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Detail Pages
The Ship Inn, Exeter
Exeter
EX1 1EY
Pub Type
Greene KingReviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Quinno _ left this review about The Ship Inn
Narrow alleyway pub by the cathedral, run by Greene King. GBG'23 listed, so in I went. The interior offers-up a soupçon of what the aged exterior imagines; wonky beamed ceiling, wood panelling/trim and in one corner some attractive naval scene fabrics behind a glass pane. However it's been unsympathetically knocked-through at some point and is shabby in places, plus the loud TVs further detract from any historical ambience. Four cask at the bar, all GK bar a local guest in Exeter Avocet (NBSS 3.5 – so worth the GBG entry, although the range has clearly deteriorated since the previous review so I wonder if it’ll make 24’s edition?) served-up by an efficient barmaid. Foody wafts, broken Wi-Fi and a raucous stag do in situ made my decision to get a half, sup-up and move on a simple one. A better operator could do much more here.
On 28th June 2023
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5099 recommendations about 5082 pubs]
Danny O'Revey left this review about The Ship Inn
Nice old pub, spoilt outside by the scaffolded building opposite. Old beamed interior
On 27th June 2023
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1456 recommendations about 1434 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Ship Inn
This is a nice traditional pub, tucked away down an alleyway close to the cathedral. You enter into a large front room with dark floorboards, plenty of dark wood beams and pillars and a mix of plaster and exposed stone walls. The bar is to the rear right and it has a simple tongue and groove panel counter front and stone work bar back with all the ales listed on boards to the right. A spacious seating area can be found to the front, offering mixed tables served by numerous chairs, plus a couple of high tables and stools over to the front left, arranged around a lovely stone fireplace with a wide unused stove in the hearth and a plain mirror above. Long mid-height tables with cut-off stools appear a little further back, mostly beneath a large TV screen which was out of action on this visit, although another screen next to the bar was showing a rolling news channel. A couple of smaller seating areas can be found beyond the bar and to the rear left, albeit with nothing much going for them. A few customers seemed to be heading up to the first floor restaurant, but I didn’t get around to exploring up there myself. The place was rammed when I walked past on Saturday evening, seemingly for a karaoke night, but was totally unrecognisable when I returned on a very quiet Sunday evening, with the karaoke replaced by barely audible pop tunes playing in the background. In fact, the whole visit may have ended up as something of a total damp squib, had things not unexpectedly taken a turn for the fascinating/gross, when a group of sloshed ladies turned up, sat at the table across from me and proceeded to play a very loud game of ‘Never Have I Ever’, with a stunning lack of collective self-awareness!
There was a decent selection of ales for me to draw upon whilst enjoying such impromptu entertainment, with a good row of handpulls dispensing Greene King IPA and Abbot Ale, Exeter Tomahawk and Avocet, Otter Ale and Hanlons Nice Tackle. Four real ciders were also available and a friendly barman served me a very good pint of the Tomahawk, which was arguably the best pint I had in a central Exeter pub.
This seemed like a nice place to spend a bit of time and certainly appears to have one of the city’s stronger ale selections. You might need to time your visit right, to get a good balance between karaoke chaos and totally dead, but otherwise, this looks like a pretty safe bet for inclusion on a city centre crawl.
On 3rd July 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about The Ship Inn
Ancient Inn. Unfortunately, the building opposite is scaffolded up, stopping any photos from being taken externally.
Its a Greene King Pub. They have the usual range, but a couple of guests. The Otter Ale was superb and worthy of the GBG 2022 entry.
Low beams and all seats were wooden chairs that were so hard, my arse fell asleep. Other people could hear it snoring.
On 22nd November 2021
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1338 recommendations about 1324 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about The Ship Inn
A very old pub with historic features at the front but if you go further back you find concrete beams with bits of timber attached, and could be almost anywhere. The overall effect is not unpleasant though, with various pillars and walls breaking up the space. A fair range of beers (Cask Marque listed) alongside the predictable IPA and Abbot, including Exeter, Otter and Black Sheep examples.
On 15th October 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about The Ship Inn
An historic town centre 16th Century pub spread over two floors down a narrow shopping street, currently run by GK. It is well described below. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable, while the clientele consisted of shoppers with their unruly children, one or two ale drinkers and some confused German tourists. Three ales on, all from GK, plus 5 boxed ciders. I had a pint of Back Of The Net, which was a reasonable pint. Given its location and the fact that it's a GK pub, it's not bad, and I'd b happy to come back in future.
On 9th September 2016
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3285 recommendations about 3250 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about The Ship Inn
Very nicely decorated nautical themed pub.Very busy with diners on my lunchtime visit.Doombar,Hooky bitter,GK -ipa and GK -Carnival.
On 25th August 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about The Ship Inn
An old and historic looking pub just off of the Cathedral Green, it’s a large pub covering two floors and seems popular with a younger crowd late on in the evening with a DJ playing music and bouncers on the door. It’s not exclusively aimed at that market however, and I suspect it may have a quite different feel at other times.
The downstairs bar has sanded boards on the floor at the front and flagstones at the rear. There was plenty of wood partitioning around and the colour scheme was a khaki green. As there was no seating here we ventured upstairs where there are a further two rooms. This is perhaps slightly more intended for dining with menus on all the tables, but did not appear exclusively so. Décor wise these are fairly similar with leaded windows and copious wood panelling on the walls, presumably to resemble a ship’s cabin. To reinforce it’s nautical credentials, a ship’s rope was strung along the balustrade and wrapped around a pillar.
The menu offered a fairly standard selection of pub grub such as Sausage & Mash, Pie, Lasagne, Fish & Chips, etc., as well as other sections covering burgers, grills and salads. Most of the main courses were somewhere around £5 - £7, although as we didn’t eat I cannot comment on the quality.
Beers on tap were Greene King IPA, Greene King Carnival, Black Sheep Velo and Abbott Ale. I think there may also have been something else, unfortunately my notes appear indecipherable. Ciders were Blackthorn, Thatcher’s Gold, and both Strawberry and Apples & Pears from Lilleys.
On 5th August 2014
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1949 recommendations about 1862 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
BobOs . left this review about The Ship Inn
From the outside it looks really promising, shame about the inside. Shame too about the huge sour-faced barman with matching demeanour who spent most of the time we were in there bemoaning how busy he was, while allowing glasses and bottles to mount up on every table simply because the area of the bar reserved for dirties was stacked about a foot high with absolute shed-loads of dirty dinner plates. Only saving grace of the place was the pleasant young barmaid and the beers (Abbot Reserve, Abbot Ale, Otter Ale and Old Speckled Hen) - so not a complete waste of a visit! Well below average.
On 16th July 2011
- rating: 3
[User has posted 370 recommendations about 355 pubs]