Whitby – The Little Angel

The Little Angel is another pub which is mentioned in the Good Beer Guide and it is also thought that a castle might have been situated on this site at some point. I’m rather doubtful on that point for various reasons, but it has been trading since at least the eighteenth century and the building is older.

The name “Little Angel” initially feels modern, but it’s the original name of the pub and it’s to distinguish it from the “Big Angel” located nearer to the harbour, which is now the JD Wetherspoon Angel Hotel.

I liked the beer selection here, it was well balanced and the 1872 Porter from Elland Brewery was well-kept and at the appropriate temperature. It’s a slightly sweet porter and it has some strength, coming in with an ABV of 6.5%.

I’d already started on the beer selection, but the cider options were tempting and it’s nice to see a little display like this on the front bar.

Live music isn’t for me, but the pub has an excellent reputation for it. For me, and based only on that, this was the negative that meant I didn’t like this pub quite as much as the others I visited on the same evening. The music meant that customers weren’t engaging in the same way as in other pubs, but bearing in mind this is a self-described Goth pub which focuses on music, it’d be a little surprising if it was any other way.

As for the pub itself, it’s three rooms and has a fair amount of seating. It doesn’t serve food at the moment, but it’s spacious and the building itself is interesting because of its history. I liked the friendliness of the welcome and the bar staff seemed to be helpful and polite and the pub is doing well at winning local and national awards.