Got to be one of the biggest rip offs in Victoria. Happy hour is NOT a happy hour - Purely a reduction in price and volume of drinks. Food portions are reduced in size while prices increase. Gullible locals continue to support this 30% overpriced,...overrated gouge festMore

We wanted to love this cute pub, but sadly there are a few issues. First the good. Great fast service, nice shade on the patio. Clean. But the food oh such a disappointment! It sounds amazing on paper but the reality is it is not...good. Nothing tasted remarkable and some things were just awful. How can you mess up a sausage roll? good pastry but the meat was all wrong and not nice to eat. Even the soft drinks were unpleasant. Why? Seems like an enormous shame. If it’s an English pub with English classics, at least do some research on the way it supposed to taste. We tried 5 dishes, all were weird in some way, and the bread was stale. Cmon do better!More

Stopped in for drunch (lunch +dinner). We had the shepherds pie and the steak pie. Both were very tasty. Beer was cold. Service was friendly. Classic English pub atmosphere. Restroom was clean.

Fish and Chips had a very thick and heavy batter with small pieces of fish inside. A lot more batter than fish. French onion soup tasted alright but was the consistency of wallpaper paste/gloup. On the bright side service was good even though we sat...in the room at the far rear.More

Excellent food. They have vegetarian offers as well as zero percent beer, both on tap and by the bottle. I had the veggie burger and my friend had the bangers and mash. Cute atmosphere. Great service. Janice was our server and she was wonderful.

We met up with friends and enjoyed a wonderful lunch. Two of us had the Ploughman’s tray for two. Wonderful. The other two had a burger and Penne. Everyone had very good meals with good friendly service.

The food and atmosphere were excellent! The server was very informative and friendly. The chickens noodle soup was amazing.

The Penny Farthing was a nice restaurant to have lunch and the decor was of course in an English style. The menu had lots to offer and the service was very good. My wife had the black bean burger and I had the seafood pie....My wife enjoyed her burger and the seafood pie was delicious. It was like having a seafood chowder with a nice potato topping. Over all a great lunch.More

Very casual....good selection of beverages...beer, wine etc.. and the food is yummy... outside seating as well

Had lunch with friends last week and what a pleasant surprise. Yes, pub food but the menu was extensive and the food delicious. The server was uber-friendly, ever smiling and attentive. Nice little table by a fireplace which made for a cozy interlude on a...cold day. Ok, prices are somewhat elevated, but that's everywhere. Good food and exceptional service will have us going back soon. Well done!More

That's right, the title itself starts to reflect how do they like to conduct their business of providing a high quality food and beverage experience along with smiling faces. All this is not worth the prices that they charge you but should be additionally incentived...with Tipping the severs. It can totally not be your budget constraints to just afford the food prices being out here. It can also certainly not be at your own discretion anymore as it is totally at the discretion of this establishments managing leadership. Before entering such community oriented places at Oak Bay in Victoria, BC, you could easily expect a warm welcome and definitely a cozy seating here. Honestly, we had a great experience till we finished our food on our anniversary. But, when we had just got done with our food, my spouse continued the previously initiated telephonic chat she had earlier with them, the conversation being that does the restaurant offer any requested experiences like any desert that can be free for her as a gesture from them for the first time visitor (my spouse had been in a fix due to their budget for this dinner that they wanted to pay for) and that was what she was giving me a surprise with. The server was great since the beginning and she was the one who agreed to extend the free desert to my spouse earlier after we had our food. Although, the first bill that came to us still had the desert included with its price but after my spouse made another request without my knowledge, we got another bill that didn't have the desert included anymore. My spouse thanked the server and appreciated the bill that was well within her budget for the night. Unfortunately, any Tips would have been too small of an amount since any more would not be within her budget for the night. Post the successful bill payment, we started to play a board game there since had to take a bus back to our home and timed it well to have played a 15 min game before we leave. To our shocking surprise that just spoilt the whole experience for this restaurant was the floor or restaurant manager that came rushing towards our table on the floor above the main one. His only focus was to express at our table, how his restaurant conducts (or atleast likes to conduct their business) essentially it was all to make an example of my spouse requesting free desert and not being able to pay a Tip to them. He just started addressing me on how all this free desert and no Tipping is not acceptable for him. Mind you - everyone was at this point only looking at us and in our direction (nothing being there in front of us so clearly us) and the manager's voice was easily audible enough in this upper floor small area with around 7 to 8 tables being occupied. When I told him that am sorry but I was not at all aware of anything as it was my spouse trying to manage everything for the night but yes, he should still address me and not be passively aggressive towards my spouse then he plainly said that he wanted to make sure I knew about this and how bad it looks and how not acceptable it is for how they conduct business. Anyways, I went downstairs and just paid a 50% tip to appreciate the server and to ensure that there is a discouragement from a toxic Tipping culture being pushed but just earned from someone who has the means and not just someone coming to a fancy restaurant (even though I didn't have to pay anything as well). I told the manager that him spoiling our night when it was clearly our anniversary as well as Valentines, he had no business to publicly shame and make a spectacle out of us. Embarrassing your spouse for no mistake but just being mindful of a budget is totally uncool. My biggest concerns are - Does this restaurant not pay enough and industry standard wage to its servers? Are there any tips that the restaurant is justifying to offset burden to its payroll? and are they making customers pay at a certain restaurant specified/expected discretionary range of acceptable tips? If yes, then why? What's the desperation to squeeze out more from the customers? when clearly the food or anything else is not out of this world but adequately worth the prices they charge (some might still not agree). Any restaurant has a right to decide for a free desert at their discretion totally. They never said no which they should have, my spouse was clearly a romantic with a budget and am sorry for that. If they are pressed against the wall with their declining profits and increasing expenses (macro impacts from inflation and global supply chain challenges has micro impacts for us all too so totally understandable) and or they just don't like someone from not around their classy area as new customers. Not sure what's happening in reality but giving them the benefit of doubt being around a long time here, please be straightforward with customers with a yes or a no and if you don't give autonomy to your servers to be giving free desert for someone's special days, please emphasize it to everyone or atleast to your own staff. Your ambiguous discretion for your decision making should accommodate customer discretion for Tipping decision making as well. If the free desert or a decently warm and welcoming smile plus service comes at an additional fee or price then be upfront about having a service fee that directly benefits your servers performance management and Tipping match by yourself to them to also grow these incentives into real world benefits. Your discretionary decision to give a free desert is not equal to customers paying tips, it beats the purpose but certainly possible by many who can.More

We haven’t been here in a while, thought it might be a great spot to hookup for a lunch. I understand the comments about portion sizes and prices. Portions are small but you know the prices when you order. Service was very good, the meals...we ordered were very good. We had an enjoyable time. During lunch hour the place was full. They are doing most things right.More

I expect higher prices at this kind of old English pub…. But it’s ridiculous how small the portions are now…. $21 chicken burger, it’s literally the size of a McDonald’s junior chicken…laughable.

The only pub in Oak Bay and they know it. Talk about having a captive audience. They know that the locals will keep coming because it’s convenient and the beer list is adequate but save your money and eat dinner at home before you come....The menu is overpriced and the food is pathetic. My partners “Nashville hot chicken sandwich“ was anything but hot or spicy. When asked about the missing sauce they brought a ramekin of oil to the table and passed it off as hot sauce! When questioned further on this they explained that chilli oil is the secret Nashville hot sauce in their Nashville hot chicken sandwich! Like I said – pathetic. My fish and chips were among the saddest I’ve ever had. Minuscule piece of fish that was mostly batter. The fries might as well have been made from a cardboard box. Cold and flavorless. Did I mention the service?More

We hadn't been back to the Penny Farthing after enjoying it so much about 4 years ago. This time it was Happy Hour---and the menu was very limited. Ordered a $10 Seafood Chowder and the 'happy hour' version of their Yorkies. The yorkies were so...small---and not as good as I remember them. Very thick dark gravy. This could be because the cooks are getting a break during that happy hour time....so everything is just sitting there. But the chowder was so good we ordered another one. Thick and flavourful. Nice combination of various fish, other seafood, and potato. Sat on the outdoor patio.More