"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."
A handsome turn-of-the-last-century building on Ramsgate beach, once a neon-declared casino, fell into decline and suffered a fire before reopening in 2017 as a large Wetherspoon. Initial resistance to the conversion was fueled by the owner’s Brexit associations, yet the renovated Royal Victoria Pavilion proved unexpectedly charming. The venue features outdoor sunlit beach tables, a thirteen-seat green leather banquette facing a floor-to-ceiling sunset window, and a grand central staircase. A breakfast visit after seal watching was described as wholesome, tasty and idyllic. During Covid rule-of-six enforcement the party of seven was required to split across separate tables, with children moved outdoors while guests joked about the restriction.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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