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The Ship Inn, Rye
Rye
TN31 7DB
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Ship Inn
Old inn down on The Strand, with the various seating and dining areas given an uncluttered gastro-pub makeover in subdued colours that works better than most. With two of the three handpumps in use, Long Man best bitter and Cellar Head's session Pale (£4.80) were the order of the day. Now run by Hush Heath, their Kentish wines and Jakes craft keg beers and cider are also available.
On 21st April 2024
- rating: 7
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Blackthorn _ left this review about The Ship Inn
A good sized pub at the bottom of the iconic Mermaid Street, this is clearly a bit more modern than the 14th century buildings around the corner, it is nonetheless a pleasant enough building and was reasonably busy on our recent Friday evening visit.
Internally it’s all been opened out in to one large room, although still has some segregation due to wooden partition, level changes, and so on. Broadly speaking the public bar is to the left, with more of a restaurant area to the right. Old flagstones were on the floor, and plenty of oak beams on the ceiling, although despite that it somehow felt a little more contemporary in style than might be expected. Perhaps it was just the fact that some of the woodwork looked relatively recent, the gastro-pub shades of green paintwork on much of the walls, or the strings of fairly lights hanging from the beams. A snug off to one side looked a little cosier, with a brick chimney breast and black paintwork on the walls.
Beers on tap were Blond and Best from Long Man, along with Cellar Head. The cider meanwhile was Jakes. Overall, the atmosphere of this pub rather let it down, there was a very noisy and annoying bunch of Apprentice wanabees on the next table, and many of the bar patrons seemed rather chavy, which was a shame really, as the staff were friendly, the food decent enough and it was quite a pleasant pub in terms of décor, albeit without much character perhaps. Maybe I just caught it at a bad time.
On 9th February 2024
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1949 recommendations about 1862 pubs]
Quinno _ left this review about The Ship Inn
Looks like it could be charming from the outside but sadly the interior is a semi-modernised place; a long and narrow front facer, with some beams and a half-arsed attempt at heritage which fails. Chaotic service with a hint of Keystone Cops about the whole operation – it wasn’t even that busy. Those who were in situ were very ‘geeeezah!’ style locals who would be well at home in 2005. Three cask with a surprisingly eclectic selection, my half of Cellarhead Cellar Hero just about cut the mustard (NBSS 3). Didn’t warm to the place at all, was happy to bolt.
On 16th October 2023
- rating: 5
[User has posted 5099 recommendations about 5082 pubs]
Steve of N21 left this review about The Ship Inn
Situated on the Strand close to the Quay this is one of Rye’s many food focussed pubs aimed at the tourist trade. It also functions as an Inn with a few boutique style rooms on the upper floor. The Ship Inn is now part of the Balfour Wines portfolio of pubs, so as well as food there is a focus on wet sales also.
The main entrance from the Strand takes you straight up to the bar area and the section of the pub to the left is more lounge pub style than the section to the right that much more resembles a restaurant and is laid out for dining. Popular with both tourists and locals alike it does attract just a drinking crowd as the evening wears on.
We visited twice whilst in Rye, but primarily because it was one of the free music locations during the Rye Jazz and Blues festival weekend. Initially on a Thursday evening they squeezed a Jazz three piece into the left hand lounge section and then on other days they had bands playing during the afternoons under a gazebo in the outside section next to the Italian restaurant next door. Obviously during these times the left hand section and outside spaces of the pub was rammed with people just drinking and just for the music.
Being part of the Balfour Wines portfolio means that their range of Jakes craft beers and ciders were availably alongside the estates wines. And on the ale front there is a partnership with the nearby Cellar Head Brewery in Ticehurst meaning one of their ales is usually available on the three ale pumps that are on the bar. For our visits this was initially their Session Pale Ale alongside Harviestone Bitter and Twisted Golden Ale and Longman Best Bitter, but this went off soon after we arrived and had been replaced with Cellar Head Session Best for our subsequent visit. We tried both Cellar Head brews and the Harviestone Bitter and Twisted during our visits and they were all good.
So , in conclusion, yes there is a focus on food, but their ownership by the nearby Balfour's Hush Heath Estate Winery and the collaboration with Cellar Head means wet sales is taken very seriously as well.
On 1st September 2023
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2111 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Old Blue left this review about Ship Inn
The Ship is said to have been built in 1592, originally as a warehouse to store goods seized from smugglers. It has quite a lot of character, and has different areas evidently intended to support more or less casual drinking and/or dining. The three hand pumps on our visit offered Harvey’s, Rother Valley Honey Fuzz and Old Dairy Blue Top, and I had a decent pint of the last of these.
It was fairly quiet on our visit, with a couple of people drinking at the bar and a few others dotted about the place. It took an astonishingly long time for the staff who didn’t seem to be doing anything in particular to realise that the two of us whom they’d just seen walk in and approach the bar might actually want serving. And there wasn’t much sign of anyone eating there either. I suspect this place isn’t really making much effort as a pub or a restaurant, but is relying heavily on letting its rooms above. Which is a shame, because it could be a really good venue.
On 11th March 2012
- rating: 5
[User has posted 271 recommendations about 270 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about Ship Inn
This place is certainly more restaurant than pub and although the food that the wife and I had was fantastic, the service was just plain rude. I think that it is perfectly acceptable to walk into a pub, as this place advertises itself to be, and sit down at a table and then go to the bar to order some beer and ask for a menu. If we'd have known that it was going to be such a mission to get fed we would have walked straight out. I think that I was meant to sit and get table service as every time I went to the bar I had to wait for the barman to finish making drinks even though I was the only one standing there. This made me a little confused as it was almost 45 minutes before the waiter came over and only then because I collared him.
Harvey's Best and Rother Valley's Honey Fuzz were on and there was also a selection of premium and standard lagers. There is a dartboard up on the wall with tables and chairs set out on the oche so an impromptu game was not on the cards. There was also a strange mix of music coming from the speakers and I was surprised to hear drum and bass in the surroundings I was in.
I don’t plan on returning here.
On 26th March 2009
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5252 recommendations about 5220 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Manky Badger left this review about Ship Inn
It's not a pub. It's a restaurant. Reviewed as a restaurant it would do better, but as a pub, 5/10 is the best it will get.
On 10th November 2007
- rating: 5
[User has posted 155 recommendations about 154 pubs]