The Ship Hotel, New Romney

Old coaching inn towards the eastern end of the High Street, but the interior has been partly opened out and thoroughly refurbished to give an unexpectedly light, semi-modern and spacious interior. A small lounge area can be found by the front door, with a larger, elongated bar (featuring a welcome real log-burner fire on a chilly November day) along the central axis and a pair of dining rooms further back. Disappointingly for a Shepherd Neame house, just Master Brew (£4.25) available from the bank of three handpumps.

Official site of The Ship Hotel - the-ship-hotel.co.uk

Official site of The Ship Hotel - the-ship-hotel.co.uk

This pub is on New Romney High Street, and has a large frontage no doubt as a result of the fact that it is a hotel as well as a pub. The front room on the right as you enter is effectively a sports room as it contains both a pool table and table football. Around to the back of the servery is a low-ceilinged area with a flagstone floor, and with some tables and chairs that were being used by diners when I was in there on a weekday evening. But they are available to those just wanting a drink. This area had a distinctive pub feel to it, as there were two or three punters at the bar engaging in banter with the barmaid as she was attempting to put up some halloween tat. Wandering along at the back you come to a small area with a fireplace and sofas, then to an area with more normal tables and chairs. All quite civilised really. This is still a Shepherd Neame pub, with Masterbrew, Spitfire and Late Red on. Standard beefurgers (plus chips and coleslaw) are £10.95, with additional extras such as cheese or fried onions, at an additional 50p. The burgers were clearly homemade and very good quality. This is a prefectly decent place to spend some time in comfortable surroundings. Traditional pubs are an endangered species around here following the loss of the New Inn and the Prince of Wales in New Romney and the Sea Horse in Greatstone. The Smuggler's Tavern micropub is a welcome addition, but I don't think that it could be described as a traditional pub. I'll undoubtedly end up in this one again.