A reader who reckons his local deserves a second chance encouraged me to do something I’ve never done before and revisit a previously reviewed pub.

I last stood at the bar of the Ship Hotel in New Romney almost two years ago to the day but I’m told it’s now in new hands and the owners have made dramatic changes.

If it has undergone radical development then I must be missing something as it looked absolutely identical to me.

The staff, three just like last time, may have been a fraction cheerier and chattier but the bar, dining areas, conservatory and all decorations looked exactly the same.

The tables at the rear of the pub are still a great sun trap and Mrs SD had made a beeline there to wait for her large Sav Blanc to be delivered – last time it was £7 on the dot and 24 months later had only risen by 80p. It wasn’t her go-to New Zealand variety but she said it was an exceptionally good wine and, to her mind, a real bargain.

Last time I was served an IPA (Summer Storm) which seemed more like a bitter to me. This time I started with a Bear Island, definitely an IPA, and moved on to First Drop, which is another IPA and, if anything, is even better than Bear Island and 70p cheaper.

There’s plenty of jazzy artwork on the walls and, whilst I couldn’t swear to it, it looked much the same as I remember, certainly the yellow neon sign in the front bar, reading ‘welcome aboard’ was here before. However, there is now a pool table in place and this time there was music playing – Harry Styles, which again went down well with Mrs SD.

We ordered some food and while we waited I took a closer look at my surroundings in an effort to spot possible changes. Interestingly though, I noticed masking tape around several windows and three pots of paint stacked up in the cavernous empty Romney Room at the back left of the pub, so perhaps changes are coming soon.

It’s the same low ceilings and tiled floors and there’s still no darts, no jukebox, no TV screens and no fruit machines.

But, according to the bar staff, the hotel does face a new problem and is currently considering introducing a registration system for its car park as, sadly, local drivers seem to think it’s acceptable to use the Ship’s car park even if they’re not using the pub!

All parking chat was halted as our food was delivered – a classic burger, with chips upgraded to sweet potato fries, for her and a classic chicken caesar salad for me.

The meals were absolutely fine and most certainly an improvement on the baguettes we were served last time. I’m not sure why an upgrade to the healthier option of sweet potato fries required an extra £2 but maybe it’s simply down to the cost of the raw materials.

Unable to ignore the puddings we decided to share a raspberry and white chocolate crème brûlée, which was, surprisingly, served warm. This was without doubt the highlight of our meal and an excellent choice.

Like our previous visit, the toilets smelt faintly of bleach when you enter and, like everywhere else, hadn’t undergone any change, but they are certainly being well maintained and were clean and fresh.

The vast majority of the Ship Hotel is set up for dining, though the smaller front bar is set aside for those just wanting a pint and the new pool table did seem to be getting plenty of use.

When I received a very keen request to revisit the Ship Hotel I was assured there had been changes aplenty and I was led to believe I would encounter an entirely different venue.

I have to report everything, and I mean everything, with the exception of one green table, is exactly as it was. However, as I often say, it’s very important to look beyond the material elements of pubs, after all it’s the staff who are key, and here there’s been a marked improvement. The drink choices we were able to make were also a lot better and there were a few slightly favourable improvements to the food as well - which was all very gristly the first time around.

So, perhaps in hindsight setting sail to carry out a revisit to the Ship Hotel was justified and the most important things have changed after all.

THE SHIP HOTEL, 83 HIGH STREET, NEW ROMNEY TN28 8AZ

Decor: Apart from introducing a pool table I couldn’t discern many changes from my last visit. The paintwork looks a little more worn than last time but the outside area had definitely been weeded at some point during the intervening 24 months. ***

Drink: Adding First Drop IPA to the drink selection is a definite plus and there is no doubt the wines being stocked have improved too. For me, this was the biggest change since our last visit. ****

Price: Given there had been a two-year gap since my last visit, prices hadn’t risen much at all. Mrs SD’s large wine was up 80p at £7.80 and a pint of First Drop was only 10p more at £4.50, than last time’s Summer Storm. The food prices were also broadly similar. ****

Staff: Friendly and willing to chat, apart from the quality of the drink, the reaction from the staff behind the bar represented the biggest difference from our visit in July 2022. ****

Read Secret Drinker’s original review of the Ship Hotel here

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