Reviews The Ship - Wandsworth

Visited often when I lived in the area. Very solid food and a good wine list. The bar area is always very lively and loud whereas the restaurant area is quieter and you can actually hear each other. Service has always been very attentive, food never really disappointed. In summer there is a beautiful outdoor space straight at the river.

This place benefits from a lovely view and so that's an automatic 10 points in its favour. The brunch, in the pub, is good but very basic... 4 options in all! The food in the restaurant is better in variety and flavour but seriously overpriced. The place needs to seriously introspect and decide one way or another. It's either fine dining and overpriced or pub joint with hearty burgers...currently, it's somewhere in the middle!

There's nowhere else you should go on a sunny day other than outside on the river at The Ship.
Amazing selection of drinks in a relaxed (if not busy) atmosphere but the views and the vibe make up for the huge amount of people.

Brilliant. Saturday afternoon, comfy, warm, cool buzz. Had Lamb Hotpot, it was excellent. My new local

Solid & very popular local. Generally busy, with a young Battersea & Wandsworth crowd that appreciate a terrific atmosphere, friendly service and easily good enough grub.

The Ship, located on the water's edge at Wandsworth, is a full eight miles away from thecriticalcouple headquarters so what was it then that prompted us to make the journey to SW18 for lunch? Well, for those of you active in the world of Twitter, you might have come across @ShipWandsworth and if you have, you'll know that there's an infectious enthusiasm for what they're doing down in this historic Wandsworth pub. Following these Tweets, everything that I came to know about The Ship suggested it was a pub

Ah The Ship - this place should have actually been my first post for the blog as I have been going to this pub for years (as long as I have lived in Wandsworth) but for some reason I didn't write the post back in 2009, then I had a brief falling out of love (more below - it was very brief!) and then we moved a bit further back into the wilds of SW18 and so I wasn't going there as much...anyway I'm getting ahead of myself, let's start again.   The Ship is a wonderful pub, definitely in my Top 3 (if not the top actually) in London and has been serving thirsty punters since the late 18th century.  The problem to all but locals is finding the place.  On the banks of the Thames, right next to Wandsworth Bridge, tucked in between a massive development of modern flats and a concrete works, situated on the somewhat confrontingly named Jews Row (one of my American friends couldn't believe there was a street called this!), The Ship's location does not seem immediately appealing.  However for me,

Just a few days before Christmas, London was completely snowed under, but 49 food bloggers and their friends braved the weather and horrific travel disruption to descend upon The Ship in Wandsworth for #bloggersxmaslunch 2010. It was great fun organising this event with Gail of One Million Goldstars and Oisin Rogers, The Ship 's manager. The Ship is on the bank of the Thames next to Wandsworth Bridge, and only a few minutes walk from either Wandsworth Town Rail or Clapham Junction stations. A year-round location, The Ship has a large area of outdoor seating besides the Thames which must be fantastic in the summer months. During winter, the spacious conservatory is a warm and welcoming dining area, ideal for lazy Sunday lunches such as this. The excellent menu was specially put together for us by Oisin, and its variety and quality appeared to win over the 49 diners. In addition to the delicious food, Bloody Marys were served on arrival as well as pints of beer. Some of the lovely dishes

Beautiful seating area outside right on top of the river fantastic food selection real American style portions and not expensive I highly recommend to go here in the summer

It’s with a touch of irony that I’m writing this review of The Ship whilst sat on an aeroplane. But the 10 hour flight to LA will give me the time that a piece on this extremely popular gastropub deserves…

We’d been to this Young’s pub twice before. On the first visit we took santuary after a slightly disappointing trip to a food festival in nearby Battersea Park, where the humid weather played havoc with Edd Kimber‘s baking masterclass.

The second time we were invited along by the ever charismatic manager Oisin Rogers (more commonly known as Osh) to take a sneak peek at the recently completed renovation works, that gives The Ship some much needed extra capacity. The pub has been on this site since 1786 but the new decor and interior design strikes the perfect balance between a modern airy feel and cosy rustic comfort.

We managed to get a little teaser of the new menu and the bite sized offering of their famed burgers and award-winning scotch eggs, this place even has an annual scotch egg challenge! This time we’d been invited back to try the new menu proper! And after eating at Osh’s other pub, The Thatched House in Hammersmith, we knew we wouldn’t be disappointed. It was Sunday around midday when we pulled into the B&Q car park just around the corner from The Ship. Parking right next to the pub can be a bit of an issue but there is also a NCP style car park only a few hundred meters or so away.

As we arrived the pub was heaving! Bodies were literally strewn all over the floor, alive obviously. Beautiful girls and boys (and dogs) filled every nook and cranny in and around The Ship, the lucky ones basking in the sunshine. We even saw a group of lads carrying a table from the main bar into the street. We had planned to find a quiet spot to run through our holiday itinerary! We should be so lucky…

But we WERE lucky! We’d booked a table in the restaurant, and it was a good job we did, the newly extended restaurant was almost as busy as the garden, where the BBQ pumped out burgers, ribs and such, we wanted to those too, next time… The room was bright and open, conservatory like, with big windows and skylights. Furniture was the usual mix n match set up and the table simply set. What we really liked was the quirky, almost Monty Pythonesque, pictures and a huge picture of the Queen Mother pulling a pint of Young’s ale. While on the subject, The Ship serves a range of craft beers from the Meantime brewery… You must try a bottle of their Yakima Red! Inside was more of a family pub than outside, a handful of fresh babies and children.

All around us waitresses were dashing about with plates piled high with roast diners (pork, beef or chicken). At £14 you can see why they were so popular. But we were here for a three-course blowout and didn’t want the roast leaving us too full for dessert! Plus we wanted to sample as many of head chef Shaun Harrington’s dishes as possible.

To start I ordered the Roasted sweetbreads, mushroom croquette and pea shoots, £7.50. The sweetbreads had a very delicate flavour, almost of liver. These were drizzled in a thick, meaty gravy reduction that wasn’t so rich as to overpower the flavour or the sweetbreads. This was topped with crisp pea shoots, a sprinkling of sweet, fresh from the pod, garden peas and coated in a light oil dressing.

Saffron went for one of her favourite things, Braised pig cheeks, £8.50. We cook them at home, our first attempt turned out like shoe leather but we got It right the next time! Saff wasn’t disappointed with The Ship‘s offering…Rich melt in the mouth pork with Asian overtones, complimented perfectly by the wilted spinach leaves and wafer thin curls of celeriac chips.

Now on to the main event, as mentioned before, most people were ordering roasts but we both went for something a little lighter. I love chorizo, so when I saw it was a big player in the Red pepper risotto, £12.50, I just had to have it! These miniature soft, salty and spicy Jenga block shaped chorizo chunks were the perfect bedfellow for the sweet, crispy crunch of the pearl onions. The shaved Parmesan highlighted the cheese within this delicious pepper risotto that sat within a moat of olive oil. This was deceptively filling, especially as it was the second cheapest dish in the mains section. But that still didn’t stop me from wishing that I could mop the plate clean with some leftover bread!

Saff ordered the seared duck and wilted Bok Choy, £16.50. It goes without saying that the duck was cooked perfectly, slightly pink in the middle, tender right up to its rich, silky layer of fat and slightly crispy skin. Served with an unnervingly green spring onion mash – although Saff said it was packed with flavour, a welcome variation on the norm. She particularly loved the jus, complete with small scatterings of sweet clementine, although it could have done with more orange flesh.

For dessert, I went off menu and ordered from the specials board. As the sun was shining I ordered the totally tropical taste of the Grilled pineapple, £6.25. This light, sweet pudding was the solid equivalent of a Piña Colada. Grilled pineapple rings (obviously), a creamy coconut sorbet, passionfruit marshmallow, fresh mango and mango sauce… Close your eyes and you could be in the Caribbean, well almost.

Saff took a lighter option too, there was no way that either of us were even going to attempt the sticky toffee pudding or treacle tart (both £6.25). Her Poached rhubarb jelly, set vanilla custard, rhubarb sorbet and almond crumble (£6.25) was a crazy fruit trifle/crumble hybrid with some sorbet thrown in for good measure! Ideal for a hot lazy Sunday afternoon… And a great partner for Saff’s first Pimm’s of the year. She said she hadn’t eaten desserts this inventive Bob Bob Ricard, now that’s high praise. 
We made our way back outside to see if there was anywhere to park our bums and discuss our holiday (a post on our USA trip to come really soon). But no, not even a square foot of space to be found anywhere, even Keira Knightley would struggle to find a space big enough to stand in… This has to be the most popular pub in London, with a waterside location, wonderful food and service, it’s not surprising it’s packed to the rafters. Well that is that, we’re about 4 hours into our 10 hour flight and after a typically tasteless airplane meal in a box on a tray, I really wish I could be back at The Ship working my way through their delicious new menu!

For years, I've frequented this pub, and it's an absolute gem. Situated by the river, the location offers stunning views and a vast outdoor area perfect for dining and unwinding. There's a burger bar and another bar outside, which is especially enjoyable during good weather. Inside, you'll find a cozy fireplace and a spacious restaurant area. Keep in mind that it gets quite popular on weekends. The only drawback, in my opinion, is the concrete-making facility nearby.

Good Young's pub close to the South end of Wandsworth Bridge. Four cask beers - and one cider - on handpump when I last visited. Loads of outdoor, seating, much overlooking the river, most of it covered.

Great riverside atmosphere. Absolutely recommend at summer time when the the terrace facing the riverside is brilliantly enjoyable. Drinks a bit pricey; pints at 7, spritzs at 12... But the atmosphere is worth it!

What a lovely pub! It’s super cosy and the service was fantastic. I loved the food. I ordered the trout and it was cooked perfectly - full of flavour. The views are nice and there were heated booths if you want to sit outside in the chilly nights. Reasonable prices for food and drinks.

Lovely pub by the river - excellent beer selection plus burger kiosk. It had a spacious outdoor seating area but gets very crowded. Great place to hang with mates or take a date. Because it’s busy and bustling the tables can be a bit messy.