The Pennyweight

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#32 of 243 Restaurants in Darlington££ - £££, Bar, British, Vegetarian friendly

+44 1325 468411+ Add website

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Hours

Sun

11:30 - 23:30

Mon

11:30 - 23:30

Tue

11:30 - 23:30

Wed

11:30 - 23:30

Thu

11:30 - 23:30

Fri

11:30 - 23:30

Sat

11:30 - 23:30

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What is Travellers’ Choice?

Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Ratings and reviews

4.0

411 reviews

#32 of 243 Restaurants in Darlington

Travellers' Choice 2024

RATINGS

Food

Service

Value

Atmosphere

Food and ambience

Bar, British, Pub, Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

“Reasonably priced and plenty meat and veg served with the Sunday roast.”

Bar Scene

“Great Family Pub”

“Lovely pub in darlington”

Location and contact

8 Bakehouse Hill, Darlington DL1 5QA England

+44 1325 468411

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Can a gluten free person get a good meal at this restaurant?

Yes

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Details

Manage this business?

PRICE RANGE

£1.00 – £8.00

CUISINES

Bar, British, Pub

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

Meals

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch, Drinks

FEATURES

Reservations, Outdoor Seating, Seating, Television, Highchairs Available, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, American Express, Mastercard, Visa, Free Wifi, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service

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4.0

411 reviews

Excellent

282

Very good

Average

Poor

Terrible

Claire H

Darlington82 contributions

Poor service and food.

Feb 2022 • couples

Very disappointed in our visit here. This used to be a popular choice for us a few years back however doubt we’ll be returning any time soon. Firstly we booked a table but on arrival we were offered a table right next to the front door or a tiny table stuck in the middle of the bar area. A couple who had walked in ahead of us without a booking were given a spacious window seat for 4 without question. We then tried to order a drink at the bar but the bar girl was too busy dealing with table orders so we had to wait to be seated and the male member of staff takes your order for drinks and you wait 15-20 minutes. You then have to wait another 15 minutes for the food order to be taken and that was because we flagged him down and asked. The food took ages to arrive despite being told there wasn’t a long wait and when it did the rice was under cooked, the fries were frozen and the chicken was minimal and tough. The steak pie came with roast potatoes and then a side dish of just carrots and new potatoes for the veg. It was all very disappointing a we observed customers walking out after struggling to be served for drinks. It also seemed a little bit grubby. Shame as everything used to be homemade including the chips. 3 stars is generous and is only in thanks to the one male member of staff who was pretty much running the whole pub, drinks, food orders and tables. You needed at least 1 more member of staff and table service for food only in my opinion.

Written 7 February 2022

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Joesjudge

1 contribution

Date in the town

Mar 2020 • couples

Went for a lovely date with the mrs. Ordered food, staff was friendly and even asked me on specifics for how I wanted the food to be cooked. Great atmosphere great staff. And great food. Would return again and again

Written 8 March 2020

Connoisseur226

Darlington242 contributions

A lot of potential, sadly not quite met

Jan 2022 • friends

The menu is huge and very impressive, but as with most places offering large menus, not everything is executed quite as well as it could or should be. The chicken parmesans aren’t really parmesans; the lack of any discernible bechamel sauce and the over-grilled cheese on top makes them quite dry and tough to get through. As for the salt and pepper chicken sizzler, it really just tasted of black bean sauce from a jar, with extra salt thrown in for good measure. The service is friendly enough, although the bar staff have a habit of looking down and taking quite a while to actually serve anyone It’s convenient and well furnished, but sadly the management aren’t making the most of it.

Written 4 January 2022

Mark H

Darlington9 contributions

What happened to the lasagna?

Jan 2020 • family

Visited today for a bite to eat. I knew exactly what I was going to order as I had THE BEST lasagna I've ever had about 6 months ago in the same place. We waited 40 minutes for our food to arrive and mine was served in a breakfast bowl with some coleslaw which was some red cabbage with mayo on as a side. The lasagna was £8 and I could taste the garlic in there but none of the rich meaty flavour and spice the last one had. I get the same boring food from our work canteen but for about £3. Was going to leave a review on their Facebook page but they seem to have removed that feature. I don't let on line reviews put me off trying a place so give it a go but it's nothing to write home about imho.

Written 18 January 2020

Inspire826039

2 contributions

Disappointed

Mar 2020 • couples

We tried this bar due to the reputation and experience at their other pub ..the bridge at Stapleton. Even though there were only 5 other customers ordering food it took 20 minutes just to be able to order our meal. When it came an hour later it was flavourless. So much so we left over half of the meal. How do you do that to curry? Homepride curry in a jar tastes better! Never again.

Written 11 March 2020

Shaz

Darlington26 contributions

Monday 25th

Aug 2020 • friends

Dined here last night (Monday 25th) was fairly busy but not packed. We got seated to our table, right next to the kitchen and the bell was not stop dinging. A server came and saw to us to take a drinks order and she was the rudest server I have ever came across, to describe her would be, young girl with glasses and hair in a scruffy bun. We ordered drinks and a few of us ordered diet cokes and she barked “how many cokes is it then”. We also sat back in astonishment as she was also rude to tables near to ours. We started with 2 lots of the trio of tapas, was really nice, pic to follow.. Although we all shared 1 set of cutlery to nibble on the starters because none was given. Nobody dared interrupt the rude server in case she used the cutlery to gauge our eyes out! Starters finished and said server returned and barked “are they your starters”👀... Main courses came all lovely apart from the chips which where overly browned to the point they became really dry. Through our mains we did get another server, slightly older who was friendly and had a bit of banter with us which was nice. Overall food was nice, just shame about half of the service. We felt it kind of killed our vibe a little bit, not something you expect when dining out.

Written 25 August 2020

jackier214

Darlington39 contributions

Don't waste your time

Jan 2020 • none

Arrived not long after 12 for food. Pub was fairly busy, but got a table. Husband went to bar to order food, came back with a cup of coffee and said that the barmaid said that "they were behind with food so she would come over and take our order". Yeah righto, this never happened, even though several people went to order food at the bar and there order was taken. If you can't cope with a fairly busy food service you need to up your game, much significantly. Unfortunately, can't comment on food as we drank the coffee and left. Will not be back. Would have given it no stars if the option was there. Very disappointed Pennyweight, improvements are needed.

Written 3 January 2020

Ray R

Doncaster119 contributions

Pricey and poor quality food.

Mar 2020 • family

Really nice interior but For a pub in the north, their prices are way over. £3.80 for a pint of standard beer, for example, though at least they do have a range of cask ales and all wines available by the glass not just one or two. But this is more about the food. The steak pie had poor quality meat and wasn’t that hot. I had the belly pork with black pudding mash which sounded great but was very average and very small for the price. Maybe I just chose wrong. Staff were very friendly and apologetic about the pie, but no offer of some money back or anything. Really could be much better. I’d go somewhere else if I were you as it looks like it’s hit and miss depending upon your food choice. Sorry. Please give me a helpful vote if you found this useful. Thanks.

Written 14 March 2020

Beth

Darlington11 contributions

Unreasonable & uninformative

May 2021 • couples

Me & m boyfriend fancied a couple drinks & something small to eat. We ordered our food & drinks but when I came to pay we got told we couldn’t use contactless we didn’t have a card. We wouldn’t of ordered if we knew we couldn’t pay contactless. So my boyfriend walked across town to get a card, we said we don’t want to pay for the chips because we needed to get going but got told we still need to pay for the chips even before they were paid for!

Written 19 June 2021

Crystal L

1 contribution

Food is amazing!

Jun 2021 • friends

We were politely greeted at the door by a young girl and was asked to sign in with track and trace, seated straight away and drink order taken. For food we ordered one of the sharing platters and it was HUGE! It was served on a big sharing board with different sauces, bread and it tasted amazing! Staff were very friendly and attentive which added to the experience. We will definitely be eating here again! Covid rules were clearly stated and in place as well so we felt very safe in this environment.

Written 22 June 2021

GGS1987

Darlington13 contributions

Visited the Pennyweight for

Oct 2020 • none

Visited the Pennyweight for the 2 for £10 or 3 for £13 menu. First of all think its fantastic they continue to use the ‘eat out to help out menu’. I chose the 2 for £10. Calamari for starters. Salad crisp and crunchy. Calamari piping hot, cooked just right so not chewy. Batter crisp and light. For main ordered the steak with Prawns. Steak was cooked to perfection. Can’t always say that with places and I’m a nightmare if not done right. But Could not of been better. Prawns again huge, light and tender but not rubbery or over cooked. Garlic butter and seasoning was again not over powering but full of flavour and warmth. And the portions for a £10 menu was not what I expected. For 6ft 3 lad I didn’t finish all my home cooked chips. The staff Chemaine and Abbie really made me feel welcome. Had my food ordered and drinks over in minutes. Lovely girls and made a great atmosphere which we really do need nowadays. Both of them a credit to the place. 10/10 and compliments to front of house and kitchen staff. Could not have been better. Also try there Sunday dinners. Not cavery anymore but still Amazing with table service. 10/10 all round.

Written 12 October 2020

Pippaoakley

Richmond97 contributions

Horrendous

Jun 2021 • friends

We booked, it took a hour for the Sunday lunch to come and was one of the worst Sunday dinners I’ve ever had. I normally go to the bridge and apparently there attached but it was awful compared to the bridge. They asked us to pay before we got the meal which was odd and the girl didn’t know how to do the payment separately, it wasn’t even busy so I don’t know How it took so long. There was no cauliflower cheese they ran out but never said, the parsnips were rock hard, the stuffing had batter on it which was odd and the Yorkshire pudding wasn’t cooked right through and still had powder in the middle. Ordered a drink and had to pay for it there and then couldn’t pay at the end. I wanted to order a pudding but didn’t see the point as I didn’t know if it would take ages or it would be horrendous. Won’t be returning

Written 28 June 2021

Marilyn G

Wakefield50 contributions

No social distancing - 65 minute wait for food!

Aug 2020 • couples

We booked a table on Wednesday for 7:15pm. The tables were sat back to back, took 15 mins to take our order and 65 mins to get our food. The staff were working very hard to keep on top of everything, but too many people for the amount of staff in the kitchen. All the tables placed food orders more or less at the same time. The burgers were nicely cooked but it took far too long to get it. The signs in the pub say keep “1m apart”. Won’t be going again.

Written 6 August 2020

Carol&Gerard

Washington804 contributions

Lovely food but disappointing facilities.

Apr 2022 • none

Called in for an early evening meal to be greeted by the female bar staff asking if we wanted just drinks or food, when we said both she advised there was a bit of time to wait and that the kitchen shut at 7pm. We decided to stay anyway and ordered topped chips between us as we'd had a large lunch that day. The rest of the menu was quite expensive but he topped chips were excellent value. The food was lovely when it arrived after a much shorter time than expected. We finished our drinks and before we left we went to the toilets. The pub is lovely, the food is lovely, the staff were lovely, but going to the toilet wasn't lovely at all. The hallway is dark and grubby, the toilets were ok but quite battered and needing a good clean and/or refurbishment. This would certainly deter us from returning to this pub despite how lovely everything else was. Be prepared, 3 stars reflects the poor facilities. I don't like giving negativity in my reviews and only do so when it's absolutely necessary. Hope the pub can take note and make the necessary changes as it's in a great location.

Written 22 May 2022

Debbie T

Darlington6 contributions

Lovely!

Apr 2021 • couples

We were lucky enough to walk in and get a table for tea last night (there very quickly became a queue!) dispute Covid rules in place, the whole place had such a lovely, friendly feel. We felt very safe! The staff were so nice and friendly, chatty and made us feel very welcome. As a pescatarian, I felt the menu choice was very poor (not sure there was anything at all for vegi’s!!) Either fish and chips or scampi and chips, so I ordered the fish and chips, which was really lovely! The food was piping hot, fish was very fresh and the chips were amazing! My partner got the mixed grill, it was huge!!! He really enjoyed it, and only left a tiny bit of bone left (sent us both into a massive food coma!) would definatly come back again! Well done to all the staff - I can imagine how knackered you all are but you still kept smiling and cracking on!

Written 14 April 2021

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THE PENNYWEIGHT, Darlington - Updated 2024 Restaurant Reviews, Menu & Prices - Tripadvisor