The Ship Inn - Eastbourne

We had a pleasant initial contact over the phone, enquiring about a table and were informed that we could just pop in. Despite it being a Friday night, we were pleasantly surprised. The atmosphere in the pub was lovely and we received a warm welcome at the bar. Our waitress, Lorna, was attentive, professional, and interacted well with our son, ensuring he was happy with his meal. The food was fantastic. We regret not living in Eastbourne, as this would definitely be a place we would frequent regularly!

A group of nine of us went for a birthday dinner at this restaurant. We each ordered a different meal and all of them were excellent. The selection of drinks was great and the service was exceptional.

I had an excellent dining experience at The Ship Inn this bank holiday Monday. The latte was fantastic, and I enjoyed two delicious courses of food along with artisan peppermint tea. What really stood out was the exceptional service provided by the staff member serving me outside on the patio. They were friendly and attentive, making me feel well taken care of for the rest of the day. The atmosphere and interactions between staff and customers were lovely, all overseen by a great leader. The baklava was a memorable ending to a great meal. I am grateful for the recommendation to visit The Ship, as it turned out to be a hidden gem. I will definitely be returning and recommending it to others.

Went for Sunday lunch. The beef and chicken were both good but the meal was ruined by glutinous gravy, such a shame.

The Ship Inn is on Meads Street a relatively short walk from the sea front and the equally good Pilot Inn. However, unlike The Pilot, which is clearly a traditional pub set up albeit more run as a restaurant, the ambience here is totally different. If it’s not busy, your first reaction could be the same as ours that you had walked into a hotel lounge bar, as we initially came here on a quiet Tuesday evening when there was only one other couple in the central bar section and only a couple of tables utilised in the restaurant sections, and it certainly did feel like that. But then we came back to eat here on a Friday evening, and it was a totally different experience. You enter into the main bar section with its collection of bright blue padded seating on a green carpet that leads to the serving bar. Then behind partition walls on either side are the two dining room areas. Then beyond the right-hand section is a sizeable conservatory extension which leads to a decent patio beer garden beyond that. Three of the four pumps were in operation for our visits with Harvey’s Sussex Best and IPA plus Longman Long Blonde. I’d already had a pint of Sussex Best earlier in the day and had tried the Long Blonde in the previous pub, the Pilot Inn, so I went for the Harvey’s IPA. It was ok but not really to my taste. We had noticed the specials board by the bar and decided to go for a couple of deserts in the bar and they were good enough to influence us to return later in the week to eat here. On the return visit to eat I stuck to the Longman Long Blonde and it was as good as it was down the road in the Pilot. By this stage of our stay in Eastbourne we were a bit “chipped Out” so we went for the home made Lasagne which came with garlic bread. And both our dishes were very good. Add into that very good service levels from the lady working our table so I couldn’t find fault with this one. On the Friday evening, with every inside section full to capacity this pub had a nice vibe about it