The Waiting Room, Whitby

A very small micropub on the station owned by the same people who have the Arch & Abbey further up in town. An ever changing range of cask ales and the two I had were in excellent nick. Note that it doesn't open until 3 in midweek and by 4 it's busy. Also note that it's card payment only. It's a very good pub.

I was shocked to see I hadn’t reviewed this pub as I’ve used it probably every time I’ve been in Whitby since it opened , the pub not the town that is. Anyway PSM has a fulsome description of the place and I can’t beat his completeness. Suffice to say one of the very best in Whitby where there’s some stiff competition. The beers are ever changing but for the record today’s choice was : Cross Bay Zenith IPA, Half Moon Dark Masquerade, Bingley Goldilocks, Leatherbritches Berry Dangerous, Cooper Hill Golden Ale and Hillbilly Uncle Jed’s Best Bitter. Payment by card only. Don’t miss it.

As the name suggests, this pub is set inside a former waiting room in the evocative Whitby train station. Occupying a roughly square-shaped room with bare floorboards, the pub has a lot of nice little original features and railway themed bits of décor that make it feel like quite a unique space to enjoy a few drinks. The room has a pleasant white panel and green painted wall colour scheme, broken by some large sash windows along one of the walls and good views out to the adjacent platforms. A mix of high tables and stools and standard tables and chairs have been supplied, all arranged in a tight formation that makes it a little tricky to move around when its busy, especially given the number of dogs lounging in the narrow walkways between the tables. The servery is to the rear right and has an unspectacular modern counter and a window looking out to the platforms on its bar back. The side wall is almost entirely covered with pump clips, whilst the front wall has some train carriage-style luggage racks mounted overhead, each stacked with a load of old suitcases, hat boxes and the like. Elsewhere, old black and white photos of Whitby provide some interesting visual distraction and the back wall is dominated by a large beer board, although the cask ales are listed separately on a board next to the entrance, which I found a little confusing. A small platform-side seating area with metal garden furniture can be found outside the waiting room and whilst this is sheltered, it’s still pretty cold, with the wind blowing through the station building making this a bit of a lottery in terms of comfort. The pub’s toilet is described as a microloo, which is a new one on me – sadly I didn’t get a chance to check out exactly what this means. Bizarrely, the pub had a bouncer on the door when we arrived on a late Saturday afternoon, and he checked with the bar staff that there was a table available before allowing us in (as per the pub’s Covid guidelines at the time of visit). We were greeted by a very friendly landlady and were able to choose from a good selection of cask ale comprising Wensleydale Black Dub and EPA Pale, North Yorkshire NYPA and Cobble Bitter, Great Newsome Fine Fettle and Ashover Zoo. All cask ales were priced at £3.90 a pint and they also had 3 thirds of a pint beer bats for the same price. Further to this, no less than thirteen ciders were listed, along with a long and fully comprehensive bottle and can range. I tried the Black Dub, which was in superb condition, whilst my other half enjoyed one of the many cider options. This is a cracking little pub with a quirky, site-appropriate theme, excellent, friendly service and some of the best kept beer in Whitby. There was a great buzz from a full house on our visit and I can imagine that’s the case a lot of the time here. I thought this was a great success and the best of the various pubs I tried whilst in Whitby.

One room pub in the station. Too many bar blockers for me to see what was on offer from the four or five real ale pumps, so I had to stick to Old Rosie. Oh dear!

Really enjoyed my visit to this microbar that is part of the station buildings. Good ale and cider selection available. I chose Ashover 1910 Porter which was great.

Great little micropub inside the station buildings. I found the gaffer to be very friendly and he was happy to give his advice on other local pubs. 5 beers on including a couple from Wold Top. Not to be missed if you are in Whitby but check the opening times!

Single room micro pub in one of the rooms within the small station building, some low seating & other stools. The small bar is in one corner. Small space but a great use of the station area. 4 or 5 real ales & ciders, no lager. Lovely building & excellent addition to Whitby pub/ale scene.