The Ship Inn — Restaurant in Canterbury

What a disappointment.

It had been about a year since we last visited, and it has gone downhill. It used to be busy on the weekend; tables were set, ready for diners, but it's a shell of its former self.

Alarm bells should have rung when I booked a table for two. But they sounded hurried and got me off the line without booking in my name. We arrived and were directed to choose one of the many empty tables, all unset. And then handed tatty, home-printed A4 menus with old food stuck to them. She then warned us that a table of 12 coming in might delay our meals' arrival, so best to choose promptly. There were only two staff members r and the restaurant and looking rushed. We chose 2x ribs for starters, a chicken and rice, and a braised beef cottage pie. One plate of ribs arrived. We asked if they doubled the portion onto one dish, but no. The waitress said that was their last one without offering an alternative. She then brought our cutlery and paper napkins.

They tasted ok, we shared, and then the plate was taken away.

A short while later, our mains arrived. The chicken and rice looked like chicken and rice, with some burnt-looking vegetables. And the braised beef cottage pie looked fine. But it was so salty. Too salty.

Now the table of 12 was in; at no point did the two busy staff members look our way. I resigned myself to picking up a takeaway on the way back. We walked up to the bar to pay our bill. I asked for the beef cottage pie to be removed, so the staff member spoke to the kitchen manager. A few minutes later, she returned and said she needed to check how much I had eaten—two bites, one for me and one for my mum, to confirm the saltiness. We waited another five minutes, and she returned and said she could only take 10% off that meal as I should have made them aware sooner. For example, when they came to check if everything was ok with our meals. They did not come to check everything was ok with our meals. The two staff members were very busy with the bar and the table of twelve. I mentioned this to deaf ears. It was now escalating into an argument I'm sure neither of us wanted. I looked at the bill and saw that 2x ribs were on there, so I asked for one to be taken off, which she did.

I would have loved to have spoken to the manager about the experience. It surprised me that the kitchen staff didn't taste the food before sending it out.

I felt sorry for the floor staff having to bare the brunt of other people's mistakes. The management not accepting fault was unacceptable.

In the end, we paid the bill, but I felt robbed, angry and upset. This place used to be buzzing on the weekend. The food was great, the atmosphere lively, and the staff kind and friendly. But now...

We walked out, but not through the front door. That doesn't open now. I should have noticed the old leaflets hanging down through the letterbox and on the doormat. When we got home, we realised they didn't even take...

I have been to the Ship Inn several times and on previous occasions was really impressed with the standard of food but last night's experience was a disappointment. We arrived fairly early on in the evening (well before 7 pm) and were told two dishes were already off the menu. When we ordered the bay burgers we were told that there was only one burger left. I therefore ordered the mushroom linguine and my son's friend ordered the prawn linguine as an alternative. Unfortunately noth pasta dishes are completely spoilt by being dominated by dried chilli flakes/seeds that made both dishes taste very bitter and the heat overwhelmed any chance of other flavours coming through. I can't help but wonder why fresh chillies weren't considered for the dishes to enhance the flavour rather than overwhelm and spoil it. The type of mushrooms used in the dish had no flavour at all. I didn't complain at the time but on reflection I should have. Both pasta dishes did not present value for money and they weren't at thecstandard I have come to expect from the Ship Inn. No parmesan, only grated cheddar cheese on offer. I don't know whether there had been a lot of demand during the day but it did feel very much like both pasta dishes had been cobbled together with very little thought of the flavour and the bill was £88. I would like to give the benefit of the doubt as this is my first disappointing meal here. Perhaps it was a bad day in the kitchen when dishes and ingredients...

Lower your expectations because most of the items on the Sunday menu weren't even available. What we could order was simply of a poor quality, and Luke warm. Most of the staff are very young and lacked experience. I suspect the management have a recruitment policy based on cheap labour rather than ability, which highlights the old saying "pay peanuts and you get monkeys" I feel sorry for these kids that wander about like grumpy sulky teenagers who lack any social engagement skills. It's clearly obvious that their managers simply don't train them up properly. None of the staff we encountered seemed to have an ounce of common sense or ability to think for themselves... We had to leave the table after our meals were served to fetch cutlery that had been forgotten...after dinner, an ice cream dessert arrived complete with a knife & fork?? Seemingly it was too complicated to work out that a spoon would be required. Two drinks (G&T+ a Red Wine) were ordered on 3 occasions because the 10 steps from our table to the bar was too much for the lad to remember what we wanted. Eventually someone else with a better memory retention came to take the order, only to deliver a glass of Rose'. The experience made us laugh at the calamity...but on a serious note its very damaging for this business because I'm afraid we won't be returning...