The Ship Tavern
12 Gate St, Holborn
London WC2A 3HP

Reviewed on Thursday 4 June 2009

The Ship Tavern in Holborn

The Ship Tavern is a traditional pub, located in Holborn not far from the tube station. They have been there since 1549!  Inside it is small, dark but cosy. They have more room upstairs in case it gets really busy. It is usually quiet during the weekend but during the week go early in the evening for securing a table. This is the third time we went there and we have been quite happy the previous time. Will it be the case again?

We ordered the crisp pork belly (again! Third time now!) served with buttered mash potato, green beans, port gravy & spiced apple sauce (£9.95) and the steak & real ale pie made with Bombardier ale topped with puff pastry (£9.95) for trying something new. We had two Budweiser beers too. As at any pub you order your food at the counter and pay there in advance. Then you get a big wooden spoon with a number so they know who to serve. The staff were friendly and polite as usual.

The steak & real ale pie was great. Of course it is not exactly what we can call a light meal but the puff pastry was light and good, providing a nice contrast to the meat which was also good, with some ale flavour which reminded me of the Carbonnade flamande you can get in Belgium. The fries were crispy and good. I prefer when they are thinner but at least they were not huge and undercooked as it happens often in the UK. The crisp pork belly tasted good, was quite large but not warm enough unfortunately. Also it wasn’t as crispy as previous (which is probably due to the same problem – not cooked long enough the second time). It was better the previous times we went there, especially the first time. Maybe we arrived there too early this time?

Nice cosy interior, good beer!

The glass with the spoon we got after ordering

The counter. Nice ceiling.

The TV for watching sport

The crisp pork belly

Steak & real ale pie

Overview of the table with the two meals

Cost and conclusion:  for less than £30 I think this place is a good value for money especially considering the location. Pity for the pork belly this time though and hopefully it was just an accident. You can read previous reviews of the Ship Tavern here (12 April 2009) and here (3 May 2009).

The Ship Tavern, 12 Gate St, Holborn
London WC2A 3HP
Reviewed on Sunday 3 May 2009 lunch time

Cosy interior

Note the TV screen at the right for sport events

Last time we went there (reviewed 12 April 2009) we said we will be coming again, so here we are
We both ordered the twice-cooked crisp pork belly served with buttered mash potato, green beans, port gravy & spiced apple sauce (£9.95) and beers (Budvar). We also ordered a Doorstep sandwich – Fish fingers (breaded cod goujons with homemade tartare & rocket leaves – £5.55), as promised in the last review.
The crisp pork belly were great, like last time but slightly less crispy while being still very good. The buttered mash potato is real, not based on powder as it happens in some pubs. The fish finger sandwich, which we took as a starter to share mostly because we were curious about it, was excellent. To be honest, I thought it was going to be somewhat nasty, heavy, dry and greasy… Well, it was very nice, almost a refined sandwich! The bread was moist and quite good, the fish fingers were perfect (crispy outside) and the rocket leaves and tartare sauce gave a nice touch. We were pleasantly impressed by it. The photos do not show well how good the lunch was. The Ship Tavern is an old, small & cosy pub and it is fairly dark inside. You can eat on the tables outside on the footpath if you wish to.

The doorstep fish finger sandwich!

Details of the fish fingers sandwich

Bad photo of an autopsy of a fish fingers sandwich :-)

Crisp pork belly and mash potato

Overview

Cost and conclusion: once again it was an excellent lunch at the Ship Tavern. The cost was about £35. We will be back to try more of their menu! The service was friendly like it was last time.

The Ship Tavern
12 Gate St, London, WC2A 3HP

Reviewed Sunday 12 April 2009

The Ship Tavern in Holborn

This Sunday we decided to try a traditional pub after yesterday’s not so great experience. We went to the Ship Tavern pub in Holborn. It is close to Sir John Soane’s Museum and not far from Covent Garden. Like many pubs you can get fish & chips (haddock dipped in our homemade beer batter & served with chips, minted pea puree & homemade tartare sauce – £9.95), a Tavern burger (home-made 8oz beef burger with mature English cheddar, smoked bacon, chips & Bloody Mary ketchup – £9.55), a whole baked camembert (baked in its box & served with a chunk of crusty bread & a fig & chilli marmalade – £6.95) but also some less usual meal like the Doorstep sandwiches Fish finger (breaded cod goujons with homemade tartare & rocket leaves – £5.55) I promise to try next time I come here. We ordered roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, roasted vegetables with horseradish sauce (£12.95) and a Crisp Pork belly served with buttered mash potato, green beans, port gravy & spiced apple sauce (£9.95) and two beers (Budvar).

The roast beef was all right but it wasn’t hot enough and it was badly cut so it was quite tough. It was not overcooked. The Yorkshire pudding was very good, the roasted potatoes were well done too. The crisp pork belly was excellent! It has been a long time since have eaten a nice pork (it was at Botin restaurant in Madrid – considered to be the oldest restaurant in the world – where their beef was wonderful too. It just lacked some better sauce). The meat was tender and the skin nicely crispy. It was so good that I worry I might not have it done the same way next time I come back!

Roast beef

Crisp pork belly

The two courses

Cost and conclusion:  The lunch was excellent and all for £29.70. This was a very nice discovery and we plan to go there again!