The Ship & Whale, Rotherhithe, SE16

The name of this pub is obviously a reference to the erstwhile industry of the nearby Greenland Dock. It was probably once a basic and no doubt seedy backstreet boozer, but no longer so. It’s been given a thoroughly modern makeover, with modern replica bare boards, some re-cycled church pews, normal but solid wooden tables with normal chairs, and some sofas on the right with what looked like an old sea chest doing duty as a low table. The window ledges sport a few tastefully and deliberately placed tall candles. The pub is larger than it looks from the outside, with the main room an L shape with the bar counter on the right. It looks as if the room at the back on the left might be the result of an extension, but I’m not sure of that. It’s a Shepherd Neame house, with Kent’s Best and Spitfire on during my visit on Saturday afternoon. The Kent’s Best was a decent pint, and at a fairly reasonable price of £3.25 a pint. There was one couple eating, and although I didn’t see a traditional printed menu, a chalkboard on the back wall advertised a handful of dishes – e.g. butternut squash soup at £4.05, and whitebait with aioli sauce at £5.95. I found this pub to be a bit impersonal and minimalist for my taste, like many madeover pubs that I’ve seen over the years that have lost their original unique character. But it’s nonetheless a good pub even it doesn’t match up to my personal ideal, being clean and well maintained. It dished out a decent pint of Kent’s Best for a reasonable price, and if you like this sort of pub it represents a good example of the type.

Randomness Guide to London - Ship And Whale entry

Randomness Guide to London - Ship And Whale entry