Food
Virtually all basic foodstuffs can be bought at the new Co-op store at the top of the hill on the Whitby Road, and many other supermarkets deliver to the village, but please support the local butcher and other small shops which help keep Staithes alive and make it such a delightful place to visit.
Specialist Food Suppliers:
Richard Lyth, the local butcher, has a good range of meats, sausages, pies, and basic foodstuffs including bread, jams, pickles, milk, fruit and vegetables. A lovely shop to savour and enjoy, and open early enough to make a full english breakfast a breeze.
Whitby Seafish, Unit 1A, Whitegate Close, Staithes (right beside the main public car park). 01947 841236. Monday to Friday 7am-4pm, Saturdays 9.30am-11am.
Whitby Seafish is a wholesale supplier of fish to restaurants but they are happy to supply fish to personal callers. The fish is obtained fresh every day from Whitby and Scarborough fish markets so they have whatever has been caught – usually a good range including turbot, brill and halibut but sometimes just cod and haddock. Ask in advance if you want something special. They will prepare the fish in anyway you want – gutted, scaled, filleted – and vac pack or ice it down for you. They now also have their own smoke house producing excellent quality Smoked Haddock and Smoked salmon.
Fortunes Smokehouse & Kipper Shop, Henrietta Street, Whitby. 01947 601659
This charismatic smokery has been on this tiny cobbled street in Whitby (go along to the bottom of the 199 steps to the abbey and then keep going – you will smell it out!) for many decades. They only smoke kippers (whole or filleted) and salmon, and they have restricted opening hours (usually 11-3) but if you are in Whitby when they are open it is an attraction in itself, and the kippers are a must buy!
The Whitby Catch, 1 Pier Road, Whitby 01947 601313
A first class fishmongers just across the road from the wholesale fish market on the quay at Whitby harbour. It offers a wide range of fish and shellfish. Pricey but good.
Restaurants
The Fox and Hounds, Goldsborough (signposted from the road between Staithes and Whitby, after Hinderwell and before Lythe). 01947 893372. Wednesday to Saturday, food served 6-8.30pm and lunchtime on Sundays.
This is an excellent gastropub run by Jason and Sue Davies and it has had many good reviews in the national press. The menu is all on a blackboard because it changes frequently, depending on the availability of ingredients – which are all locally-sourced and organic if possible. Starters (£5 to £8) include seared scallops with chilli jam and rocket, and spatchcocked pigeon. Main courses (£12 to £18) include a lot of fish, such as grilled halibut fillet on a bed of roasted potatoes and fennel with a caper salsa, and game – venison, pheasant etc. There is an extensive wine list starting at £12 for house red or white up to £50 for a Brunello. The service is very welcoming and helpful. Most seating for eating is in the main part of the pub but there is a private dining room accommodating up to 8 people. This is a great place for truly excellent food in an informal setting. You need to book, especially for Friday and Saturday evenings.
The Magpie Café, 4 Pier Road, Whitby, North Yorkshire, YO21 3PU. 01947 602058
Rick Stein recommends it for the best fish and chips in the UK (or at least he did until he opened his own fish & chip shop in Padstow). Most people go for the fish & chips (haddock/cod & chips £8) but there are many other fish dishes on the menu (£10 to £16) . The café is easy to find because it usually has a long queue out of the door and onto the street. Contrary to popular belief you can book a table outside School Holidays and avoid the queue (but be prepared for black looks from those in the queue). At busy times the new takeaway next door is just as good.
Cafes and tea rooms
Elizabeth Botham and Sons, 35-39 Skinner Street, Whitby, North Yorkshire YO21 3AH 01947 602823
Bothams make excellent cakes and loaves that are widely available in the Staithes and Whitby area. Less well-known is their tea room above their original shop in Skinner Street, Whitby (up the hill from the main town centre and left down Skinner Street – which also has some interesting shops). Here time has stood still for at least 50 years and you can still have a traditional English tea served by polite and efficient staff in a marvellous old room with the obligatory potted palms. It really is a marvellous way to spend a wet afternoon in Whitby (on the rare occasions that this occurs).
Other cafes and tea rooms
There are quite a few tea rooms and cafes in the Staithes and Whitby area! The Seadrift Café by the harbour in Staithes is tiny inside but when the weather is good it is great to get a pot of tea and a piece of coble cake and sit on the outside seats overlooking the harbour. The Cleveland Corner Café (01947 841117) on Staithes High Street (next to the Post Office) does a wide range of snacks and meals and many of our guests recommend it as a simple place to eat on the evenings when you don’t want to cook or go to a more formal restaurant.
Public Houses:
Staithes once had more pubs than you could crawl, but now only three remain.
Right opposite Endeavour House, The Royal George has hand-pulled beers and very reasonably priced and reliable pub grub for both lunch and dinner, along with TV sports coverage.
The Cod and Lobster, which looks out over the harbour, has a limited menu of hot dishes and sandwiches for lunch and dinner, and alternative hand-pulled beers. Crab sandwiches come recommended.
The Captain Cook, at the top of the hill before you leave the village, was once CAMRA pub of the year, and although the decor is a history lesson in itself, the range and quality of beers on offer is unsurpassed in the village.
