The Ship & Whale

The Ship and Whale is one of Rotherhithe’s best open secrets: hidden around the corner from Greenland Docks Pier, it has outstanding classic gastropub dishes at a fair price, great drinks, fast friendly service, a beautiful garden and a charming old shipping industry venue that has a lively buzz on Friday evenings.
The vegetarian options are also way above pub average — the veggie burger is fresh, veggie bangers and mash are tasty, and there is a variety of excellent salads.
Take the Thames Clipper and come here, play a game of chess in the garden, enjoy the people and atmosphere. Best pub in the area, and well worth the trip.

I used to live nearby to this pub and went back to it yesterday. The people there are very friendly and you feel like you are home as soon as you walk in. The food is good and they have daily specials and offers. They have a beer garden out the back which is good in summer. It is one of the few places where you get afternoon sun on that side of the river.
They do tea coffee and desserts if you do not want booze. They do some good beers if you do.
Very good well worth a visit. There is a town farm near by and a nature area if you fancy a walk about.

We went here for Sunday lunch. When we arrived at 12:30 we were told breakfast had just finished and lunch didn’t start until 1pm. This was a bit of a shame but not too major. The food was on the pricey side but as it was a rare Sunday treat we ordered drinks and waited until 1pm. We ordered at 1pm when the kitchen opened. We didn’t have to wait too long for food however we were somewhat disappointed. My veggie roast had what appeared to be a microwaved vege burger and a slightly burnt Yorkshire pudding. My husbands burger was a standard burger, nothing special. As each of these meals was over £10 we had expected more. The pub was nice, with a nice atmosphere, child friendly and with a nice outside area however I didn’t feel the food was worth the money. I’d go back but i won’t be a regular visitor, it would bankrupt us.

A friendly local pub, which has nice Gastropub type of food. The staff are always friendly, and the place has a open feel.
My main qualm be that the pub doesn’t stay open as late as I’d like, but that’s pretty common for local boozers across London. There’s a decent selection of beers, ales and ciders, but mainly this is a ‘Real Londoners’ kind of pub (but not unwelcoming like The Ship York), and not a tourist trap kind of place (Think Old Salt Quays, or The Mayflower).
The food is nice, and they have deals on most weeknights, as well as a specials board. They also do a pretty nice breakfast at weekends.
The décor is what you want from your local pub too — comfy sofas, a nice open fire (for those long winter nights), a sizable beer garden (for those long summer evenings) and a bunch of board games (for those long, drawn out days).
If you’re in the area (and not a local), then I recommend a hike through Russia Dock Woodlands and checking out the view from Stave Hill, and then heading down to The Ship and Whale for a pint, and a spot of lunch.

Pub grub — check, fireplace — check, sofas to lounge on — check, board games — check! Seriously this combination makes for a great chilled pub for a Sunday wind down with a few pals. And being one of my locals it’s great to see the old photos of the docklands gracing the walls.
There is also a small beer garden for the summer which gets the sun nicely in the afternoon.

My local. I’ve been here quite a few times. It’s a lovely little pub. Leather sofas, wooden benches and a very maritime feel.
It’s very quiet though. You’ll never come here and find it packed out, although I would say Sunday afternoons are its busiest. Acceptable range of rum (vitally important for me, as you know!), friendly and efficient staff.
The food is good, it’s no gastronomic masterpiece, but good. Good, hearty, wholesome pub-​grub. And it’s very reasonably priced! Look out for the special offers during the week.
Breakfast is served on the weekends. Teas and coffee are available.
They have a very nice beer garden.
I enjoyed a relaxing lunch there just this weekend, sitting in the sun, relaxing and reading a book.
The only drawback is that it doesn’t attract much of a crowd. But then the advantage of that is you can be guaranteed a seat.

Nice atmosphere, good food.

One of my favourite pubs in London, along with obligatory board games and good hot drinks for a Sunday afternoon chilling session.
Have eaten there and the food was good (not ammaazzzzing but just decent pub grub). Nice décor and never really busy so you can always get a seat for a weekend lunch or dinner.

Killer burgers from before have gone downhill. The staff are a mix of friendly to decent but you get the feeling the staff are friends with a group of locals and outsiders are an inconvenience. nice if not a little soul-​less

This place is fantastic. Since the new owners came in last year the plase has definately improved. The food, although not cheap is of a good quality. The sofas are a welcome place to relax whilst enjoying a nice drink. Although there is a limited range of beer, the rest of the beverages on offer are of a wide range. I will be recomending this place to all my friends in the area

Great food, outdoor space and nicely hidden away!

The Ship and Whale is a picturesque «local» in the Greenland Dock area of Surrey Quays, with a significant outdoor patio and a decent line in food. I went here on Wednesday evening (their «barbecue night») and very much enjoyed a barbecue half chicken and chips. For me, the service from the bar/​wait staff was attentive and friendly, and the food tasty and amply portioned.
It is a little «off the beaten track» for most public transport; it being a good 15 – 20 minutes walk from Canada Water tube and not near any bus routes. However, on a summer’s evening, I’d say it’d be worth the visit.

This place like moby dick has taken a nose dive and I don’t see it blowing to the surface in the near future — avoid like the plague unless you want sub-​standard food and the service of a surly manager who looked and acted like some out of work banker trying to make a fast buck to pay the over-​inflated mortgage on his new build docklands high-​rise by taking on a ‘gastro’ pub during the credit crunch and in the process trashing anything good about it. That said when I did ask if it was under new management said surly manager assured me, actually assured would be a generous adjective to use given the zero hospitality customer service SM (surly manager) displayed, rather TOLD me that he had been there for years??? Maybe the other side of the bar methinks…
Moving on from SM’s appalling attitude the food is now AWFUL! The previous full rack of juicy, succulent and finger licking ribs that needed no more then a finger bowl to accompany has now been replaced by a sticky mess of sweet BBQ sauce covered, fatty, tough, processed meat with some bones thrown in so you know what it’s supposed to be… very disappointing… and the steak we ordered was sent back to the kitchen before even a morsel was tasted, mainly because we couldn’t chisel a piece off, ordered medium rare it would have doubled as a replacement sole for my husbands brogues it was so tough! Sides were rank — whole experience was very, VERY disappointing.
Recently I had read a couple of questionable reviews of this establishment but considered the ‘reviewers’ to perhaps have unachievable high standards as we’ve always enjoyed the Ship and Whale experience, great food and über friendly staff but now realise they were right — PEOPLE SAVE YOUR MONEY, do not think you will get the same experience of not more then a year ago — the worm has turned again at the Sh1t and Whale!
So close to the sides of the Thames yet this place is SHIPWRECKED!

This is a lovely local gastro pub in Surrey Quays. They specialise in burgers really — and they are amazing, offering you a choice of different burgers (my favourite is definitely the jerk chicken) and toppings (mozzarella and red onion jam goes really well with the jerk chicken!) .
Also they do a really nice BBQ during summer — and have a lovely outside area.

As the previous poster has pointed out, it’s all about the burgers here. I’d estimate that around 70% of diners order one, and with good reason too as they’re top-​notch (their goats cheese and chorizo topping is a personal favourite!).
With decent real ales on tap and a generous menu, the Ship & Whale is one of the best pubs you’ll find in the area.

A great place for a decent Sunday roast and hearty burgers, this pub is a little gem in this area. Prices are probably a little bit too high but that keep the riff raff element out of here and in The Moby Dick instead. A nice variety of beers and wines, I particularly like the Oranjeboom and friendly, welcoming staff.
Update:
The pub has changed hands since I wrote the last review and for me it’s not an improvement. The food is not a patch on what it used to be, their ‘homemade’ veggie burger was straight out of a packet and beware the breakfasts, we found ourselves with upset stomachs. Shame really as the new landlord seems like a nice guy.