Little Angel Inn, Whitby

Pub SignMan left this review about Little Angel Inn

A short but steep walk up the hill from the harbour, this is a multiple roomed pub that’s been opened out a little and given a bit of a tidy up, creating quite an unusual mix of modern and traditional. You enter to the main bar area via a short passageway, with the servery to the right and ample seating to the left and further towards the rear of the room. The space feels quite bright, even when visiting in the evening, thanks to light coloured floorboards, plenty of lighting and whitewashed walls mixed with a few bits of dark wood for contrast. There’s a good selection of seating in the room, including benches and low stools and a row of high tables with bar stools, especially in the bright left-hand side, which is properly opened out and felt a bit exposed, although the area to the rear right, past the end of the bar, has some partitioning walls still in situ and offered a cosier, darker alternative. The bar has a nice dark wood panelled counter front and mirrored bar back although the star of the show is definitely the colourful stained-glass canopy. A separate room to the front right has a much more traditional feel, thanks to some old carpeting, lots of dark wood beams and austere bench seating along two sides, with the servery running along a third side and a dartboard on the final wall. A TV screen was showing muted highlights from the day’s Olympics but otherwise the walls were decorated with a selection of brewery mirrors, including some for the in-house Lady Luck brewery. There was also a substantial pump clip collection, much of which had spilled across the aforementioned ceiling beams. To the rear of the pub, there is access to a beer garden, although I didn’t get around to exploring it myself, settling instead for a seat in the front bar, where a decent alternative rock soundtrack was playing.
One of Whitby’s more extensive ale ranges can be found here, with three from the on-site Lady Luck Brewery – Cursed Kraken, Black Cat Porter and Barmy Lemon – alongside Saltaire Blonde, Three Brothers The Bitter Ex, Cameron's Strongarm and Bowland Buster IPA. I tried a pint of the Cursed Kraken which was a bit past its prime and served up by a fairly brusque member of staff. There was a very good mid-week crowd in here, including a rowdy bunch of lads at the bar, making it feel a bit like a Friday or Saturday evening.
I thought this was quite a quirky place that ticked a fair few boxes for me. It may be a little too down to earth for some, but I enjoyed sitting in the front bar watching the locals come and go and could well see myself frequenting the place regularly if I lived here. I’ll let the dubious pint slide, as I suspect they may have overplayed their hand by having seven cask ales on in this post-lockdown climate, and would expect them to sort out the supply/demand balance as this becomes the norm. Definitely worth a look if you’re in town.

On 12^th November 2021 - rating: 7
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