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Disappointment of the week with Mobyduck
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Image posted by Quinno _
Submitted on Friday, 27th September 2019
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Detail Pages
The Ship & Whale, Rotherhithe, SE16
SE16
SE16 7LT
Served areas
Reviews of The Ship & Whale (Average Rating: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Tris C left this review about The Ship & Whale
This pub dates from the mid-18th century but was rebuilt for Truman’s in 1880, the now landlocked Greenland Dock a sad reminder of the thousands of whales that were processed here for their oil, in the long-gone blubber boiling houses to the south of the dock.
This is an attractive pub with its carved gilt fascia, an otherwise sole survivor of the area’s once Victorian streets; on my long slog here, I don’t think I passed a single building dating from before the 1980s. The slightly upmarket interior is conventional and smart with a modern boarded floor, natural wood wainscoting, a traditional Victorian colour scheme featuring burgundy Anaglypta wallpaper with a bottle green ceiling, roses picked out in gold, all illuminated by Victorian/Edwardian-style fittings with a decent soundtrack, décor amounting to lots of pot plants and framed pictures of the area from yesteryear. Furniture comes in the form of some peripheral pews, then traditional furniture with some oxblood studded wingback chairs and chesterfields. Customers were all resolutely local and few in number for a Saturday night, making for a slightly lacklustre ambience though not unpleasant.
Ales amounted to a meagre Shep’s offering of just Whitstable Bay and Spitfire at £2.90 a half, on surprisingly good form, served by a dotty barmaid who repeatedly asked me if I was eating, at gone 9.15.
This is now the only original pub in the whole vicinity, a decent place which would benefit from ale supplied by someone else, but otherwise it’s worth a bit of a walk if only to explore the area.
On 31st July 2023
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1983 recommendations about 1949 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Ship & Whale
This decent sized Shep’s pub, set amongst a load of dockside developments but with no view of the water itself, was a regular haunt of mine back in the mid-00’s, when it had a lively local’s pub feel to it. So I was a bit surprised to return after 15 or so years, only to discover it has been given a bit of a gastro makeover, with pretty much every table sporting a ‘Reserved’ sign. You enter to a large front seating area with smart floorboards, so low wood panelling on the walls, contrasted with dark painted upper sections and with a nice tiled fireplace in one corner under a large mirror. There’s a drinking ledge to the front, some pews down the left-hand wall and some well-made tables and chairs through the centre, leaving enough space for a collection of sofas and armchairs over to the right. Having observed that every table was reserved but unoccupied, I decided to just plonk myself down at one anyway, which prompted a friendly barmaid to pop over and explain that I was welcome to sit there until the customers (all of whom had reserved a table for the quiz, rather than for food incidentally) turned up. The windowsills were adorned with some nice potted plants and I spotted a TV screen in the front right corner, although this was switched off in favour of a quirky soundtrack playing quietly in the background. A few mirrors and old photos line the walls, including in a small red walled space to the rear which has a couple more tables and leads through to the toilets. Continuing down the left side of the pub, you pass the servery to your right, opposite which are some limited pew and chair seating options. The bar has a nice dark wood panel counter and attractive traditional bar back. Carrying on, there is a rear seating area with a few more tables and a door out to a well-appointed garden with some higher-end garden furniture and a few giant umbrellas for shelter.
Just the two cask ales on the bar and this being a Shepherd Neame house, it was no great surprise to find that these were their Spitfire and Whitstable Bay brews. I took a pint of the latter at the reasonable price of £4.30, and thought it was in reasonably good condition. The barman managed to take my order, serve me my pint and take my payment without uttering a single word – well done sir.
Despite being a semi-regular here some time ago, I never really fully took to the place and only really enjoyed it when it was packed and they were showing some football or had some other event on. Visiting on a quiet mid-week evening, I found the place rather stale and bland, not helped by the dull beer selection and gastro paintjob – perhaps I should’ve stayed for the quiz!
On 30th December 2021
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Ship & Whale
A survivor in the 1980s dockside regeneration area. Run by Sheps, it looks fairly attractive from the outside but inside has been opened out and feels rather rattly and lacks atmosphere. Not without some charm though, the varnished board floor is actually rather good in context whilst the red walls and bottle green ceiling is a decent combination but the lack of light makes it feel a bit gloomy. Some old black and white pics of the old dock adorn the walls. Six pumps with just two ales on, Whitstable Pale and a musty Spitfire (NBSS 2, just), served up by smiling, demure barmaid. Lots of reserved takes on a Sunday afternoon, drinkers are confined to either the garden or the fairly pleasant window bench. Couldn’t really warm to this one, unfortunately. 5.5
On 1st November 2019
- rating: 5
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]
View more reviews of The Ship & Whale (5)
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- Official site of The Ship & Whale - www.shipandwhale.co.uk
- Randomness Guide to London - Ship And Whale entry
- Facebook - Ship and whale
- Twitter - Ship & Whale
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Ship & Whale - whatpub.com
Rotherhithe, 1.04 miles, 20 min walk (show)
Canada Water, 1.06 miles, 20 min walk (show)
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 01 November 2019 by Quinno _
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 01 November 2019 by Quinno _
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 01 November 2019 by Quinno _
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 01 November 2019 by Quinno _
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 01 November 2019 by Quinno _
- Car Park : No last updated 01 November 2019 by Quinno _
- Child Friendly : Yes last updated 01 November 2019 by Quinno _
- Darts : No last updated 01 November 2019 by Quinno _
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 01 November 2019 by Quinno _
- Function Room : No last updated 01 November 2019 by Quinno _
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 01 November 2019 by Quinno _
- Jukebox : No last updated 01 November 2019 by Quinno _
- Karaoke : No last updated 01 November 2019 by Quinno _
- Live Music : No last updated 01 November 2019 by Quinno _
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 01 November 2019 by Quinno _
- Micropub : No last updated 01 November 2019 by Quinno _
- Pinball : No last updated 01 November 2019 by Quinno _
- Pool Table : No last updated 01 November 2019 by Quinno _
- Quiz Night : Yes - Thursdays 19.00. - last updated 31 July 2023 by Tris C
- Real Ale : Yes - Shepherd Neame. - last updated 31 July 2023 by Tris C
- Real Cider : No last updated 01 November 2019 by Quinno _
- WiFi : Yes last updated 01 November 2019 by Quinno _
