The Ship Inn, York

I've just returned from lunch at The Ship Inn and have to say, quite honestly that it was the worst meal I have ever had.

I'm a vegetarian and the only offering on the menu was a caesar salad without the chicken (so basically lettuce and croutons!!) I asked instead if I could have the Sunday roast minus the meat and was told yes, not a problem. I was then informed that the gravy also has meat in so, although disappointed at the prospect of dry vegetables I said this would be fine. My companions opted for a giant yorkshire pudding with beef and the Lamb shank. The food arrived within 5 minutes of ordering, which to me is far too soon to be of any decent quality. And it wasn't - it was awful!! I was presented with a plate with 1 (shop bought) Yorkshire Pudding, 3 (FRIED) roast potatoes and 2 new potatoes. No frills here then!! I also had a side dish with brocolli and carrots that had been nuked within an inch of their life.

My friend with the Lamb shank had a disgusting lump of bone and gristle surrounded my gravy which had already formed a film on top - oh and it was cold!! When asked at the end of the meal if we were satisfied we spoke honestly and said that we were not. The waitress left to speak to the manager and the response (after waiting 15 minutes for her to come back) was this:

"the lamb shank does have a bone in it because that's the type of cut and noone else has complained about it (perhaps they got one which didn't look like a prop from CSI!!). It's probably cold because you're sat outside (by the end of the meal yes - but not when it's supposedly just been cooked). As for the vegetarian meal, we do offer 3 other vegetarian options on the menu - a cheese flan (which was most certainly not on the menu), caesar salad (plate of lettuce) or a prawn baguette."

At this point I just had to laugh. Prawn?? No - not vegetarian, last time I checked I'm fairly certain prawns are considered to be seafood. And when I questionned the caesar salad as being vegetarian (caesar dressing is often made with anchovies) she said they could have served it without the dressing (so literally nothing but lettuce - yum!!) And their offering to resolve our miserable meal = 1 free dessert or coffee. Now I appreciate these are hard times, but I would have expected a refund for a meal of such poor quality. I am totally amazed that a pub in such a beautiful location is being run in such a way. The hideous food combined with the appalling customer service made for an awful lunchtime experience, and I do not doubt that were it not for the caravan park across the road the 'management' would have already managed this pub into the ground.

5 Jun 2011 17:05