The Ship, Borough, SE1

The entire Fuller’s range was on, with the exception of Gale’s Seafarer. The Chiswick was on good form, and at a pretty reasonable £2.60 a pint. This is quite an attractive pub, both inside and out – I think well tended hanging baskets always give a pub an attractive look. It looks like a classic inter-war pub to me. Gone are the original partitions between the different rooms that would undoubtedly have been there at some time in the past, but the bar counter and wood panelled walls certainly appear to be the real deal. There are some of those high stool and tables that I quite dislike, but there are a number of normal tables and chairs round the sides. The barmaid was friendly enough without being chatty. The menu was fairly standard pub grub (nothing wrong with that) at reasonable prices. I didn’t eat there so can’t say any more than that about the food. There was a TV on, but muted, showing Sky Sports. The decor on the walls, consisting of prints and miscellaneous artifacts was, as you would expect, entirely of a nautical nature. There is also a functional dartboard at the back, being used when I was in there. So, we have a clean, comfortable and welcoming pub doing decent Fuller’s ales. You wouldn’t travel from the other side of London just to visit it, but it’s definitely worth dropping in for a pint if you’re in the area.

This is a decent Fullers pub that had four of their ales on the five hand pumps during my visit. There was also a large standard draught selection alongside Staropramen and the barman that served me was very friendly. The pub seemed to be well kept and clean, but there were a couple of fruit flies buzzing around my pint which was a little irritating. There are a couple of plasma screens that show Sky Sports, but these were both off as no events were on so there was some inoffensive background music playing. There is a dartboard at the end of the long thin bar and there is also a function room upstairs that is available for hire and also hosts a comedy night every other Friday evening. The food menus behind the bar advertised sandwiches and pies and I laughed when I read the sign saying ‘selection of foreign bottled beers' with Leffe, Heineken and Budweiser sitting above it. I'm a big fan of Fullers pubs and I thought that this one was above average and I would have no hesitation in returning.