Anchor & Hope

Food interesting and comforting! Service very good given the packed space. Prices reflect popularity rather than value.

I hate despise complaining. Having said that, I feel I should account for the meal and serivce I just had at the Anchor and Hope. The story goes as follows:
Orered rabbit, two pieces came on the dish, one piece was deilicious, the other one was off (taseted as if brewed in unspeakable condiments)…I politely asked the waitress to inform the chef he should try to verify, she returned it and said ‘its the way it was cooked, its fine’.
In no time did I recieve any sort of consideration as to the quality or satisfaction I was feeling after having made a claim.

It defies logic how they get away with treating their customers like benign cattle. Stacked in holding patterns, left at the whim of the “table allocator” (woe ye if you try and make a point about the appalling treatment you are suffering – you will get punished with many more waiting minutes). It took 70 minutes last night (06-May 2011) after being promised “something within the hour” (45 minutes expectation).

Good food alone (which they have in bucket loads) at reasonable prices isn't good enough in my book. I am not going to repeat the experience as they completely and utterly fail to grasp that dinner is an experience that involves being treated well, served well, eating and drinking well. They fail utterly on the treatment and service side.

Not good enough and not worthy of Giles' and the many other critics’ hype, who clearly got fast tracked through the appalling cattle herding experience.

Oh, and if you are veggie, forget it. They won’t bend the menu any which way. They wouldn’t even serve a bowl of chips, even though they were featured elsewhere. Come on!

Shame on you H&A.,

My boyfriend and I have been here several times and it's still our all time favourite place to eat in London! The food is always amazing and the service friendly and genuine. It's pretty difficult to get a table on a Friday or Saturday night without waiting for an hour or so, but I think this is part of it's charm. I love sitting at the bar sharing a bottle of wine in such a buzzing bar with a great atmosphere. I will carry on recommending to all my friends.

I live about half a mile from the Anchor and Hope and have been previously with a friend and although the food was not bad, the booking experience was ridiculous, we waited an hour and a half for a table and then had a mediocre experience, I decided to give it another try as the reviews were promising.
I called up the week before and explained I was bringing two clients and could not stand at the bar for an hour and wait for a table, so I was told to arrive at 12.30 and would definitely get a table, so I arrived at 12.30 and sat down at a tble and all was great, my guests arrive at 12.45, at 13.00 our orders were taken, by 13.45 we still had not received any food, waiters were madly rushing around and it was very difficult to get anyones attention, we finally managed to get a waiters eye and received our food 5 mins later, when the food arrived the teal and john dory were very disapointing for the price of £14.00 and £16.00 each, the mutton was tasty, but again very expensive for the price. We finished our meals and waited for a menu for desserts, we ordered these and for a £7.00 cheese plate with four oatcakes and three small pieces of cheese, once again the price did not reflect the offering, the other two desserts were nothing to right home about, by the time we finished our meal it was 2.50pm and took way longer than we wanted to spend for a business lunch.

When I got back to the office I had to change my clothes as the extraction was not working in the restaurant and I stank of frying, I smelt like I had been in a greasy spoon. Not a very good reflection for my clients.

If you want a reasonably priced meal, good service and want to come away smelling decent, choose elsewhere.

As a long term resident of SE1, I haven’t visited the Anchor & Hope as much as I would have liked. In fact until my most recent visit I had only been twice (it was excellent on both occasions), however I find their no booking policy too frustrating. I live a mile away which is just a little bit too far to visit on the off chance and the prospect of hanging around at the bar and watching everyone else tuck in for an hour isn’t really the perfect dining situation. Turning up to be turned away and then trying to find a decent meal within a mile of The Cut isn't a thrilling prospect, so, reluctantly I have taken my custom to less deserving establishments that will at least guarantee me a table and victuals.

On Sunday morning I put my pessimism to one side and called the Anchor and Hope, it transpires that on Sunday bookings are accepted, although there is a £30 / 3 course set menu with two options – vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Fortunately there was space for two which was we were instructed is served at 2pm.

We arrived at 12.30pm in time to enjoy a few pint sized aperitifs, the restaurant started to fill up and by 2pm the entire hungry crowd were obediently seated.

Serving almost 100 people simultaneously sounded like madness but sure enough, the starters started to roll out of the kitchen, potato soup with a slice of fresh Foie. Simple but excellent – I have never eaten Foie Gras in soup before and I found myself wondering why, it made a lot of sense. The second course followed – Ox Cheek with Parsnip Puree, cabbage and pickled walnuts was also a delight. As soon as the mains been plated and distributed, the waiters started circulating tables offering ladels of seconds. You don't see that very often…

We were one of the first to leave at around 5pm after finishing dessert and stepped into the cold December air very satisfied and happy customers. I guess I will just have to live with the booking policy or stick to Sundays in future!

I visited the Anchor and Hope on a Friday evening after work. My girlfriend and I decided to go for an early dinner before heading out. We arrived at the pub around 5 and were able to grab a table in the bar area for a couple of cocktails (they had two specials on for the evening). I managed to speak to the chap running the tables for the restaurant and our name was put on the list for the 6pm sitting. At 6pm we were led through to a table which had 6 places set. We were sat next to two other couples which was not what we were expecting, however no problems with this set up at all. In fact it was quite a nice change. Within 10 minutes one of the couples had ordered and then 5 minutes after the other couple had ordered. We were left for 30 minutes until we managed to flag down one of the zooming waiters (it is very hectic and they are constantly running backwards and forwards) and requested that we ordered. He took our order for food and wine and carried on. We then realised that in the rush we had forgotten to order any sides to go with our mains so flagged down a different waitress who recommended a couple of items which she then passed on to the initial waiter. He then shouted over for us to remind him of what we had ordered. We got back to chatting and then 10 minutes later our starters arrived; both very good, 1 terrine and 1 deep fried pigs head (which was delicious). This was all well and good however we explained to the waitress that our wine had yet to arrive. We had decided to go for a reasonably decent bottle – mid list, and expected to enjoy this before our food arrived. She rectified this and our wine was brought. After the starters the mains did come in good time – 1 veal and 1 pork, again both very good. When we had finished the mains we were asked if we would like desserts to which we declined and asked for a coffee but in about 10 minutes time as we still had wine left. This request resulted in a look of disgust from the waitress who explained that she could not do that as there were people waiting for tables so she would be back in 2 minutes. Low and behold she came back and we ordered coffee which arrived in a matter of seconds. Likewise when requesting the bill this also was acted upon with lightning speed. So much speed in fact that I was unable to finish my sentence when requesting the bill as I needed to point out that we had a tab behind the bar. Before I had finished what I was saying the bill was on the table and the waiter was asking for a card. By this point I was extremely frustrated, agitated, angry etc etc and made the point that a waiter should wait and listen to what was being said to them as this was clearly an area they needed to work on. All in all dinner and a couple of drinks for two came to £85. For £85 I expect a a good long dining experience where you feel looked after and valued by a restaurant and certainly not rushed to get out of the door. Sadly the Anchor and Hopes' wonderful food is let down by the terrible service and general attitude that goes with it. They are a victim of their own success; the idea of not being able to reserve tables is bizarre (even the waitress agreed with this) as they are just too overwhelmed by customers that they make too many mistakes. The gentleman next to me who ordered the pork for main (and there are only 3-4 mains to choose from for an individual) was served the veal. When paying the prices they are charging you expect a certain level of service and you simply do not get that here. A real shame.

In practice, the Hope & Anchor is a great place but it is getting to be just way too much trouble to eat there and the food isn't SO good to make it worth all the effort. This was our fourth visit and each time the hassle becomes that littel bit more annoying.
Firstly, you can't book a table so it's always very hit and miss getting in. Either quite quick or a very long wait indeed. Not good if you're hungry or if you are out with Grandma! Then, if you're not eating in a group, there is the rather limited choice of dishes. On Saturday evening 27/11, there were 4 dishes on the menu for 3 people or more, 2 of the singleton dishes had already run out when we got to sit down (40 minute wait) leaving just 3 dishes to choose from. Ridiculously, they had cassoulet designated as only for 3 people or more and were unable to serve it for one person…what is so diffcult about giving cassoulet to one person?! Likewise Irish hotpot…I mean, can't you just spoon out a single dishful for one person?! Both are simple dishes to make but were seemingly too much trouble to serve for one diner.
I then asked if it would be possible to have chips with a dish that wasn't marked as “with chips”. “No”, came back the answer, “all our chips are specially made for those dishes marked as such, we only do chips for those dishes and we don't have any more and can't make any!” Unbelievable. What is so difficult about that?

So, having been unable to find anything at all on the menu that did not involve a group eating it (we were just two) we regrettably had no choice but to leave and go elsewhere. A great shame, because the place is fun and (once you get there) the food is good, if only it weren't such a hassle to get in to eat it. Gastropub meets gastropain!! If you want gastropub dining, go to The Garrison on Bermondsey Street – you can book, you don't get hassle and the choice of dishes is better! The whole dining experience there is that much easier!!!

My husband and I Visited the Anchor & Hope recently on a Wednesday evening. The place was ‘rammed’, although apparently this was a quiet night.

On a positive note, the staff were very friendly and helpful. Initially, were informed that we would only have to wait approximately 30 minutes for a table for 2 in the restaurant. 45 minutes later, we were told that we would have to wait at least another 30 minutes for a table, unless we wished to share a table with strangers. We did not have too much time to spare as we needed to catch a train, therefore, we opted to eat in the bar. We were sat in a very dark corner and it was a very cold area. My husband and I usually like a bit of ambiance and hustle and bustle. Unfortunately we were sat near a very drunken loud crowd and we could not hear a word of our own conversation.

The pub is quite shabby and it was not very pleasant eating were we did. The decor is very poor. Some of the dishes on the menu were no longer available. We opted for steak pie for 2. It was £30 for the steak pie alone without any vegetables. THIS MUST BE THE MOST EXPENSIVE STEAK PIE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. Potatoes & vegetables were priced between £3.50 and £5.00 each. In fairness the steak pie was very tasty, but only as good as steak pie I can make myself and many of my friends can also make. There was no real skill required.

In view of the shocking price of the steak pie, I expected the pie to be made with fillet steak. The pie was made with regular stewing steak and although tender and the fact that it may have been sourced from a different place, it tasted the same as stewing steaking sourced from my local supermarket. We did not purchase any extra potatoes, chips or vegatables as we thought that would amount to ‘robbery with violence’.

We had a pleasant dessert of almond tart with quince. It was good, but without any wow factor.

Wine was served out of small thick tumbers. I thought that perhaps they had ran out of wines glasses, but I noticed that everyone was drinking wine out of similar, very unattractive small tumblers.

My husband and I dined in London for six nights. I am not sure whether we were just lucky or not, but the five other dining experiences were far superior to the Anchor & Hope in Waterloo. Surprisingly, the Anchor & Hope was the most expensive and it was by far the most unattractive.

In view of the crowds in the Anchor & Hope, it is obviously a very popular place and I have to wonder if we caught the place on a bad night. It would need a psychologist to explain to us the attraction of this gastropub.
I did notice, however, that all the restaurants across the road were also crowded and the restaurant directly opposite seemed to have a queue outside. Perhaps this is just a very busy area and all the restaurants will always be crowded. It is very close to the Old Vic and the Young Vic and not too far from the London Eye.

I will not be in a hurry to return and I would not recommend it to friends.

It's a pleasingly comfortable deep red space, built out of the base of a horrific 60's block on The Cut, just down from the Old Vic and virtually next door to the Young Vic. Despite the restaurants (it's also home to Meson Don Philipe, Livebait, Baltic, at least 2 species of Tas and many others) and theatres, it is still a residential area, attested to by the loud children playing knock-door-run (or some felonious version thereof) with the local shopkeep.

The local crowd, large even on an early lunchtime, look like they've just come from a performance at the slightly arthousey Young Vic next door. They know it's important to get in early as they don't take bookings. By 12.30 you can see why. It's absolutely rammed, all rickety rough sanded tables in the snug dining room taken, many other wanna-eats crowding the similar sized bar on the other side, chugging back early pints of Youngs Broadside while they wait for a table. We popped in on the off-chance having met here for a beer, were tempted to stay, and helped out by the friendly staff who found a table within minutes.

You can see the influences and shared heritage from places like St John. From the casual tumblers of tap water (brought unrequested with no bottled water upsell) and wine to the portions of beautifully soft, chewy sourdough that whet our appetites, it's unfussy, uncomplicated, casual dining. The menu is focussed around game and offal, with a few fish dishes (though not much for vegetarians) and I've got to say that I hadn't been looking forward to a main course as much as this for some time.

With so many things on the seasonal menu I knew whatever I went for I'd be envious of the rest. The hare ragout with semolina gnocchi sang to me from the list, but was rather disappointing in delivery. The ragout was packed full of flavour, the hare slow braised to tender gamey perfection, but the sauce was a little too stew-like for me, the juice a little too light, and the semolina ‘gnocchi’ a slightly tasteless slab that didn't soak up enough of the juice. Two of the others had the confit of duck, dark soft flesh flaking off the bone, skin salty and crisp. We shared a generous portion of buttery greens, unnecessary due to the large portions but eaten swiftly. The puddings were excellent. A tart and sticky damson bakewell tart came hot from the oven and lasted seconds. Nico Polo's pistachio cake was pronounced similarly excellent.

Don't be put off by the potential for a wait if you don't live locally. It's a laidback place worth travelling for, so turn up, relax at the bar and put your name down. Surely you're with someone you can have a couple of relaxed drinks with? And besides, the best things come to those who wait.

Overall, I adore the Anchor & Hope. It is simply the archetypal ‘gastropub’ rather than a wine bar with aspirations towards muscling in on the restaurant trade. It is still definitely a pub, with the local clientele as well as the city folk who are adventurous enough to venture across the river. This results in a genuinely laid back atmosphere, totally lacking in pretention.

The food is simply wonderful. The chef appreciates the best in seasonal British fair, and never unnecessarily complicates the ingredient list. The menu changes twice daily and I'm always spoilt for choice.

The wine list is also superb and very reasonably priced, and they have a wonderful cocktail selection (which might seem out of place for a pub, but is much appreciated).

Do come early though, especially in a big party, as the Anchor & Hope is by no means a well kept secret. The staff will do their best to fit you in, often asking parties to share a table (adding to the buzzing atmosphere) but people nevertheless are often turned away.

There are only two caveats to my otherwise glowing review: Firstly, that even though chips were on the menu with the steak, they refused to serve them as a side dish with the steak pie. This seemed a little petty and pretentious, especially as we were there for a full meal (and not just seeking to snack at the bar, which I would understand this rule being devised for). Secondly, that the vegetarian member of our party was left with very little choice (one dish, to be precise, and thankfully he did eat eggs) and the kitchen are not very flexible with catering for off-menu requests. This has never put me off, however, it's just something to bear in mind.

I was there for the first time on Monday evening. Yes, it was very busy, so we ended up eating at one end of a wonky table in the pub, the service was a bit rough and ready, and was slow…, but the staff turned out to be very nice, and wanted us to enjoy what the place is about – the food and drink. We both had the “Lop” – which was marinated and stewed pork, with polenta, and a side dish of greens. When it arrived, I thought it looked like it had been under the hot-plate for a while, but what it lacked in visual appeal it made up for in flavour and mouth-feel – it was absolutely delicious, really hearty, plenty of it, complex flavours. The Polenta was the best I've ever had (not that I've had that much), but it was buttery, tasty, and stood up to the stew. And the greens – plainly boiled, big leaves of dark green greens, tasting of greens, with a bit of greens water at the bottom of the serving dish. You are either going to love that or hate it. I love my greens. Served with that rich main dish, it was perfect. The bread was excellent too, and is gratis.
I was drinking draught beer, so was very happy with the Bombardier. My friend was on the white wine – they don't serve the usual Sauv Blanc, or Pinot Grigio, but there was an extensive and affordable wine list – she had a half carafe of Trebbiano. The bill was just short of £45.
I heartily recommend the place if you are not in a hurry, and can be happy in not so slick surroundings.

Dissapointingly slow service (waited 1 1/2 hours for a table for two, only to finally give up and share a table with 3 others) and meagre portions made this a disappointing experience.

The lively and frenetic atmosphere (pub is split in two with a crowded bar area divided from a dining area with about 15 tables of varying sizes) and large numbers of staff who seemed to be trying to do their best didn't help the fact that it took ages to get a table – why not let people book, (it works for quite a few other restaurants…)?

Impressive range on the menu, especially the mains, and deserts were excellent, but that's the least I expect from a gastro pub with such a good reputation.

Overall this was an average dining experience. This is just a lively pub that sells decent food.

It's so disappointing to see a good place go bad.
I've been to this place countless times over the last few years and have many great memories of the food here…slow cooked lamb that collapses in your mouth in heap of sticky flavour, deep black risotto laced with pearly strips of cuttlefish, perfectly cooked rib of beef, oozing reddy pink juices into a slick of bearnaise sauce…i could go on and on. But i won't. After years of consistently great dining experiences here, Saturday night came as a real shock. The starters were ok – the risotto was over salted – but this could be forgiven. It was the main course chaos that followed that was a disaster. 3 of us ordered the English Lop “cooked like boar” and were promptly delivered 3 hunks of luke warm, dry, stringy old sow languishing in a puddle of mash. The Hereford beef was also a disappointment – the dried blood on its surface revealing it had been left out too long before serving, chewy to the point of being difficult to cut with a steak knife, it was served with a potato concoction that looked like it had been chiselled out of the bottom of a burnt cooking pot.

So we complained. The waitress called over the manager who, going into a routine that looked a little too well practiced, quickly whisked our dishes away and thrust menus back at us, commanding us to choose again. No choice of a replacement (of the same) dish, or of simply not charging for the main and proceeding to desert. I don't recall hearing any apology. The paltry food and the manager's poor attitude prompted us to call it a day at this point. He then delivered a bill from which he had removed only two of the unsatisfactory mains. When we disputed this he started to argue back until he realised we had no intention of paying for any of the mains. To his credit at this point he did waive the whole bill.

So we walked out. And then came the coup de grace. As we filed out through the narrow gap that leads from the dining room back to the bar, the final member of our party heard one of the waiters say to the manager, “Are they from the North?” I'm really not sure what to make of this. Yes, some of our party were “from the North”. But I wasn't aware on a restriction on Northern diners in the Waterloo area, nor have I come across any regional stereotyping concerning a disproportionate number of restaurant complaints emanating from beyond the Watford Gap.

I can only conclude after this visit that the restaurant must have changed hands or had a complete change of team. Unfortunately it's a rude, regionally prejudiced team, who are unaware of the basics of restaurant service and who clearly can't cook.

I'm sure that most of you know the drill here – no bookings, shared tables and always busy.

That can be annoying, if you are hungry and have to wait an hour for a table, in which time you sink a few too many pints, don't really feel like eating when you sit down, you are a bit too close to the people you are sharing a table with and feel that it was a bit of a waste of an evening.

These things are bad when you are planning a nice evening out with your friends. Logic would dictate that YOU WOULD NOT GO HERE IN THAT SITUATION.

This restaurant not gastropub (it has tables and serves food that is good) is all about the food. Now sometimes the portions are uneven, and sometimes they have run out of what you want by the time you get to order. That is life when everything is cooked fresh.
Yes the service can be erratic and once in a while the odd dish does not work as well as it should do. Overall this is a great place to get what I would call an home cooked meal.

There are always seasonal dishes, great bar snacks and a really good mixture of hearty fayre. The best dishes I have had their over the past few years:

red and yellow beets, goats curd and mint
beetroot, mackerel, watercress

Roast shoulder of kid
slow roast venison

treacle tart

these are the dishes that stick out in my mind, I have had many many more and as I mentioned before once in a while I am less than ecstatic with my meal, but I keep going back because it is good.

Service can be slapdash but there are no aspirations of michelin accolades, so just go and enjoy the food.

I had heard fantastic things about the Anchor and Hope but the few times we had passed by, it was heaving, or the menu looked a bit too eclectic for my tastes. We came upon an empty restaurant on a Saturday for once so decided to take our chances.

I passed on the starters and went straight for the braised lamb neck as my main – very fatty (though this wasnt a bad thing) but probably not the ideal Saturday lunch before a day walking in the sun. It was quite big, bit fatty but tasty, a very hearty meal. Partner had roast chicken caesars salad which looked ok – again, nothing really special. I, of course, had pudding which was the pistachio-est pistachio cake id ever had, delicious, and a bit of a work of art for an obsessive baker like me!

The Anchor and Hope is hugely popular, despite me thinking it was just ‘nice’ – ive also had mixed experiences with their sister place Great Queen Street, once having a fantastic mindblowing roast chicken to share, then having a bland rump steak on another trip. The Anchor and Hope takes no bookings and if you are a fussy sort, id say come early, check the day's menu and have a backup just in case (Tas is over the road and ALWAYS heaving). Or else come on a Saturday lunchtime, i doubt you'd be disappointed, i just didnt see what the huge fuss was about…

I'd heard about this place a while back so was looking forward to finally checking it out on a Friday evening. But unfortunately none of the great things I heard turned out to be true, and to call this one of London's top Gastropubs is an absolute joke.

We were seated at a table that featured a tabletop that was not properly attached to the base, causing it to wobble about 6 inches up and down on each side – I politely told one of the (uniformly surly) waiters about it and he said “that's the way we like them” then ran off. He then came back some time later (after one of us had a go at fixing it) and wiped the table with a very wet cloth leaving the one end of the table he wiped soaking before running off again.

We ordered some wine which came with tiny tumblers instead of wine glasses. This would have been fine had they bothered to wash them up – the inside of mine was covered with what I hope was chocolate.

Another waiter gave us the menus which promisingly featured some different dishes to those normally found in a pub. A few sounded good, but most of them had to be ordered by 4 or more people. I paid £16 for a rabbit dish which had half the amount of meat described by the waiter and no vegetables – which they didn't bother pointing out at the time of ordering. It was pretty tough and strangely smelt of frankfurters.

One of us had a pudding, which was an insipid looking chocolate mousse of varying consistencies in one of the small tumblers. The one good thing about it was that it confirmed that my dirty glass had indeed been tainted by chocolate.

All in all really poor and so overhyped. I'd leave and go somewhere else if for some reason I found myself drinking in there again and in need of some food.

I’d actually never heard of the Anchor & Hope before I went there the other day. Luckily in a way, it wasn’t as packed as it says here in the Squaremeal review and our party of five only had to wait 5 minutes before our table. The atmosphere was definitely very pubby with rickety tables and slightly worn-down interiors. In fact, just the way a proper pub should be in my view.

I understand why people go here for the food. Everything is presented very simply, but tastes great and fresh. We shared the crab on toast and some small fish (whose proper name I can’t remember), which were both very good. I followed up with a sizable portion of rump steak with vegetables and a tasteful potato cake. It’s maybe not the most difficult dish, but it’s always a joy when they manage to make one properly, which they did.

I thought it was a really nice place to hang out at with a few friends. On the negative side, I found the usually very helpful staff, quite slow. For us it didn’t mean that much since we weren’t really in any rush. But then again, you wouldn’t go to a place like this if you were.