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Royal Victoria Pavilion (JD Wetherspoon), Ramsgate
Ramsgate
CT11 8LS
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
E TA left this review about Royal Victoria Pavilion (JD Wetherspoon)
Very comprehensively described by others below, this was an enjoyable visit to an historic building which has been put to good use. The ale selection has diminished though, the choices being Trio of Doom, Kirby Lonsdale Radical, Darkness Prince of Ales and Coach House Blueberry Beer. The young staff were functional, there were a few drunken idiots trying to cause trouble, but otherwise it was fine. I'd be happy to come back, though I suspect it gets pretty busy during the Summer season.
On 11th April 2024
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3281 recommendations about 3246 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Royal Victoria Pavilion (JD Wetherspoon)
This eye-catching Edwardian seaside pavilion has been thoughtfully restored by the Wetherspoons pub chain following a decade of disuse, becoming the company’s largest pub in the process. The pavilion opened in 1904, operating mainly as a cinema and variety theatre before its eventual closure in 1970, when it was converted to a casino. Unfortunately, a lot of the original features, including the domes at either end of the building and the decorative ceilings, have been lost over time, so that the initial impact upon entering is more a sense of marvel at the size rather than awe of the building. The main bar area is an enormous open plan space with dark wood flooring, the servery along the front wall and an open kitchen over to the left. There are loads of high tables and stools in this area, but it was virtually empty on our Sunday morning visit, making it feel cold and somewhat soulless as a result. Moving to the right, past some basic dark wood panelled partitioning walls and a few simple banquettes, you emerge into another very large space, carpeted throughout and furnished with some curved banquettes, chairs and tub chairs. Several pillars break up the space which seems to act as the child-friendly part of the pub judging by the chaos on display with kids running around, food crushed into the carpet and tables heaped high with no sign of anyone to clear them. Aside from a few decorative light fittings and some half-decent views out towards the beach, there was little to recommend here. Stairs lead you up to a first-floor area with a balcony, lined with muted TV screens, which looks down into the main bar area. There’s a whole load of extra seating up here including some decent padded bench booths, all running around the perimeter of the room, with many giving nice elevated views out to sea. The best views are probably to be found from the sizable upper deck area which offers plenty more seating but was far too cold to test out on a bitter Winter’s morning.
The twelve handpulls had a reasonable selection of cask ales, with three Spoon’s regulars doubled up and six guest ales on the remaining pumps. It being early in the morning, I opted to forgo the beer for a change and instead enjoyed a nice mug of tea with my full English. The staff seemed nice enough although were a little short-handed hence some of the uncleared tables. Unusually for a Wetherspoons, signs around the pub advertised a weekly quiz.
As with a lot of these ‘Spoons conversions of local landmark buildings, the best thing to come out of this pub opening is the opportunity for the public to explore a fine building that is an important part of Ramsgate’s history. For me though, the place didn’t really work all that well, seeming far too big for a town of this size and having lost a lot of original features, struggled to convey a sense of the building’s past use. It’s a perfectly functional ‘Spoons that I’m sure would be a good spot for a bit of summer drinking, but I can’t enthuse about it much more than that.
On 30th March 2020
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about Royal Victoria Pavilion (JD Wetherspoon)
I will concur this really is an impressive Wetherspoons, which all came as a bit of a surprise to us. After parking the car in the East Cliffs car park on a glorious late August afternoon we were walking across the expanse of sand that is Ramsgate beach aiming for the town centre when we came across this fine example of Edwardian seaside architecture glinting in the sun. But more importantly it was being extremely well utilised with the upstairs balcony facing the beach overflowing with people enjoying themselves.
Enticed inside the sheer size of this one is difficult to take in until you fully explore the place top and bottom and even more difficult to describe in print and do it justice, but if I say we were lucky enough to grab an outside balcony seat upstairs which had just been vacated and our table number was 437, you will get some idea.
Things I liked about this one were:-
A) The building itself. This really is a fine piece of seaside Edwardian architecture originally built to celebrate the reign of Queen Victoria and full marks to Wetherspoons in prolonging it’s life as a building to be enjoyed by the public. And the almost 360 degree outside upstairs balcony affording great views of the beach to the back, the town to the front and the Marina to the side is truly impressive.
B) As a non-smoker I liked the way there was designated smoking areas at the two extremes of the outside balcony thus leaving a sizeable middle portion smoke free.
C) The hoards of black shirt clad Staff that swarmed about the various areas of the pub serving and clearing the multitude of tables so that the usual ‘spoons scourge of dirty tables and piles of empty glasses and plates was not seen here.
I agree with some comments below that it would have been nice if the available beers had included some locales, but there are plenty of Kent brewery beers available in the other towns pubs and what was on offer was far from shabby. These included Hanson’s Firefly, Ringwood Old Thumper, Coachhouse Brewery Coachman’s Autumn Ale, Celt Citra and Veterans Brewing Tracer Amber ale and the couple we tried were in good nick. A fine spot to while away an hour or so waiting for the towns Micro’s to open.
On 4th October 2019
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2110 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about Royal Victoria Pavilion (JD Wetherspoon)
Well worth a visit just to see the sheer size of the place, we got in here on a cold and wet Tuesday night so a look around the outside was definitely out of the question, but a good wander around the ground and first floor kept us occupied. I agree with Aqualung in his review about there not being enough locale to be had. We too had the same experience even though they had nine guest beers on handpump. The closest beer was Summerskill Whistle Belly Vengeance from Plymouth, which was ok.
On 16th November 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Royal Victoria Pavilion (JD Wetherspoon)
Flagship 'spoons outlet in the reinvigorated Grade II listed pavilion just north of the historic harbour and right by the beach. Extensive ground-floor bar supplemented by a first-floor (near 360°) internal balcony with another (smaller) bar and a large outside terrace area with fine views. Busy enough on a scorchio early May bank holiday so goodness knows what it would be like at the height of summer, but it seemed well staffed so it didn't take long to get served. 11 different real ales available from the three banks of six handpumps, including Gold, Copper and Red Top (£2.55)from Old Dairy. Quite impressed overall.
On 12th May 2018
- rating: 8
[User has posted 8086 recommendations about 8086 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about Royal Victoria Pavilion (JD Wetherspoon)
I remember back in the 1990s going to the White Lion Of Mortimer in West Hendon when Wetherspoons claimed it to be the largest pub in the country. That was a conversion of a former Woolworths with two floors. It's no longer a Spoons or even a pub becoming one of the dozens of former Spoons in the Greater London area.
Now apparently this is the largest one and it certainly is an impressive building. It must have cost them millions to convert what was said to be a fire damaged wreck. The downstairs larger bar is to the right where this part of the lower floor has a high ceiling as the upper floor takes up the far right, a small part of the sides and the area above the kitchen to the left. It didn't seem quite so big as I expected as it's the outside areas and upper floor that turn it into a giant.
Not much effort has been made into splitting the huge areas up, just a few booths in the ground floor area and a separate area to the left by the entrance. The reality of this is that it is another huge barn but set on two floors. The big selling point is that the rear of the building overlooks a sandy beach and the sea (something that may cause problems in stormy weather). On the ground floor it looks like the narrow outside terrace is the smoking area while on the upper floor there is a fine balcony with weatherproof furnishings. There is also a front outside area on the first floor. There is a lift available between the two floors which is as well because the only toilets I spotted were on the first floor.
I made two visits one at around 10:00 and the second in the late afternoon. There were quite a few here on my early visit but it was pretty busy later so I retreated to the first floor balcony for some beers and a bite to eat (luckily the seagulls weren't extras from Hitchcock's The Birds!). I didn't have any trouble getting served at any point.
There are eighteen hand pumps with two banks of six downstairs and one bank of six upstairs. The JDW Trio Of doom is present on all three. Downstairs there were one unused, Young's Special, Adnam's Broadside, Summerskills Guzzale, Otter Bright and Wibblers Genesis. They must have a separate cellar upstairs as there was one unused which subsequently was Mordue IPA, Lymestone Einstein and Grafton Apricot Jungle. I tried the Guzzale, Genesis and Mordue IPA all at £2.55 and all in first class condition. The food and food club prices are approaching or at the top end for Spoons. I went for their new pizza which was the same price as I've seen elsewhere.
Some people have questioned whether a pub this size is viable. On the strength of my Saturday October visit over a month after it opened it would seem that it is but the weekdays after New Year will be the real test.
My only criticisms are that there were no Locale beers and I could see no sign of any cider other than the keg rubbish. I'll give it a strong 7. It would have been 8 if there had been some Locale beers.
On 9th October 2017
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]