The White Horse & Griffin

Lovely little pub, very quirky. We had a lovely welcome from Leah. We ate Dinner there 3 nights, absolutely delicious, extremely generous portions, served by Michael who could not do enough for us. Breakfast was beautifully cooked and many options on offer. The location is perfect. Only slight criticism, the room was a little cold, however, I'm sure was just a case of bleeding the radiators..Bathroom towel rail was blissful and warm. Huge bath, shower, comfortable bed. Really good value for money too..Just needs a little refurb here and there, not enough to stop me returning. Steeped in history too. Thank you for a lovely stay.

We were so excited to be returning to the '4 star hotel' at Christmas. Anticipating the festive feel and Christmas fayre in the restaurant. We had booked our favourite room 'Helga Maria'. Walking up the stairs it gives you a sense of the old coaching in it once was and it very atmospheric. Unfortunately with these old establishments this has to be maintained. The wall above the window on the landing had flaking paint falling onto the curtains, give it a bit of a spruce up and hoover the curtains. Entering the room was the biggest anti climax ever. It was 3pm check in so I would have thought the heating would be on. It was freezing cold and the room previously decorated with lights, tree and garlands around the fire was bare. There was brick dust on the head board which had fallen onto the sheets and pillow. The curtains had damp water marks on them and mould. The '4 star' bathroom, well I don't know what has happened in there but the bottom of the door and the floor covering was filthy. The blind was stained and had a broken string which had just been tied. The radiators were rusty. No Christmas menu in the restaurant and it was grimy and the cushions on the seats were worn, stained and quite frankly uncomfortable to sit on. Original flagstone floor but it still needs to be swept and mopped. The same crumbs and debris on the floor throughout our stay. The food portions were small and over priced. Breakfast portion on the 2nd day was smaller than the day before. Very sad and disappointing visit. Issues that should be addressed.

Had a lovely meal here - very cosy and welcoming, great if you're bringing a dog. We had the prawn cocktail and salmon terrine to start - both delicious. And then the tikka trout and pork belly for main, very generous portions and tasty. Trifle and sorbet for pudding, brilliant. Would recommend going on an empty stomach!!

We stayed at this beautiful pub/inn for an overnight stay in Whitby. The staff are kind and helpful and the food is really good. The only thing that I think needs improvement is the heating (mainly because it’s Winter when we stayed) and we know it is an old bldg so heating is a bit on/off. Otherwise, service is good and it was a pleasure to stay in a historical bldg like this.

Had a meal here on Christmas Eve. The menu was amazing and reasonably priced. The vegetarian/vegan options were so good I didn't know which one to choose. I went with the Caramelised Fennel and Orange Galette. It was superb. Service was prompt and the atmosphere delightful. My partner had the Fish Pie and it was next level. Unfortunately we were so full that we couldn't fit in a desert - so we have decided we need to go back on Boxing day to have another meal so we can try all the other things that looked amazing. Really recommend this place. A real gem.

I’m really disappointed to be writing this as someone who has visited this pub before. However, after our most recent visit, I won’t be returning anytime soon. We came in to celebrate my partner’s birthday. We didn’t have a booking, but from the moment we arrived, the waitress (female with long dark hair — I don’t know her name) was cold and unwelcoming. Her attitude made us feel like we were an inconvenience. There was no warmth, no smile, and no effort to create a pleasant atmosphere. Her tone was dismissive and abrupt, and it genuinely felt like she didn’t want us there. That kind of energy really brings down the morale and atmosphere of a pub, especially when you’re trying to celebrate a special occasion. It’s such a shame because the food was amazing and the kitchen deserves real credit. But service is just as important as the food, and unfortunately her attitude overshadowed what should have been a lovely birthday meal. Considering this experience, I won’t be returning any time soon.

came here for 4 year running and unfortunately this will be our last visit. The service has slowly let this wonderful restaurant down. The food is always good sometimes a little small or under seasoned but good, some times amazing. But twice we have been left to sit with no attention paid to us with everything empty on our table and left us having to go to the waiters stand to request a desert menu or to pay for our bill. We were celebrating our engagement tonight and felt the staff did not have time for us. This is most disappointing because we believe in keeping restaurants like this running but they haven't given us a reason to go back 😔

This hotel used to be a lovely place in the past, full of history and charm, this is why we booked it again. Unfortunately, our recent experience was terrible. The room which was given to us, called 'Bagatelle' on top floor, was freezing cold, dump and filthy. The mattress was old, dump and collapsing. Bedding dirty, toilet seat dirty. We reported the issues to the young lady first, and then to the manager, both were really unpleasant and basically tried to ignore us. The manager refused to give us an alternative room, saying the hotel was fully booked, which we found out was untrue and insisted with our request. At that point, he accepted to give us another room requesting more money, with a very rude attitude, hence, we left the hotel and found another accommodation nearby. Our refund request has been ghosted by the manager and the owner. I don't like given bad reviews, and I don't know about the other rooms in the hotel, however, our room was a disgrace and unlivable, plus the attitude of the staff was horrible (only the young man was nice, but the manager and the young lady very unpleasant).

This hotel's in an excellent location considering Church Street doesn't have traffic passing all night but is still (very much so) in a central location. The room was so warm, I thought I had night sweats on Halloween/All Souls Day, turns out the bedding and thermostat made for a warm night, at no point during my stay here did I feel cold. The staff... I confess, the young girl with the dark hair and dark eyes who never told me her name (because I never asked) and she never showed me to my room, I have a crush on her, when I first saw her I thought f', I like you; (My Whitby Crush) but I'm too chicken shit / shy to act on it, but, this hotel's the best I've used in Whitby on this trip (I've used 3 hotels here and am writing this from the third Hotel I'm using here that I'm going to review once I've checked out, the White Horse & Griffin is the best and only £10.00 more per night than the other 2 hotels) because the Wi-Fi doesn't have any parental control on it and you can watch adult content on it and this place doesn't try to treat you like a child putting on any nonsense porn blockers; so the Wi-Fi works and doesn't filter anything and respects you as an adult. The room is warm and the bed is warm and waking up on a cold winter's morning isn't felt in this hotel because it's so warm, it's nice, and there's no cars heard passing because the main road outside isn't really used by traffic. I stayed here on Halloween which arguably Whitby seems to live for or, is a big night of the year for this destination at the very least, so I heard a little bit of the festivities going on in the bar downstairs, but that's the only fault and it's a minor fault and it's Whitby's biggest day of the year *citation required, so all is forgiven but the friendly staff and warm room, location and Wi-Fi situation make this the best hotel I've used here. Also, there's some historical providence to this hotel.

LOVED IT SO MUCH ASKED THEM TO CATER OUR WEDDING!!! We were in town visiting the town of Whitby. I was told to try out the White Horse + Griffin for a drink. I was surprised by it's size of the bar + overjoyed by the quaint restaurant down below (few steps down). The charm was so inviting I made dinner reservations there that evening. We enjoyed the wine selection as well! I brought my mother, my fiancé, + my future aunt... I was surprised how fantastic the cuisine was. To quickly stereotype myself: I am an American who works in the culinary world- so I can tend to be snobby about my food. I was wowed by the experience + quickly contacted them for catering our wedding. Ed was our main contact. He spent a lot of time skyping with us + making plans. He worked with our budget + to be honest wowed all our guests. I would recommend them in a heartbeat! I wish we could host another event there! We had our rehearsal dinner at the restaurant... upstairs private dining area. It was perfect. The next day had our wedding breakfast at a centre across the way. There offsite catering was spot on! Best WEDDING menu + food ever offered. This was a unanimous consensus from all of our guests.

We ended up having lunch here by accident really - you know how it is when you're all starving, one of you wants fish and chips, the other wants a burger, then add a vegetarian into the mix and you have one of those standing in the middle of the road not knowing if you're ever going survive this enforced famine! The out of the corner of my eye we spotted the white horse and griffen - glanced at the menu and decided to give it a go! The food here is not cheap, it must've been the somewhere near payday as none of as seemed to mind (either that or the hunger had made us all delirious). Once seated we were offered a bread roll, I had an olive one, and oh wow, it was delicious. They serve traditional fish and chips, alongside steaks and various specials! I decided to try the cassoulet - a dish I had never even heard of, let alone tried, but there was sausage and duck mentioned so I was sold! It wasn't speedy food, we seemed to be waiting a while for our food, but were enjoying a cheeky glass of red wine so we didn't seem to mind! The lunch was served in a pan! a very pretty 'copper' pan complete with handle! I was impressed, even more so when I tasted it - totally divine. One of the nicest meals I've ever had the pleasure to try!

A pub, restaurant and hotel. I've dined here and stayed overnight. This is a well located hotel and restaurant, serving a good breakfast. Room wise, the one I've stayed in had an insanely large and well appointed bathroom. The bed however was not too comfortable and was probably in need of replacement.

Stopped in for a cozy warm bite. The food is terrible. I had steak and ale pie. It was a bunch of cut up pieces of meat that it tasted old. There was no gravy either. They brought out 2 of the 5 of our meals out about 15 minutes before the others. Maybe they were having a bad day. We will never come back.

This restaurant has all the ingredients for a great meal out except a chef! The location is great, the cosy, old-world feel is relaxing and, because it was only 6pm, the one waitress had plenty of time to be friendly and attentive to all six diners. However, back to the food: I played safe and went for the cod in beer batter, chips and mushy peas. How could any chef worth his salt cock up such a traditional seaside staple as this? Well, I don't know, but he did. The mushy peas were grey and tasteless. The chips were big and trendy and unappetising. The fish, however, was the worst of everything and could only be made palatable by being smothered in ketchup. If this were my restaurant I would get rid of the chef and send out for takeaways from one of the myriad (and far superior) outlets in Whitby. They serve Timmy Taylor's Landlord, which is always good news for me, or was always good news until I tasted it here. Yes, they even managed to ruin that! The beer here is served lukewarm.

Very atmospheric coaching inn in the centre of Whitby. Food is erratic in quality: can be very good or very average. Best stick to the tried and trusted favourites such as fish pie and fish and chips.