There are a few places in Plymouth that you can't really explain without a bit of backstory, and Cap'n Jaspers is at the top of that list. It sits at 18 The Barbican, right in the old heart of the city, and it has been serving food from that spot since 1978. The whole place is a tribute to the man who started it, the legendary 'Cap'n' John Dudley, and it is worth knowing how it began before you sit down.
Every week we pick 🏆 the 5 best 🏆 things to do in Plymouth and send them to your inbox. Just one weekly email, no spam.
By submitting your email, you accept our Privacy Policy
The original Cap'n Jaspers was a DIY shed, six feet by twelve, built from chipboard with cardboard doors and put together with two hundred pounds between two friends. It stood for ten years before it had to be rebuilt bigger, and nine years after that it had to be moved to make way for the new Barbican Glassworks. The story goes that neither the 12 Gun Crew nor the 29 Commando could budge it, and it took a SWEB truck to finally pull it clear. For the first nineteen years, the business ran on a handshake between the Cap'n and the harbour company, with no lease at all; the current premises opened on 1 May 1997, and it is now secured by a proper long-term lease. The Cap'n died in June 2001, and his daughter Georgie, who has been part of the business since the very start, has run it ever since. Even the appliances inside were designed and built by the Cap'n himself, mostly out of old windshield wiper motors.
As for the food, it is fast and unpretentious. Fish and chips, hot dogs, burgers, mussels, bacon baps, mackerel, salads, sausages, coleslaw, fried cheese and cakes make up the bulk of it, with a fish of the day and vegetarian and coeliac options. The most famous item on the menu is the half-yard hot dog, and there are bold chilli cheeseburgers, burgers with onions, help-yourself relishes, light bites and Jasper's Specials. Everything is cooked fresh to order, and a mug of tea comes in at 90p with a 20p deposit on the mug. Over the years the place has poured more than a million cups of tea and has become the official sponsor of the Plymouth Raiders basketball team.
It is not a fancy night out, and that is part of the appeal. It is rated 4.5 out of 5 on Google from 1,860 reviews and 4.5 on TripAdvisor, and it sits at number 24 out of 484 fast food places in Plymouth on Restaurant Guru, with prices running from about a pound to ten pounds a head. People describe it as a true Plymouth institution, cheap, cheerful, no-nonsense food done right, and the atmosphere is cool and intimate. There is outdoor seating, it is wheelchair accessible, and it takes credit cards, though there is no Wi-Fi, no bookings and no delivery. It is licensed for both lunch and dinner and takes groups, and it opens roughly from 7:30 am to midnight most days, with a slightly later start on Sundays. If you are wandering the cobbled streets of the Barbican, it is an easy place to drop into for something simple and a bit of local history on the side.
