Not already a member?
Join our community and
- Rate & review pubs
- Upload pictures
- Add events
JOIN for free NOW
Chat about:
Poll for date of Halifax crawl. with ROBCamra
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
The Ship, Fitzrovia, W1
W1
W1W 6YB
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 5½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Ship
The Centurion occupied this site from 1772 until this pub hove into view in 1887. The exterior displays an extraordinary hotchpotch of old brewery regalia: Bass, Flowers, Wenlock… The interior demonstrates a similar theme with plaques, mirrors and the like, but sadly neon signs from across the Atlantic, which were a bit bright and garish along with the two TVs, in a place which has little ambient illumination. The ceiling is wainscoted, from it hangs a veritable potpourri of trinkets, many nautical-themed. There’s much seafaring chandlery to the walls too, the most obvious being a pair of ship’s port and starboard lights. The floor is carpeted with a lino bar apron and furniture is low, with beaten copper tables and plum velour upholstery to the banquettes, but also a bar with a front and pot shelf that are also similarly upholstered; along with the beaten brass chimneybreast, it all looks very 1950s, but in a decent way for once – a good array of photos can be seen on the website. There was a sign saying that a restaurant was upstairs and that a garden existed also, but I can’t think where. Customers were clearly a mix of older locals, but also students; a University of Westminster campus building is bang opposite.
An old-school landlord presided over three unused pumps, then Neck Oil served in an ugly Beavertown branded ‘tumbler’ at a pricey £3.10.
This is really quite a nice pub, but the bright TVs, garish neon brewery signs and lack of real ale, result in a lower score than it should achieve; it's also closed at weekends.
On 13th October 2021
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Ship
A Smallish street corner pub with exterior signs for Bass, Welbeck Brewery and Flower's of Stratford. I may have missed something, but the expected nautical theme seemed to extend no further than the fake ship's wheel on the glazed front door, the interior being notable for ornaments of a different kind, mostly brass or copper, including a couple of ceiling fans. There are three hand pumps on the bar: Sharps Doom Bar, Bowland Hen Harrier and a naked pump were the options. I went for the Doom Bar, which was fresh and slightly fizzy and cost me £2.40 for a half. There were two screens showing Sky Sports News with no sound. Background music was at a reasonable volume and of tolerable quality.
On 15th January 2020
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3740 recommendations about 3477 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Ship
Inconspicuous corner pub, with an attractive rectangular bar with a selection of nautical-themed memorabilia supplemented by some breweriana. Not a lot of furniture, but there is also a dining room signposted upstairs. On this visit, I found two of three handpumps in use, with Sharp's Atlantic and a decent pint of Rooster's Humble Pie 'modest pale ale' (£4.20) on offer.
On 9th July 2016
- rating: 6
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Ship
Comfortable quirky pub which lives up to its name and has ship fittings inside, including a full sized ships wheel. Other quirks are the fabric front bar and gantry, wood ceiling, plethora of brass and sodium-style lighting. Also a good amount of breweriana. Glass case on the bar which I think had grub in. The positives end there as ale-wise there was merely a lacklustre Doom Bar to be had - quite how they managed to arrange that for a late Thursday afternoon on New Cavendish Street is beyond me. Worth a visit to say you’ve had a look anyway.
On 12th July 2015
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5081 recommendations about 5064 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Ship
Just the two ales on in here, both from Sharp's - Doom Bar of course and Atlantic (£2.10 a half). Although there was Bass signage all over the place they didn't actually serve any Bass. Food seems to be exclusively Vietnamese, seemingly rice and noodle based and around £5 - £6 or so. As you might expect the smell of spicy food was pretty evident when I dropped in here on Friday afternoon, but I still liked the place.
It's carpeted, with mainly traditionally red upholstered banquettes, small round stools and standard tables, with one or two tall stools at ledges. It's small enough that there isn't room for more than half a dozen or so tables. I saw private functions advertised; maybe there's another room upstairs as there wouldn't be room for one downstairs unless you took over the whole pub. There are interesting knick knacks all over the place, decorating the walls and on the ceiling. For some reason they seem to specialise in brass taps and spigots, although there are brass jugs and the like. I even spotted a wall plaque for HMS Ocean, and the inevitable maritime theme is continued with the large old ship's wheel near the entrance. Other items of interest are the Wenlock Brewery mirror on the right, as well as the copper hooded fireplace, also on the right.
Although the ale selection is just about in the "OK" category at a push, I liked this comfortable little pub and wouldn't mind visiting again.
On 25th May 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
hondo . left this review about The Ship
Interior as described below. The glass case mentioned housed crisps and nuts. 3 real ale taps all serving Sharp's Doom bar.
On 20th March 2014
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2883 recommendations about 2820 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Ship
There was only one other person in here during my weekday visit and he was watching horse racing on one of the three plasma screens, which is a lot for such a small pub. There are a couple of old brewery mirrors on the walls in amongst other abundant bits and pieces as well as a ship’s wheel by the entrance.
There are three hand pumps on the bar which all had Bass clips on them and there is also a standard draught selection from which I had a decent pint of Guinness. There is also a glass case on the bar which I imagine has pies etc in it, but it was empty during my visit.
I doubt that I'll ever return here, but I would recommend it to anyone that is a horse racing fan or maybe has a penchant for Bass.
On 17th June 2009
- rating: 5
[User has posted 5243 recommendations about 5211 pubs]