The Ship Inn — Restaurant in South Hams

Under new ownership, and with its deck and staterooms spruced up considerably, the Ship sails into a new phase... not quite guns a-blazing perhaps, but fairly steady as she goes.

The top news is that the food is scrummy, with delicious home-made pies a star attraction, so that the restaurant is worth a visit. Service, if a little prosaic, is well intentioned... we did have to ask again for some things... But we had a great dinner. A decent wine list too, not extensive but quite well chosen not to shock the wallet.

The bar seems bigger after it's facelift, and this - the heart of any pub - is where the Ship's biggest challenge resides. Every successful pub has a welcoming landlord - or landlady - avuncular, cheery, knowledgeable, remembering preferences, open and encouraging to locals and visitors alike, consistent. A Personality. This Personality is often the difference between success and failure in the competitive local pub market. The Ship cries out for a 'mine host' to offer this sort of consistent front of house welcome to all... at the moment there's no real sense of that sort of approach.

We were greeted, sure, and served drinks... although our barman didn't seem to know that the gin we asked for is actually on their gin list, amusingly. But there was no real Personality greeting, or sense of a host presence, yet at least. Nor anyone to wish us goodnight at the end of our evening. Could have been any anonymous city pub, as opposed to a cosy local hostelry. To really succeed they will need that consistent host presence.

There's nothing much wrong with The Ship... in many ways it shows real promise - the grub's great - but it's just not yet all it might be... a work in progress. I look forward to seeing...

Sadly, when I came here, I was looking to pass an hour before catching the last bus to Brixham. The weather, the live music on the sumny terrace, the extensive menu, the local beers, and friendly company of the people who offered me a seat at their table as I ate, made me want to stay later.

Further less-than-total-perfection came when I was told the kitchen wasn't taking any more orders (despite the advertising board saying otherwise) owing to the chef being busy enough with the fully booked tables inside later on (book beforehand, if you want to eat here). I had to make do with a packet of salt and vinegar crisps to satisfy my fish and chips craving.

I would suggest two ways of achieving perfection. 1, badger Stagecoach into running their bus services later than 19:00 in the summer, or sort out your own minibus shuttle service (with The Ship Inn plastered all over it's sides to draw in business); 2. Hire more seasonal kitchen staff to spare the poor overworked chef, and accommodate itinerant walk-ins. (Oh, and if budgets are an issue, get some of your local regulars to chip in - if they can afford to live in Kingswear, they can afford to support...

We were pleased to see The Ship Inn busy again after not being so for a few years so decided to give it a go for a meal whilst down on our annual holiday. Unfortunately, however we were left disappointed with both the food and service. The favourite dish (I was looking forward to anyway which was the Thai curry) on the limited menu had already sold out (at 7:30pm) and there was only 1 special on that evening which we were informed there was only 1 left of. Therefore, I chose the Cajun chicken burger which I can’t deny was really nice however the fries it came with were soggy/under cooked and the coleslaw it came with was literally a spoonful. The fish and triple cooked chips were particularly poor - the batter on the fish was soggy, and the chips were barely cooked let alone triple cooked! The sausage and mash meal was the best choice in our party and was enjoyed, and generous with 3 sausages, although we did have to pay £2 for (hard) peas in order to have some veg with it. We won’t be eating here again, although would probably enjoy a drink here...