please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
It it ashame that the previous customer had a bad experience. I went there today without any intention to eat and did not have a problem with the service, there is a decent selections of ales available but instead decided on the stella. A nice pub a little out of the way from the town centre but well worth the visit. 8/10
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This is a lovely looking pub, lovely interior, I have always liked this pub. However, I visited this pub a few weeks ago on a Saturday afternoon. The young girl behind the bar was very rude and I would descried her as "up her self". I have always enjoyed going to this pub and I revisited the pub a few days ago. It was early Saturday evening, on entering the pub the bar maid (different bar maid from the previous visit) immediately asked me if I had booked a table, I said no and we were just after a drink and we did not plan on eating. She then informed us that we were not welcome to sit at any of the empty tables and could only sit at the bar, I said this was fine and we ordered a bottle of wine. After we had finished, we want to order another bottle of wine and some nachos. The bar maid informed us that there would be a long wait for the nachos, and that a table of diners had just arrived and their food would be cooked first and we would just have to wait. My friend asked how long approximately the wait would be; however the barmaid began to answer but stopped mid conversation to answer the phone. After finishing the phone call she returned to us 5 minutes later and said "sorry what was it you wanted?" We explained that we did not require anything further and decided to go elsewhere. Bad customer service, unfriendly and unwelcoming. The impression I got is that the pub is not interested in welcoming anyone who does not want to eat. This is a real shame as it's a lovely pub but the poor attitude of the staff lets it down and deters me from visiting again.
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Closed between 3-5 pm in the week so ruined any visit to the pub.... im not sure if thats the same @ weekends.
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After a six mile circular walk from Guildford we took lunch at the Olde Ship Inn.
Externally it's perched right on the road so isn't the most picturesque of places. Inside though it's quite roomy, with oak beams, low doorways and different floor levels suggesting a building of some antiquity.
After reading the reviews on here we went for the pizzas and jolly good they were too. I had a Spanish which claimed to have "peppalicious" peppers on it, whatever that might mean. Be warned though - no burgers, fried fish or chips on sale here - which is good, but some may find this an issue.
The place was pretty busy for a Thursday lunchtime. It's slightly upmarket, with the landlord trying to push bottles of wine at every opportunity. One customer bought 2 drinks for �4.15 and paid by credit card - never a good sign. A big notice on entry tells you to remove muddy boots, but looking around no-one seemed to taking much notice of it.
The beer - well...GK IPA, GK IPA Gold, Abbot and Old Speckled Hen were on offer. Not the most original selection ever provided and a bit of a giveaway as to who is supplying the beer. We plumped for the OSH which was fine, although it was a little lively on leaving the pump.
All in all, the YOSI was a more than acceptable lunch spot. A more exciting ale selection would make it even better.
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Good little bozzer,beers well kept,but the lager tasted yuck so maybe only for ale drinkers.
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Good pub great pizza,down side guy behind the bar UHOA.
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Top pub.
Great bar buzz and good food.
Probably drove by 200 times before I tried it, but glad I finally discovered it.
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Top quality Italian pizza - the real deal, thin and crispy, cooked by a wood-fired pizza oven
Far better than crappy Pizza Express
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Excellent food, friendly staff, I walk past 5 pubs to get to this, without doubt my favourite pub.
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Cracking range of beers - Old Speckled Hen, Abbot and Greene King IPA are permanently available and there is always at least one, often two guest ales that change regularly. Beer is well kept.
My wife also enjoys the wines by the glass, particularly the Shiraz.
Everybody else talks about the pizzas so I won't repeat it except to say that Sunday to Thursday pizza happy hour is 6:00Pm to 7:00PM - all pizzas are �6 each. Try the Volcano if you like spicy food.
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Lived near Guildford all my life but only recently tried this place, a great pub with very friendly landlord/staff, good food & good beer. How a pub should be run. Will definitely be returning - frequently.
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Good food.
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just found my new favourite lunchtime/ post work pub.
tasty thin crust pizza baked in a real stone pizza oven (arrived very quickly) , superb beers.
Popped in once before and the staff left a bit to be desired, today they were different staff and all excellent.
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Think I had the best pizza I've ever had here today. New Yorker. Fantastic.
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Very well run pub with good atmosphere. If you like thin & crispy pizzas, theirs are unbeatable. Not much of a garden so definitely more winter than summer pub.
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Great pub and great location. What more could you want? Excellent pizza and garlic bread. Good Phoenix beer.
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Decided to go here for a Sunday lunch last month. Six of us arrived at just before midday & besides our party there was only two other customers in the bar. Had heard much about how good the pizza is so ordered four of those & some jacket potatoes. Waited a small life time for food to arrive, kept being attended to by various clueless teenage staff. Food finally arriving just after 2 O'clock. Food not too great - pizza tomato topping tasting like it came straight from the puree tube. Seemed to be a complete lack of organisation in the kitchen & bar. Many disgruntled customers waiting. Prehaps just a v-bad hair day at Ye Olde Ship Inn - won't be returning in a hurry.
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Really nice location and definitely worth a visit for the beer on a sunny day.
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Enjoyed it here today decent pint of Yorkshire bitter and mostly green king ales otherwise.. but bit crowded otherwise pleasant.
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Pub Messenger has it spot on. The pizzas are thin and crispy, so not to everyone's taste, but I think they're fab. Pleasant staff (usually of the Saffa variety) and a convivial atmosphere. A very pleasant place to while away the hours whils the wife shops! Now open all day too.
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Remarkbly pleasant pub situated on the road between Guildford and Godalming. This is worth coming to for the real ale and the pizzas. If you take a walk you can get to the river nearby.
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Absolutely fine to just come here for a drink and sit in the outside seating area which is somewhat small but generally enough room if not too busy. Inside the old fashioned style remains and there is a good few ales on including Tiger Beer. Not the bottled lager you understand.
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A recent visit was mired by polite but poor service. I think the staff count was too low as the place was full and a table of 12 was doubtless an issue. Still, the pizzas remain excellent and it remains one of my favourite pubs. Just get a handle on the staffing levels on a heaving Friday night, eh?
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Have always loved it - well worth the walk out of guildford town centre and all the kids bars on Sesame Street.
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I visited this pub for the first time today and was pleasantly surprised. The staff were friendly and compared to alot of Surrey pubs it was very reasonably priced. We didn't eat but the menu looked very nice and we will definitely be going back to try the food. The only downside was that it was a cold January afternoon and they had a lovely open fire which wasn't lit. One of the young girls did try to light it after we had been there about 30 minutes but wasn't having much joy. I would say to the managers that on a cold winters day people like to walk into a pub and see a roaring open fire - not to see some poor part timer trying her best to get it lit! Overall though very nice atmosphere!
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A great pub. Good food. Good wine. Excellent beer. Easy parking. Great service. Wonderful ambience. Wish more pubs were like this.
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Visited this pub on a Thursday lunchtime and found it pleasantly busy with a mixed bunch of customers - first good sign. Second good sign was that the pizza oven was fired up. Many places that have wood-burning pizza ovens find it uneconomic to use them at lunch time. Pizzas were every bit as good as previous reviewers have suggested - beautiful thin crispy crust, plenty of tasty toppings and finished off with fresh herbs - and they came surprisingly quickly. Sticky toffee pudding is always an acid test of a pub's desserts - and while theirs was not in the top league it was much better than average. Service friendly, and good at the bar but some members of staff clearly inexperienced. Well placed for walkers right on North Downs Way. Seemed to have a good range of beers, but we're not afficianados.
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If you like wood-fired thin based real pizza you'll be happy. Good range of beers and great country pub ambience inside (the outside photos do it little justice)
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Very useful location, although with the busy road running past, sitting outside isn't much fun. Good beer and friendly atmosphere.
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Considering I spent many many hours in pubs round Guildford, I have only just discovered the charms of this one. The staff were to incredibly friendly and delightfully cheery, that it made such a refreshing change. Although the menu may be limited, as previous comments have said - if you like pizza, then this is the place to go. Fantastic. Would highly highly recommend. Also provide games, so on rainy eves and you want to get out the house, you could not go too far wrong for a game of scrabble and a pizza (god, how old do I sound?!)
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Pleasant experiences in this place - small, but relatively quiet and unpretentious and first rate pizza.
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Pizza i had was very good, others in our party had different dish`s which were quote "ok",menu quite limited,but again if you like pizza you will love it here.The lager (fosters)was awful but the bitters were good.
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I have been here many times for an eveing of relatively drunken behaviour with a big group of friends and always had a great time - food equally good. Went there around a month ago at Sunday lunchtime for a change - just as good, menu does not appear to change for Sunday which i a change but not a show-stopper.
Caters well for all, a few locals, rambers and those few shoppers with legs enough to reach it. Only down side is if you don't sit next to the pizza oven then it can be a bit cold.
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What a lovely pub! As a first time visitor recently, during these cold winter months what a joy to hear about cricket from across the bar and from the knowledgable clientele. Both young and old discuss the game in a "Barmy" atmosphere.
Someone should tell the scouts at Hampshire to forget Shane Warne because the head bar man is a ringer for Brett Lee and he seems to be captain of the pub team too.
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Visited the Old Ship for the first time Sunday lunch time. Found the pub warm, (lovely log fire,) and all the staff friendly and cheerful. Food and beer was good but we arrived early to avoid the Sunday rush. Had a very pleasant lunch time, unable to find anything to quibble about.
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Pleased to report that the new chef, if there is one, is doing the business really rather well. Had my best pizza there yet last week. Still the best tasting pizzas outside Italy.
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Not been since the new chef turned up (see comment below - not from me !). Certainly until there it was ACE. Pizza oven working overtime turning out fantastic range of pizza and home made coslaw which is realy good. Top range of beers and actualy for once in a pub some good wine.
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New chef ....food not as good as before ?
anonymous - 13 Sep 2005 09:43 |
The best pub in the world ever!
Fantastic food, very friendly AND very good looking staff.... and rude scrabble..... great cider on tap... and jenga to wash it down with. Not allowing mobile phones is the best rule... and anyone who wants their phone in on the pub, shouldn't frankly be there... yes i'm a local... and yes i'm proud to have such a great local to drink in!
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Mobiles ringing punishable by birching,flogging, hanging in the car park or the Landlord (in a Basil Fawlty manner !)loudly asking(telling)you to turn it off in a most sarcastic manner....you choose ?
anonymous - 13 Apr 2005 12:18 |
Lots of new(scary)staff compared with a couple of years ago ....very much an "inn crowd" ...pun ? as the locals rule the roost....when I say local they all seem to live within 200 yards of the door.
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Nice pub, but if you don't conform to the christian-caucasian ideal then you will be stared at. One of those places where you open the door and everyone looks at you. Don't talk too loudly, don't wear too much jewellery, turn your mobile off and remember to cross yourself on the way in.
Good pizzas though!
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I used to like this pub when my Granparents lived well literaly around the back of it!! But they dont live there anymore, I thought this pub was great!! What fun days I had when I was older enough to drink there!! My Grandad used to know the owners so I was always welcome anytime, they used to chat to me about alsorts of things, I don't suppose it's changed!! I must go back there some day!! Anyway, the staff are really lovely and the bar food is great! They used to do mini pizza's as snacks, I wonder if they still do? I remember once I went in there and got so drunk and I did'nt have to walk far back to my Granparents, I got so told off when I gor back! I must of just turned 18 at the time! I would think it's still the same, go there for me and let me know if it's still the same.
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Friendly staff. Used to drink there only as it was friends local for regular Fri night pint. Can't help feeling very much a local's pub and sitting in the beer garden during the summer always seemed to be some trouble or fights.
anonymous - 9 Mar 2005 17:19 |
This is a great place to have a pizza, nice and crisp base, plus nice pate starters, very frendliy waitresses, good atmosphere as well on friday nites and far enough out of town not to attract the wrong crowd
anonymous - 23 Feb 2005 11:04 |
This is one of my very favourite pubs! The pizzas are spectacular, no musak is a joy, mobile phones are silenced, beer is well kept and good choices of guest beer are on offer. Sharon and Paul are hardworking, welcoming Landlords, and the rest of the staff are also delightful. I regularly take my chums here, and a group of us (TOGS) use this pub as a base for our cycling trips. It is one of the oldest pubs in Guildford, and displays all the best qualities you could wish for in a traditional english pub. Good cheer to all who sail in her!
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It's not often you experience a colder reception than the won we received at the Ship. Don't seem to have much time for anyone who is not a local.
Foood was very average, welcome was non existent and if there is a more arrogant Landlord in the County i wouldn't like to meet them.
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Great place ...seems t have a shift system for customers 5-7pm Locals and people on way home , 8-9:30 Eaters , Later different set of locals.
Food is great Chef is mad though !
anonymous - 1 Feb 2005 10:32 |
Very good place for beer and pizza. Unlike most pizza pubs / places I�ve seen in the UK they have a proper very high temperature pizza oven which makes the best pizzas this side of the Italian border. I am also advised that the heat from the oven is so great that it inadvertently keeps the Ladies loos warm! Deserves a higher score than 5.9. I care not a fig that they are a pub which mostly serves food. Good Surrey pubs can only survive by serving good food as well as pulling good beers. I am very pleased that they do not have to charge the earth for either and can keep such a cosy atmosphere at the same time. Delighted to notice my wife�s comment about the candles in my Birthday Pizza last year. I�d forgotten that�
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Used to do the quiz night and have food here sometimes when I was living in Guildford and going to the law college across the road.Handy location for law students at times as made a change from the canteen food repeated over and over.Woulsnt really call this place a pub as majority of people came into have food and was more of a food orientated place rather than somewhere to drink!Did the best bangers and mash that I have tasted in a long while!
Daisy - 11 Oct 2004 22:51 |
Seems like a pub on the outside but appears to actually be a restaurant.
Will - 14 Aug 2004 22:24 |
This is generally a place to go and eat out rather than going for a drink. Every table was setup for people eating out!
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Fantastic food and pub. Thanks for the candle in a pizza for my fiance.
Claire - 20 Jun 2004 20:41 |
Wonderful pizzas in their own stone oven. Recommended if you like pizzas
Julian - 1 May 2004 10:36 |
Used to be a regular for students from the law college across the road.
Vindaloo - 23 Aug 2003 12:25 |
Yes agree with all below.
At the end of the first day/section of the North Downs' way if you're a walker.
Vindaloo - 16 Aug 2003 08:36 |
Very friendly, comfortable pub. Good menu (gourmet pizzas!) and hand pulled beer. Excellent place for a pub lunch.
Rod - 17 Oct 2002 11:22 |
The oldest pub in Guildford, The Ship is quite a long walk from the town centre. They do great pizza and they have some decent beers and wines. The downside is that there's no beer garden to speak of, just a few tables on a patch of grass near the car park.
Louise Scognamiglio - 25 Jul 2002 14:54 |
