The Ship Tavern, WC2

Have use the Ship on a couple of occasions in the last couple of months, due to its proximity to the Holborn Pizza Express live venue, and it has had a decent range of well-kept ales on both occasions. For my last visit five of the six pumps were badged with four ales actually available in the shape of Sharps Doombar, Black Sheep Bitter, and two from Southwark Brewing, namely their Routemaster Red Ale and a Pale Ale called Top Drop brewed for the Rugby World Cup. The fifth was badged with Theakston Old Peculiar but with the dreaded Not ready sign hanging on it. The pub is completely unchanged from the pre Covid Pandemic reviews and would still appear to be a decent tucked away pub for a pint close to Holborn station.

An atmospheric boozer in the back alleyways, difficult to tell what is original and what might be contrived but the overall effect is reasonable. Lots of dark wood gives a good feel, while outside there are some nice William Younger windows. A dining room is signed upstairs (not visited). A good range of beers also, with Windsor & Eton Conqueror, Sambrook's Junction, Deuchars IPA, Tribute and a house ale.

this is not too bad a pub for central London. small and atmospheric. dining largely consigned to upstairs. Based on my visit it’s not, however, a place to escape American tourists or London prices - yikes on both counts!

A pleasant pub tucked away down a pedestrianised alleyway, but only a short distance from the hustle and bustle of nearby roads, it has quite a traditional appearance with leaded glass windows that bear the pub’s name, although unusually it appears to be constructed from some type of black granite. Internally it has quite a traditional appearance with wood strip floor, cornice work on the ceiling, and much wood panelling on the walls, both full height in some places and on the lower half only in others. Elsewhere the colour scheme was deep red paintwork and there was also a large beer barrel for vertical drinking, a cockerel mounted on a pillar, and appropriately enough, lots of old black and white photographs of ships. One corner of the pub was quite cosy with a number of built-in bookshelves behind the seating and plenty of pictures on the walls. In contrast were a couple of TV screens stuck up on the wall, but fortunately these were not in use on our visit. Beers on tap were Twickenham Sundancer, Wimbledon Copper Leaf Ale, Old Peculiar, Tribute, Deuchars IPA and their own 1549, perhaps a reference to when the pub first opened? The solitary cider meanwhile was Symonds Founders Reserve. Overall, an oasis of calm in the middle of London, and well worth checking out.