Scarbrough Hotel, Leeds

The Scarborough Hotel is a short skip from Leeds Railway Station and is located adjacent to a busy road junction. The outside is attractive and there is some café seating, but the view into the road isn’t the best. The interior consists of a long bar that faces the entrance and a mix of standard tables with chairs and high tables with stools line the front windows. To the left of the pub is a semi-partitioned seating area with some wine bottles and cabinets for decoration. There is also some seating to the right rear of the bar where a chalkboard informs readers that this pub used to be called the King’s Arms. There are no televisions in here and there was no background music playing on the recent Friday morning I visited. The bar is stocked with a range of standard and premium draught products and I counted nine hand pumps. I cannot remember what I had, but it was perfectly quaffable. Food is served from opening at 9am until 10pm, which is an hour before closing. I decided to try the £6.95 full English breakfast and I have to say that it was one of the best I have ever eaten, superb! I found the staff to be very friendly and I would recommend a visit. I was reliably informed by a local that this pub gets rammed on match days, so maybe one to avoid when Leeds are playing at home.

First visit back in the Scarbrough since it was taken over by Nicholsons and found it none the worse for that. Still the quality traditional interior from before and still a decent Ale range on offer, this time from the Nicholson Autumn range. And the two tried (Great Hecks Citra and Wolf Brewery Tasmanian Wolf, if I have interpreted my shorthand scribbles correctly ) were in good nick. As others have mentioned this fine pub is ideally suited to start or end any tour of Leeds when arriving by train.

The quickest way to find this pub from the train station is to come out of the station, go across the road and down the subway - the pub is straight in front of you. This is a large comfortable Nicholson's pub. As BF mentions below, it is a good starting point for a crawl around the city. The service was good and our Hilden No. 4 was in good condition. One of the striking features about this pub is the fabulous exterior.

Still one of the best pubs in Leeds city center always busy but the bar staff let it down by moaning about being busy

Impressively facaded Nicholsons pub over the road from the station. The interior has many of the usual Nicholsons touches and regular visitors to their outlets will know what to expect – an abundance of wood and glasswork. Apparently was two rooms a few years back and it’s a shame this hasn’t survived as the current set-up is rather impersonal. There’s a theatrical element to the place due to its past history as a music hall venue. A good range of ales (usually 6+) alongside a cider and perry. Has been GBG-listed for the last few years and understandably so; my pint of Moor was in good shape. Due to its location there’s a very transient nature to the place and it gets rammed at peak times, not helped by a distinct lack of seating so I presume they are welcoming of the vertical custom. Serves food, with pies being a speciality; indeed there is a pie and pint blackboard tallywhacker which is a nice touch. A worthwhile stop when quiet.