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Pub Quiz! Which pub is this?"Drinks are expensive and suffer from poor service, and the overriding feeling of filth that clings to every pore means that your drinks could just as easily been dredged from off the floor behind the bar - they're that pleasing..." ReviewFrom Wapping Wall the Prospect of Whitby's façade seems fairly traditional, yet behind the smoked-glass bay windows is a host of nautical bric-a-brac, which can be viewed whilst listening to the delights of barely audible 1970s disco. It starts with an innocuous stove, moves on to a few ship's lanterns, becomes silly with a ship's wheel on the ceiling, and then the quality of the marine tat deteriorates exponentially when you realise there's a ship's mast in the middle of the pub! The ceiling is full of timber beams and every centimetre of shelf-space is crammed with ship's blocks, pewter ladles and ceramic jars. Amongst the excessive ships' pictures on the walls are photographs showing the Thames-side façade of the pub through the years. The 400-year old stone floor is the oldest relic in the pub, but the lunatic barman's jokes are equally as ancient. Also working behind the pewter-topped bar is manna in the shape of an incredibly sexy, pig-tailed barmaid. The bar itself has barrels built into its base, a second level jutting out and ships' pictures along its summit. The pub's riverside location is its main asset, with a large terrace overlooking the Thames. Every window in the pub has a river aspect, and a raised seating area, mainly used by diners, feels like being in the captain's cabin on a great ocean-going vessel during the Age of Sail. Every pub along the Thames that was known by Charles Dickens claims it was the inspiration and setting for a scene in Our Mutual Friend. The Prospect of Whitby is no different, as Dickens used to dine upstairs in the Pepys Room restaurant, which itself is named after a literary icon on an earlier age - Samuel Pepys - who was, no doubt, in the pub trying to meet women (his diary is littered with his many infidelities)! The 'Pepys Room' above the pub is still a restaurant, but pub-food is also available downstairs; a large painting in a side room of the pub - pirates, skulls and crossbones that advertise the pub's 'Pirate's Galley' food - was evidently done by a child. A list on the wall outside the pub details all the monarchs who've reigned during the pub's existence; claiming to be the oldest of the surviving riverside taverns, the Prospect of Whitby was built in the 1520s, in the reign of Henry VIII. The pub was originally called The Devil's Tavern and was known locally as 'Beanies'. If this pub were the Tavern of the Devil, I would happily spend an eternity in the flames of hell so long as it was the same pig-tailed woman behind the bar, with whom I would be forever forced into demonic sexual depravity. It was at the time of Dickens that The Devil's Tavern was gutted in a fire and rebuilt as the Prospect of Whitby, named in honour of a popular nearby landmark; Whitby collier 'The Prospect' was moored outside the pub for many years. A noose hanging outside the pub's window is presumably in honour of 'hanging' Judge George Jeffreys, who was infamous for sentencing people to the gallows; he lived nearby and was a regular at the Prospect of Whitby until anti-royalists toppled the Crown and sent him scarpering for his life. He was captured in the nearby Town of Ramsgate pub and given a taste of his own medicine: he was hanged! Why the hell doesn't the Prospect of Whitby have a 'Hangman' machine? Somebody with no sense or humour has decided this pub, inextricably linked with public execution by hanging, should have a fucking Golden Tee machine! There's a noose hanging outside the window for Christ's sake - where the fuck is the nearest golf course? - get a sense of fun and a 'Hangman' machine! The pub, unlike Uncle Albert in Only Fools and Horses, has a genuine maritime history; consequently, it was the Prospect of Whitby pub that the BBC sitcom used in a scene from an episode in which Uncle Albert goes 'missing'.     Review by mr_psm Nearby:Pubs:
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User Comments:
Lovely old pub, and it has great potential. However, the food leaves quite a bit to be desired, and the service is virtually non-existant. The barman got orders wrong, had to be corrected twice, and was then rude because he made mistakes. He also asked for a tip after serving a glass of wine at the bar, and at £2.50 GBP for a mediocre miniscule glass of Pinot Grigio... it was rather cheeky. The food (one sandwich, one jacket potato, one ploughman's platter and one salad) took 55 minutes to arrive at the table. Many people left to go elsewhere, and had refunds given to them since they waited so long. Just how can a kitchen get so backed up, with such simple food? Either they are serving too many choices on the menu, or they have a chef who is capable of one thing at a time ONLY. A good manager would not let this happen, and I for one will be loathe to take any of the overseas visitors that I host (and I host 30 - 50 per year) anywhere near The Prospect of Whitby. Shame, as I started this review in saying...it has great potential.
Nice pub and my old local. Oh happy days. Nice beer nice people nice location. Oh, and I used to live with the 'sexy pig-tailed' girl behind the bar!
I love this pub. Whenever Im in London I try and visit for a pint or three.
Something like 4 or 5 years ago I was having a pint in the outside bit when a big cheer went up. To my amazemnt all eyes were on a porpoise that had surfaced no further than 20 yards away.
Absolutely Priceless !
Just to clear things up... Judge George Jeffreys wasn't actually hanged. He was caught at the 'Town of Ramsgate' pub but was imprisoned in the 'Tower'. He later died in 1689 of kidney disease whilst imprisoned. Little bit of history for you...
Back in the sixties you alighted from the undeground and climbed up the rickety stairs (As Brunel did) to be met by the blackness of cobbled Wapping High St.The wharfs towered above you as you passed the 40w street lights every 100m with a feint light in the distance beconing you.On arrival opening the door you were met with singing,shouting piano clattering and everybody having a thoroughly good time - mostly singing the old dirty Rugby songs with a big sign above the piano - No dirty Rugby songs allowed!!
I look forward to see if much has changed.
I visited The Prospect Of Whitby with my family on Friday night for dinner. I don't normally spend time writing reviews such as this one but I feel compelled to share my experience with the world.
The food we initially received was extremely disappointing; three out of our five meals were stone cold. I hate complaining and making a fuss but I was out for a rare evening with my parents, my sister and my girlfriend, and I wanted everyone to be happy. We sent our meals back only for them to return five minutes later having been microwaved. The chips by this point were soggy and our burgers really dry. The tiny piece of lettuce had shriveled up and the ketchup on our plates was now warm.
What do we do? Do we eat the nine quid burger, smile politely, say thank you and go on our way, or do we take our complaint further? In hindsight I know which choice I wish we'd taken. What we did in fact do is ask to speak to the kitchen. Ten minutes later the barman (who had served us our drinks earlier) came upstairs to our table. My father asked him not charge us for all five meals as three of them were not acceptable. His reply was that he couldn't do that and we'd need to speak to the manager – Okay not a problem.
We waited 40 minutes for a response. Eventually we got the managers attention and when my father asked him why it had taken 40 minutes for him to respond to our complaint. The manager's reply was “I have 2 sick children upstairs and they are more important than any customer in this pub”. My father's response was “I am sorry, I'm not familiar with your family situation but you have 5 really unsatisfied customers”. The manager became more irate at this point and repeated his previous statement. He then accused us of being rude and told us he didn't want to speak to us and if we had a complaint we should write to the brewery. He then walked away and continued to ignore our protests.
So we left the pub hungry, 50 pounds out of pocket, and in absolute disbelief at the way we had been treated - our evening was ruined. It would have been so much better for us had we not complained and just eaten our food. I can safely say I will never visit the Prospect Of Whitby ever again, and I would encourage everyone else to do the same. A man as ill mannered and difficult as the gentleman in charge in my opinion should not be managing a pub. Customer service clearly does not exist in this mans vocabulary. And lets not forget the disgusting food we were served which began the whole episode.
My advice would be to visit Captain Kidd down the road or if you're in the area and you want really great food with exceptional service pop into Il Bordello on Wapping lane where you are guaranteed service with a beaming smile.