EVERY community should have its own pub; and it’s one of the many unfortunate changes in society that too many villages, hamlets and suburbs have, over recent years, lost these local gathering points.

The Holbeck and Roose area of Barrow is probably the nearest this area gets to a suburb – but thankfully it has a pub, the Ship Inn.

I called in recently to check it out – and found locals propping up the bar (big tick) and food being served (another big tick).

It’s a Robinsons pub and pretty enough from the exterior, with whitewashed walls and a paved beer garden area at the front.

Inside, it’s quite cosy, with lamps and traditional pub furniture, the premises being divided into two two main dining areas.

Settled in one of those areas, my husband and I prepared to enjoy an early evening meal.

The very friendly, Irish host promptly brought drinks to the table and, after some deliberation, we made our choices.

The menu at the ship is standard pub fare, with no surprises. Fish, scampi, burgers, stir fries, pies, gammon – the whole gamut, in fact.

We shared some calamari bites as a starter, which arrived very quickly indeed after ordering.

The chunks made a welcome change from the ubiquitous calamari rings; and these were lightly battered and deep-fried, with a good fish-to-batter ratio.

Nothing special, too uniform in my opinion to be home-made (I stand to be be corrected, of course) but very tasty, nevertheless.

A good start.

For mains, I had opted for steak and Guinness pie, while Gordon chose a Thai prawn stir fry.

Both were around the £10 mark.

Unfortunately, neither dish was great. Gordon’s sizzling platter contained just five (I counted) prawns, which were almost entirely tasteless.

The bright orange chilli sauce was as authentically Thai as I am – but the courgettes and carrots were nice and crunchy. A let-down on the whole, and poor value.

Less disappointing was the steak pie, although the steak was on the burnt side and there was a fair bit of gristle to contend with.

Excellent chips (the tomato sauce I requested to go with them was insipid and poor quality, sadly), some good mushy peas and a generous jug of thick gravy rescued the dish – and Gordon ended up eating most of it, as it was so much tastier than his desperately disappointing stir fry.

While the service and surroundings at the Ship are good – the tables are well-spaced and roomy, and the landlord really was very nice indeed   there is definite room for improvement in the kitchen here.

The stir fry was poor and while the pie was better, the burnt offerings didn’t make it look particularly appealing.

Pub food is a competitive business and customers are increasingly discerning.

Unless you’re going to do a dish properly – like a stir fry.

I personally wouldn’t bother. Ten quid for five tasteless prawns with a cloying sauce, which looked and tasted synthetic, was poor value.

The Ship at Roose is a nice pub, with friendly service and pleasant surroundings.

Upping the game in the kitchen will only benefit this valuable community hub.

The Ship Inn, Roose

Food 2.5

Service 4

Atmosphere 3.5

Value 2.5

Pros

Clean and cosy

Beer garden

Friendly staff

Cons

Hit and miss on the ingredients

Poor quality condiments