Did you know that there used to be a red line on the metro? Well there was, and Benton was the original terminal on it. Now it just acts as one of those annoying stations that despite being named after a place, is nowhere near anywhere you’d need to visit within the locality.
If you leave the station coming from the coast and turn right down Station Approach and then on to Station Road, turn right again when you hit Whitley Road (which becomes Front Street) and you’ll find The Ship Inn about 5 minutes away.
We visited t around 4pm on a bank holiday Sunday and it was pleasantly busy without being overcrowded. They get excellent reviews for their Sunday Lunches and although we weren’t eating, they certainly seemed to be a lot of satisfied tummies around, the portions looked good and the prices were reasonable.
It’s a large building with a bar to the left as you walk through the main doors and a lounge to the right with a bar that snakes through the both rooms. It has traditional pub decor, which I keep on hearing is in decline in the north east now however I feel I type the phrase ‘traditional pub decor’ on a weekly basis in this guide.
There were a couple of ales on offer in the shape of Bishops Finger (at only £2.20 a pint – which feels like a steal these days) and a glass of my usual (a medium sauvignon blanc) was served just how I like it (ice cold in a large glass). And the staff were particularly good and patient when we all argued for about 10 minutes over which flavour of crisps we wanted.
Despite the presence of TVs showing sport and a couple of bandits (I know, I know, give the public what they want) they were also advertising live music, which I am a huge fan of so would definitely something worth checking out in the future.
I don’t think the Ship Inn is going to blow anyone’s socks off however it would be a more than decent local if it was walking distance from where you live.
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