after the football) as the place was rammed full and quite uncomfortable. When I arrived there was just the one barman and he was struggling to keep up with demand. However other staff did arrive and I grabbed a quick pint which I must admit I downed pretty quickly so as to leave (it was impossible to stand still and enjoy the beer as I got jostled arround by an ever increasing number of customers pushing into the bar). My beer was fine and I have used the pub before when it was quieter and always found it OK. It is an Nicholsons outlet now so the beer range was quite good but if you are going to the Scarborough (fair) then pick a quieter session. Brilliant for the station as it is right across the road from the entrance.
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No doubting the range and quality of ales. Sort of agree with earlier comments , atmosphere can vary but on a saturday afternoon with shoppers and early evening drinkers we enjoyed our visit. Staff could spend a bit more time keeping the place cleaner though.
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Awesome boozer with a massive selection of cask ales including proper tetley, good atmosphere and ideal for getting tanked before or after a train journey, a real gem in Leeds.
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I love this place. Always the starting point getting off the train in Leeds and often where we'd have our final drink before leaving. Nice interior. Friendly atmosphere. Usually a good selection of real ales.
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Now definitely Nicholson's. Decent food and excellent beer, with friendly staff and very convenient for the train.
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Gawd bless the Scabby Taps! Because it has very good beer and perfectly decent food. And good service from the bar staff. Think very long and hard about excluding the Taps from any real ale crawl through the city centre. I'm afraid I must agree with Leeds Stew though, on the lack of atmosphere. If motorway service stations did real ale pubs - which they clearly ought to do - they would be like this: good beer, good food but a slightly unsettling feeling that everyone is in transit. Perhaps because the train station is just over the road?
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A Mitchells & Butler pub very convenient for the railway station (just down the stairs).
Well worth a visit if you're in the area. Several cask ales, from Tetleys at �2.25 through to various guest ales. Decent food served until 10pm.
alexw - 12 Oct 2010 22:43 |
Large Nicholsons pub near to the station.
11 pumps with 8 ales (Tetley Cask, Landlord, London Pride, Hook Norton Haymaker, Thwaites Wainwright, Leeds Midnight Bell, Harviestoun Dragonfly and Marstons Old Empire) plus Watkins cider when I visited. Prices range from about �2.70. The 3 I tried were in good nick.
Food seved all day with an emphasis on Dunkley's Pies from Northamptonshire. Very good.
Prompt, efficient, polite and friendly service although it wasn't very busy on my visit.
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Still get the impression the atmosphere in here could be so much better. Has a bit of a reputation for real ale but it is now being eclipsed by a number of other pubs nearby - needs to pick up or it might start to struggle. Never tried the food but they do a great pie according to other punters.
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Plenty of choice for food and ale. Gets very busy on matchdays.
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Went in today, with colleagues, for the first time for lunch, I was in Leeds on business, quite busy, bar staff were polite and friendly, beer and food was first class, and the barman came over to see if we were enjoying our lunch, and said goodbye as we left.
Reminded me of how pubs used to be.
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Well worth the walk down from town. Excellent pies - I can recommend the Chicken and Leek ! Washed down with excellent beer.
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Good if you are waiting for a train, as previously stated not the best Nicholsons pub in Leeds but definately worth a visit if only for a pie and pint
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Alright place but I always leave thinking there was something missing as I never stay for more than 1 or 2.
Good beer - but why not have more on (like for eg the Ship and Mitre, Liverpool and get a name for itself)? Usually around 4 or 5 brews on but nothing that ever stands out as something I've not tried before or that looks unusual.
There's not enough seating but the bench over to the right side is great if there's two of you as nobody ever seems to want to sit on it! Rest your pint on the arm and you're away.
The blonde barmaid needs to smile a bit more
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Large pub with a fine exterior just outside the main Leeds railway station. Eight pulls with a range of mainstream and micro brewery beers, Tetley Cask and Timothy Taylors Landlord apparently always on plus a changing range of guests. On my visit they had the newly crowned Champion Beer of Britain, Rudgate Ruby Mild, and very good it was too. Standard sort of keg range, Carling, Strongbow, Guinness, Heinekin and Stella, although the signs and drinks menu suggested that was not the whole story. They are proud of their pies here and have a sign listing the number sold so far that week: 81 when I was there plus 2151 pints of beer sold. Big L shaped room with possibly an original bar counter front, the room is decorated in traditional pub style. Mixed group of punters ranging from some older couples to a large but well behaved group of lads starting their weekend a bit early.
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Not good.
As far as I know there are three pubs belonging to Nicholsons in Leeds (The Palace, The V&C Hotel and here) this one is by far the worst. The other two aren't bad.
The beer was overpriced and not served well by the inpolite bar staff. Yes they had a few guests on I'd not tried but when I'd just got off a train all I wanted was simple drink I knew would clench my thirst. The Tetley bitter did not taste good. For people In this situation I suggest as other reviewers have, The Prince of Wales accross the road for a friendly, well priced, proper pint!!!!
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Nice pub , good ale . A must for myself when stoppiing off in Leeds
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We were first in on the day of the ODI. The beer (Tetleys) was not up to scratch. The only reason I could think of is that it wasn't pulled through properly. Normally an enjoyable experience.
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Probably didn't see the Scarbrough at its best when I visited as there wern't many in and it was quite quiet. Also unfortunately I only had time available to stay for the one. Six hand pumps on the go and I resisted to see how well the London Pride had travelled from my home town and went for the Dale Side Old Leg Over instead, which was in excellent nick.
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Tried another visit Friday evening but it was packed. Well dressed doorman was telling folk to remove their hats - and they did! Tried again the next day but the small of the previous night drove me over the road to the Prince of Wales
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Pub seems in goor order still - although the ambience may change depending upon the timing of your visit. Am working in Leeds and tend to pop in after work when it is comfortably busy. Had a good range of beers on my visit this week including a few I had not tried before. Beers were in good order.
In my opinion, worth popping your head around the door to try a couple.
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Late review from November. Had no problem with the pub or the Roosters and Moorhouse beer served.
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A very busy pub post match on Saturday. Two or three bouncers on the door outside and judging how packed, I am not surprised. It says in the GBG that in this pub 'seven guest beers are served'. On a massively busy post match Saturday only four hand pumps were available. I guess from reading recent post from Spodgey that this is the normal now. Fullers London Pride, Anglo Dutch Special, Saltaire Rye Smile and G/K Old Speckled Hen with Weston's Old Rosie and Perry. The beers and ciders are listed on a blackboard behind the bar with their percentages. Above them it also stated 'This week we sold 3925 pints of real ale 110 pies'. To me that sounds like they could support more than four beers. As not a particularly adventurous selection of beer it hastened our move to find the close by new Leeds Brewery Tap before our train home.
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The pub is still ok. I still miss the two rooms though. I was looking forward to my annual visit last week but the place stank of paint and I was happy to leave.
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Normally pop in went in Leeds as next to station. Can get a bit naughty went Leeds playing at home but is a canny bar for a couple of pints.
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I have a funny feeling this pub is on its way down the pan.
It used to be a great pub with 8 real ales on and packed - now only 4 on a Sunday afternoon at my last visit, quiet too.
Had a half and left, the ale was okay but nowt to shout home about.
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went in on a fairly quiet afternoon and more than half the ales were off. Pedigree and Tetley's were still on - so I plumped for an expensive (is there any other kind) pint of Peroni. I was left disappointed, and my mood was only lifted when we moved north to the superb Foley's on the headrow.
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Nice for a pint but there's something about this joint which never makes me want to stay for more than two despite the quality of the ale. If you are
waiting for a train to somewhere better then you can't do better than here really.
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Traditional Nicholsons-branded pub in Leeds City Centre close to the station.
Historians amongst you may wish to know that the pub is named not after the North Yorkshire seaside resort ( which is spelt differently, anyway ), but after one Henry Scarbrough, a theatre impresario who purchased the property in 1826, then an elegant gentlemans residence.
Those of you familiar with Nicholsons style will know what to expect - much polished mahogany, glasswork and a decent range of real ales which included Outlaws, Roosters and Tetley on my recent visit.
There's one large bar with a number of different seating areas, seemingly popular with the after work crowd.
Note the splendid tiler exterior advertising Ind Coope's Burton Ales and, inside, an odd looking disused bank of handpumps in one corner of the pub.
It's a "pie house" - but I didn't see too many pies being consumed on my recent visit - se copious amounts of real ales and fancy drinks ( for the women ).
A blackboard behind the bar proudly proclaimed that "last week we sold 2427 pints of real ale", which, for a City Centre pub probably open all permitted hours didn't seem much to me.
In any event, this pub is worth seeking out
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Very handy for the main railway station, and offers a good selection of real ales to thirsty travellers (including a decent Robinsons Unicorn today).
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Great selection of ales. Busiest pub in Leeds on a Friday after the office bods are let out of their cages. Now that Leeds United aren't good anymore, matchday isn't a problem so much here either(Football fans do indeed only sing when they're winning). Food is ok but its the beer you'll come back for. Checkout my pub crawl to either start or finish at the taps.
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Too crowded and too many BT types in there.
Better to go to The Prince of Wales over the road.
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Had a great pint of Bradfords brewers Ruby Mild (4.4%)....good atmosphere in the pub... unlike its past rep as home of Leeds' football 'reception committee'
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I�ve only been to the Scarbrough Hotel once about 3 years ago but the recent comments suggest it is as good as I remember it. It�s a nicely presented pub both inside and out with friendly staff who were happy to talk about the good range of ales on offer. I do recall that we decided to stay a while longer and get a later train, something that I imagine is a common occurrence with Leeds� thirsty commuters.
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Called in the other night, my first visit for a a few weeks.Needn't have worried, the beer quality was great as usual.Also ended up catching a later train... as usual!
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excellent pub very convient for the train station very good food and a good choice of real ales bar staff very friendly and helpfull a pub I should vist more often might have to take more train journeys
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I used to love the "Taps". It had two large rooms, the lounge and the tap room, with a small difference in the price of your Tetleys depending if you were stood on carpet or lino. The facade is still original but the old interior has been ripped out and the two rooms made into one. Another old NF pub in the seventies, it is unfortunately more upmarket nowadays.
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Busy, friendly pub handy for City Station. Ales always in tip-top condition and reasonably priced for city-centre. Well worth missing a train for!
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Comfortable "traditional" style pub ,but beer quality and range has been consistently fantastic in my experience. Every time I go in I seem to find an ale I haven't tried before that I really enjoy, and served in peak condition.
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I popped in today at lunchtime, the place having been recommended to me. I wasn�t disappointed, this is a �proper� old pub with friendly staff and a good selection of real ales. As I don�t live in Leeds I shall be sorry to miss the forthcoming beer festival (starts 27 July 07).
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Firstly, to be pedantic, it's actually the SCARBROUGH Hotel, named after a previous owner Henry Scarbrough and not the coastal resort! (If you're a fan of local history check out the back of the food menu for a fascinating account of the place).
It's a good sized, one roomed, L-shaped bar largely fitted out in wood and leather.Its slightly theatrical feel doffs a cap to its previous incarnation as a music hall venue.
I find the left hand side far more relaxing, without the three glaring fruit machines and the overhead TV.
Beer quality is consistently good and that is reflected in a Good Beer Guide listing for several years.There are 6 hand pumps, with 'Tetley's' as a regular and up to five guest ales. Yorkshire micros are featured heavily.Disappointingly, there were only three guests during this visit.
The food appears to be based on a 'safe' menu, but from what I saw was well presented.Certainly two 'suits' at the bar were raving about the steak and ale pie.
The Scarbrough can get horrendously busy.If you're not a football fan and United are playing at home, I'd avoid like the plague on a Saturday tea time.However, as a regular Thursday night visitor it's been four or five deep at the bar when I've called in the last few times.
Definitely worth a punt though. I've lost track of the number of trains I've missed whilst drinking here!
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Very handy for the train station but far, far better than your average station pub. Great ales, food is worth trying too.
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The closest good pub to the railway station. Eight high quality real ales are always on tap, and the pub holds regular beer festivals. Gets insanely busy on Friday evenings. The pub does employ bar staff, and may close when Leeds are playing high profile opposition.
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Beer really well kept here and changes all the time. Couple of beer festivals each year also.
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Great place to meet near the railway station.
Good selection of fine beers always on offer.
Plenty of atmostphere, especially on match days...
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A well attended pub with a wide choice of ales but strangely lacking in atmosphere even when busy on a Saturday night. Also closes at 11 on the dot even at the weekend. Probably best treated as a starting point for a crawl.
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Excellent pub close to station. Can get very busy in the evenings and at weekends. Good choice of beers.
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Traditional style pub, very handy if you've got time to kill before catching a train from Leeds. Six ales, Tetley plus five from smaller local brewers. Wylam Bitter was very nice indeed.
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Great beer, good atmosphere friendly bar staff. Alot of the real ales are from yorkshire breweries
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Popular pub just over the road from Leeds main train station. Wood interior, changing real ales (Wylam Bitter, St Peter Mild and Tetley Bitter on my visit), all in good condition.
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