Ye Olde Ship Inn — Restaurant in Guildford

We visited on a cold January Friday evening, there were 6 of us for a mates catchup over dinner and a few drinks!

Upon arrival, there was a warm friendly buzz, a toasty fire and comfy spacious environment in a stunning traditional pub. Clearly nice clientele. I was a bit wary of how the food would be, only because I'm not a pizza lover and a vegetarian - all personal preferences, granted. Importantly, a vegetarian would be fine here, plenty of veggie pizza options, and a non-pizza main on the menu (albeit with Parmesan, which is not 100% veggie). The important thing to note is that the food is exceptional quality, the menu is compact and specialist in pizza, but that gives the opportunity for the kitchen to focus on producing top notch food. The build you own option really expands options beyond just a pizza. I opted for the non-pizza veggie main, Aubergine Parmigiana - absolutely cracking. Really tasty, home made, piping hot, served with a delicious fresh flatbread. I also ordered the refried beans and garlic bread - just great.

The rest of my party ordered an array of different pizzas from the menu. All were enjoyed, the portions were just right, catered for everyone's appetite (options to box-up remaining pizza). The fries were great, as were the Olives and Bread we ordered to nibble. Often olives and bread can be disappointing, but these were quality, plump olives and enough to share, served with warm chunks of bread to dip in the olive oil.

Drinks were great, wide variety.

The staff were switched on, diligent, friendly, communicative and welcoming. No pestering and willing to accommodate. We also had a dog with us who was quite happy lying by the fire nibbling on the Bonios provided by the pub.

The toilets were clean and tidy, and two doors away from the eating area. All covid safe - the tables were well spaced, all staff wearing masks (and some customers who weren't consuming).

I also emailed the pub in advance just to see what the veggie options were. I received honest, quick and friendly responses from Jeremy. All service was quick and accurate.

To Jeremy and all the...

Disappointed to be changing this 5 star review to 2 stars. This place holds a lot of nostalgia for me and always had a good experience until the past Sunday. When the waiter came over to take our order, my Mrs was told she's "unable to order from the child's menu as an adult" which is absolutely ridiculous. She wasn't particularly hungry, therefore wanted a smaller pizza. This is just a greedy move on your part, forcing customers to pay more money for no apparent reason. We spend a good £100 in here every 2 weeks on pizza and drink, yet your not willing to let a customer order a smaller pizza? Also, after the waiter picked up on my frustration, he walked off without me finishing me order, then sent someone else to the table for the rest of the evening. Well done, gained yourself circa £9 in additional (wasted) pizza income for the night, yet lost yourself a repeat customer, sound...

Nice old pub doing a good selection of beers and lagers, but the real pull is their pizzas! These are hand-stretched, wood-fired gems, that are absolutely delicious! They're also huge, but you can ask for a box to take leftovers home should you not be match-fit! Last year they had a chef who was really heavy on the garlic oil (to the point that I would ask for a plain Margherita and then load it with pepperoni, mushrooms, etc), but they have a new one now who produces much more balanced flavours in their stock pizzas. Staff are also really friendly. You definitely need to book though - as people know about the place! One word of warning is the car park - it's small and very tight (it's a 1-way U-bend basically), so if you own a wide, long, or just very expensive car, you might be better parking it in Chestnut Avenue,...