The world’s largest Wetherspoon’s has seal-spotting views, a green leather banquette and a grand central staircase. I would do anything for that pub, so imagine my surprise when I was given my marching orders
In the most prime imaginable bit of Ramsgate beach real estate, right on the sand, stands a handsome, turn-of-the-last-century building that had claimed for the longest amount of time, some years in neon, to be a casino. I’d never been allowed in as a kid. Then in the 90s it was leaning towards defunct, by the 00s it looked a bit haunted, then there was a fire, and wham, 2017, it turned into a Spoons. It had been trailed for a few months ahead, and I’d sworn off it; the living nightmare that was Brexit was only a few months old and Wetherspoon’s Tim Martin was one of its most gracelessly triumphant fuglemen. He could keep his (incredibly cheap) pints and his (superhumanly fast) nuggets.
I didn’t cave piecemeal – as soon as I set eyes on the Royal Victoria Pavilion, renovated, now the world’s largest Wetherspoon’s, I was overswept by its charm. Everything about it is perfect. The outdoor tables on to the beach are in a permanent sunspot. Inside, a green leather banquette that seats 13 is angled directly at a floor-to-ceiling window, on to the sunset. There’s a grand central staircase you can dance down in your Busby Berkeley dreams. I didn’t think my opinion of it could get any higher, then I went in for breakfast after going seal watching; wholesome, tasty, idyllic.
