The Tap and Barrel — Restaurant in Plymouth

The pub is a lovely place. Clean and tidy. Good selection of drinks. Bright with its own character. Nice music nights and when visiting during the day I found their food to be excellent. I do have one problem though that spoils it. Despite the advertised opening times, during the summer after work i found at around 10pm they would abruptly decide to close. If I had been there for 10 mins I would find myself racing my drink and not feeling chilled and comfortable at all after my day at work. On two occasions I came to be told they were closing long before the 11pm closing time and had to turn around and walk back home, wasting my trip. Then tonight I went well before half 8 (sunday) with the stated opening times on their site saying it was open to find it wasnt. Once again wasting my trip. I would have this place as my local if I could rely on it, but I dont think I will waste my time anymore with friends on an evening unless they can be more reliable with their opening hours. A real shame. I hope they can sort this out. Other than that I think this place is really nice when im in there and it's open. I will be happy to rereview them again later should this...

Generally the Penguin is a lovely, friendly pub with a great atmosphere and I go there regularly for that reason. I decided to host my works Christmas party here this year and it was absolutely fantastic! We were given the entire restaurant area for our party and the staff went above and beyond with amazing decoration and delicious food! They spent hours getting everything ready and with all the little special touches it looked so fancy, especially when they came around with canapés and welcome drinks. Everyone at work was super impressed and my boss said it was the best party we've had! I honestly can't recommend this place enough... If you want a party with a great space, friendly, professional staff and amazing food, this is the place you need. Thank you Dan, Beth, Chris, Danielle, Amy and everyone else...

Service was very slow despite not being particularly busy but we were offered a free round of drinks to compensate. The food also wasn't great but we received a fresh batch of roast potatoes and the missing Yorkshire pudding eventually arrived. We ordered cheesecake for dessert but actually received a cheesecake base with a half melted cream mess on top. I think food is left too long sitting under the heat lamps before being served as mains tasted "re-heated" and obviously the desserts were melted! We were told there was a problem with the ovens but it would have been helpful to be told that at the start to manage expectations. Overall verdict, the food is overpriced for the standard of food and service that...