The Orlop, Whitby

An unusual pub located not on land but on a ship moored up in the harbour, we hadn’t initially even realised it was a pub until walking past the entrance when we saw some A boards and someone enticing us in. I’m not in the habit of reviewing pubs that I haven’t had a drink in, but it was our intention to have a drink and we got as far as sitting down, so I’ll make an exception. Unfortunately, it’s table service only, I was promptly shooed away as soon as I walked anywhere near the bar, so we were duly shown to a table by someone who then disappeared. After waiting for some considerable time for anyone to come back and take our order, we were then brought a couple of coffee’s which we obviously hadn’t ordered. Explaining that we had yet to see a drinks list, we were eventually brought a very dirty menu that was food only, not drinks. After waiting a bit longer, we gave up and went elsewhere. From what I did see whilst we were there, they’ve done a pretty good job of things, and the seating areas consist of a lower deck, and upper deck on a sort of mezzanine level overlooking this, and an outside seating area up top. This was a very pleasant spot to take in the views. Internally it’s still clearly a boat with much of the bulkhead visible, some of which has been left white and other painted in royal blue, as well as white painted boards on the ceiling. Rough wooden boards were on the floor and there were a couple of half barrels set in to the wall as well as some smaller barrels that had been made in to stools. There was the obligatory glass display case containing a selection of knots, as well as further drawings of various nautical knots. No real ales on tap unfortunately, just Atlantic Pale Ale on keg, whilst the ciders fared no better with Aspall’s being the only option. Overall, this is a nice boat in a nice spot, it’s just a shame that the service, or lack of, lets it down so badly.

The Orlop is a bar and grill on board a replica of the HM Bark Endeavour.It was bought in auction by local businessman Andrew Fiddler who was against strong bidders including the Royal Navy.