The Ship Inn, Lymington

5:24pm Friday 29th February 2008

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ONCE upon a time, The Ship was just another chain pub, serving up microwave meals in its smoky, out-dated dining room.

Despite being situated in the best spot in Lymington - slap bang on the quaint Town Quay - the pub sank into mediocrity.

That was until pub supremos Mitchells and Butlers came to the rescue at the end of 2006.

Cue a £1m face-lift, a change of style and a new outlook - and the new, swanky, trendy Ship Inn was born.

Out went conventional pub features like the TVs and games machines to be replaced with log fires, while they also got rid of the smoking area but had a decking area built in the garden that is the perfect spot to watch a summer's day go by.

The Ship already had a reputation as a fine drinking establishment, but I had yet to experience its culinary offerings.

That was until recently, when a friend and I decided to give it a go to see if the eating was as good as the drinking.

Over a delicious bottle of Pinot Noir, we perused the mouth-watering menu.

Eventually I settled on a baked wheel of camembert with glazed apples to start, while my friend went for the (not very) English mezze - a selection of nibbles including goats cheese, crayfish tails, chicken pate and olives.

Both meals were cracking, and rather substantial too.

On to the mains, and I couldn't ignore the promise of the 28-day aged fillet of beef.

My friend opted for the locally caught sea bass.

Neither of us were disappointed, and again the portions were more than generous.

The steak was cooked to perfection (rare, of course) and the sea bass simply fell apart.

Just to ensure we both had wacky dreams that night, we managed to squeeze in a selection of cheeses between us.

Ten stone heavier, but content, we waddled out of The Ship, determined to make eating there a more regular occurrence.