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The Ship, Rotherhithe, SE16
SE16
SE16 4JE
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Ship
Originally known as the Ship & Bells, this dates from 1790 and is clearly an interwar year’s pub, currently part of the Ram pen.
With a modern boarded floor, the interior is relatively plain, with walls with black Anaglypta to the dado, then a combination of white painted bare brick, distressed white planking – looking a bit nautical – and brick red paintwork, with a white ceiling on high. Lighting is conventional, with metal shades over the horseshoe shaped bar, with an attractive frontage, then brassy sconces. There’s an upright piano and – worryingly – toys for potential children, thankfully absent at the time of my arrival. Thereafter, there’s an attractive 1930s’ fireplace, unused, then décor in the form of many ship images and seafaring iconography, such as model ships and lifebuoys. Furniture is conventional and customers seemed to be young professional incomers, all to an adult orientated rock soundtrack.
The ale front revealed one unused pump, then Young’s Original and Special at £2.50 a half on good form and served by another suspicious barmaid.
This isn’t a bad pub, better than the Brunel, but holed below the waterline by the Mayflower.
On 27th April 2022
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Ship
Made a visit to this one on a cold pre 2020 lockdown II October afternoon whilst on route to the nearby Mayflower and found it virtually unchanged from Malden mans review from six years ago. Nothing really special in this one room pub, but it is very comfortable and still has the feeling of an old school community local. Two of the pumps in operation and table service only in these covid pandemic times, but good service levels from the serving barmaid and our halves of Youngs Bitter and Special were in decent nick. It may not have the interior charm of its two nearby neighbours but this is a solid enough locals pub and you could do a lot worse.
On 20th November 2020
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2111 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about The Ship
I liked this pub straightaway on entering, it really isn't anything special, just an old school community local with a spic and span interior and a friendly welcome and ambience but that is is just fine by me, how pubs should be. A squint ended horseshoe bar with the room winding around, boarded floor, red leather banquettes with chairs and small stools with just two high tables standing guard either side of the main entrance door. New looking leaded windows but an original example to the rear has that green and amber banding that indicates a former life as a Charrington's house.
Young's/Wells have it now, thankfully not yet on their hit list for vandalism in the guise of modernisation, just three clipped pumps with Bitter, Special and Bombardier. I asked for a Special but the barmaid apologetically advised this was not ready yet and in fairness immediately added a little sign to the clip saying "coming later". As a serial Bombardier avoider, naturally I plumped for the Ordinary Bitter which was well kept and fresh.
High shelves contained a few model sailing ships, champagne bottles and whisky boxes, framed river and water craft related prints and photos, a stack of board games on a side table and to the rear on one side, an upright piano which I'd wager gets an impromptu tinkling in here some nights, it's that sort of pub. TV on high was off Saturday PM.
Good value food is served, various sandwiches at £4.35, burgers £7.45-£8.65, sausage and mash £7.45, good honest fare at realistic prices. Bar snacks included scotch eggs, sausage rolls and pickled eggs, great stuff.
Candles on the tables are a token gesture to the modern age of pub design, there were newspapers on a table. Some seating to the front but a nicer walled garden to the rear with good floral displays.
This is not a destination pub by any means but it is a proper old style local which does what it needs to do very well. If I lived nearby I'd be in a lot.
On 13th April 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1708 recommendations about 1681 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Ship
This is essentially a backstreet locals' pub – epitomized by the large Millwall FC “No One Likes Us” flag at the end of the pub. There were half a dozen or so regulars in on a Wednesday lunchtime, all sitting at the bar, and when one left all the others said goodbye by to him by name. It has the typical, yet attractive, Young's pub exterior. Inside it is now a single-room pub with an island bar, but clearly in the past the different doors led to different rooms. They only had Young's Bitter on, but it was OK.
There are two very large plasma TVs on two of the walls; both were on with the volume tolerably high, showing a documentary about the Waco siege, with only one person watching. The models of ships sitting on top of the bar gantry is a nice touch. There was no food unfortunately – presumably there is insufficient call for it. Probably just as well as the smell of cleaning products was a little off-putting.
All in all this is a pretty decent backstreet pub. The piano is still there as well. I would be happy to return.
On 31st January 2009
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Dan Leissner left this review about The Ship
I visit The Ship occasionally when I get together in London with a mate I went to college with in the 70s. We discovered it by accident, fell in love with it and now make a pilgimage there, for a refreshing pint at the end of a pleasant stroll along the river. A real pub with real people, something that's very rare and special these days.
On 14th March 2008
- rating: 10
[User has posted 1 recommendations about 1 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about The Ship
The Ship wasn't on out initial pub crawl but we needed somewhere to watch the England v Poland match and this was as good a place as any. The first impressions were that of a straight forward no nonsense boozer. Very polite and chatty barmaid (we were somewhat soaked from walking to the pub). Decent pint of Youngs (not my favourite brewery but quite drinkable). Locals were fine – switched channels on TV for us, adjusted volume for us even asking if it was loud enough. Although it was dark, there appeared to be a small but quite attractive illuminated garden outside. 2 TV's for sport etc. Basically an unspectacular but decent honest pub that catered for our needs at the time.
On 13th October 2005
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]