I like the Ship a lot, it is one of the better Soho pubs and certainly one of the best at that end of the streets. The Ship is right in the middle of media world and as a result the pub can be full of pretentious young things but they’re easily avoided and can be the cause of great merriment. One can barely talk on pretentiousness mind, I was once to be found in the ship under a brolly, in my defence the ceiling was leaking. Not a frequent occurence I can assure.

The pub itself is unspectacular; long and thin, little seating and a large alleyway adjacent in which to stand on a friday night rush hour. The toilets can be found at the pub’s rear, one can only speak for the gentlemens but it appears no gentlemen frequent the Ship, these public conveniences are a nightmare. Still, much like the fact the pub is predominantly satnding room only the Ship caters for men, manly standing beer swilling men. In this sense it is a traditional pub.

The service in the Ship is always excellent and friendly. The staff may look a little different but they’re all thoroughly nice fellows, sometimes more pre-occupied by the stereo but still, nice. The drinks are standard fayre, Pride, Guiness usual lagers and on the whole not exciting. The Ship may not be the greatest looker but it scrubs up great after you’ve had a few.

The Ship is my favourite pub in Soho.

It's retained its traditional decor. No trendy up-marketing here. Wooden shelves and tall stools, cast-iron tables and short stools. But most importantly some simple, fine ales on tap and a sufficient variety of booze behind the bar. There's nothing fancy, just the necessities.

It's the vibe I like. I've seen everything from suited businessmen to goths to a Foo Fighter in there. The bartenders can be as punked-up as the clientele, but they're pros and a good laugh. They happily kept safe behind the bar - and for some weeks - a gift a friend left for me. I once asked them to pop an entire Black Sabbath CD in the player for me, and they did.

This isn't a beautiful pub, nor a quiet one, nor one for great food. It's for drinking, meeting people, watching people, and for the cool to try to act uncool (and vice versa).

There's only a few yards of cramped standing space outside, so don't come here for the fresh air. The toilets are tiny, too. Also: it's not open on Sunday. But if you want a funky downtown spot to meet friends and booze amongst a diverse crowd, you could do much, much worse than the Ship. And you might get to listen to some Sabbath, if you're lucky.

The Ship supports my theory that everything I need can be found on Wardour Street.

A traditionally decorated, very small pub, right in the heart of soho, The Ship is spot on for having a bevvie before heading on somewhere else, or for drowning your sorrows after a long week at the office. Weekday nights it is full of film production types from local offices, great if you are looking to network, and lunchtimes it always seems to have a few punters drinking outside too. The pub is small, so you are bound to be in earful of someone talking about the latest special effects know how.
The music played in this pub is brilliant, and apparently the pub itself has a lot of musical history with the marquee club originally being nearby.
The outside space for drinking is small, and prepare for annoying reminders to keep within a certain space from staff, as has become standard with most soho drinking establishments.
Thumbs up to this pub for retaining it's original decor and retaining a bit of soho's history.