The Anchor and Hope

I really enjoy this pub, especially the outdoor seating! I love sitting by the Thames with a glass of wine and I try to come here as much as I can, but unfortunately a lot of people have the same idea, so it’s tough to get a spot sometimes. The service is quick and friendly and the prices are great. I’m looking forward to many more visits here in the new year!

Food was nothing spectacular, nothing horrendous. The beef pie was a pile of ground beef in a pool of liquid. Forgot the thickener? It was more of a soup than a pie. The bone marrow was a nice touch though. I just wish it came with some good grilled bread to serve as a vessel for the marrow. Service could have been much better. They forgot a portion of our order and it was seemingly difficult to flag anyone down just for water. Maybe you’ll have to just settle for the alcoholic drinks at the bar.

Ridiculously tasty and affordable! I got the wood pigeon and mash and I almost licked the plate at the end! Apparently the menu changes often but everything on there looked great, the hardest thing was to pick one. I went on a Friday and wet got seated straight away at a sharing table but the restaurant filed up pretty quick after that.

Delicious food in warm, cozy environment. The beef ragu was amazing and was easy to pair a nice red wine off of the extensive wine list. Can’t wait to come back.

I only came here for drinks, so this review is for the service and ambiance on the entrance side… which is evidently the waiting side. The restaurant was really busy and it was cool to see their kitchen (mostly) visible.
I just had a beer, and it was fine. The bartenders were pretty swamped, and the service was a lot slower. We came about 40 minutes after they opened, and the place was already packed! So crowded that I’m not sure how people can even get food. People seemed to both come here for food and just drinks. So interesting to people watch, though the tables weren’t built so that I could do that more.

Just had a delightful meal! I travel for work, so I have to eat meals alone frequently — this place was great. Be warned — there is the bar area, which you see when you enter, and then the main dining area, which is a bit hidden. I found a server and asked him where to sit — he placed at a 6-​top where there were two separate pairs eating, so be prepared for communal dining if that’s where you fit.
Had a very delicious potato, chestnut and Adrahan (cheese) pie. Was a stromboli-​type pie — great flaky crust rolled around paper thin potato slices, lots of cheese. Came with a nice watercress/​radicchio salad and two pickled walnuts which were a VERY nice little treat. For dessert: Buttermilk pudding, stewed Bramleys and salted caramel sauce. YUMMMMMM. The pudding was REALLY nice, light, vanilla bean dotted. Delicious.
Have added this to my «return to the next time I am here» list.

Tried to come last month for dinner but the place was way too crowded. I came today for lunch and I’m glad I did.
York Ham, swede and mashed parsley sauce– my friend liked it a lot, but I thought it was a little salty
Grilled mackerel fillets, beetroots and horseradish– the fish wasn’t over-​grilled and dry. Horseradish wasn’t overly spicy. I was pleased
Pear almond tart with clotted cream — the tart was a little dry and the cream was rich. i guess it’s supposed to balance it out? wasn’t for me
We also had two americanos and still water. The bill came to 43gbp for two people. Overall, I liked it and would come back.

This review was not based on food as I never got to try any. This is based on service and even understanding how the place worked. In brief: The dining room is completed separated from the bar area. You have to go to the back of the bar and around the corner towards the bathrooms to see the dining room. I could not find a separate door for the dining room so am uncertain if one even exists. The Host/​Hostess should be back there somewhere. Read on for my complete disgruntled story.
I was seriously confused by this place. I stopped by here after reading reviews hoping my bf and I could just grab a corner or table or something. It was pretty crowded but there were some space on the patio benches outside. Pretty good sign I’d say. I go in, and I can’t find a host/​hostess. I look around to see what others are doing and they are all going up to the bar. No official line, as most bars, so I squeeze in between some people and wait to get the bartender’s attention. After 5 minutes he asks what he can get me so I ask if there’s a menu. He asks if I mean a drink or food menu. I ask for both and then clarifies for me that they have a dining room down the hall way and around the corner (where I couldn’t really see past). Embarrassed, I apologize for not realizing it and ask if I would still be able to get food at the bar as well. He said he would check. Disappeared for about 5 minute, comes back and says the guy would be over to take my order. We wait some more… Another guy asks what he can get me, I tell him I wanted to order some food, and he points at the first guy I talked to and tells me to give him my order and walks away. Well I wasn’t going to try the same guy again so I give up. But the BF keeps trying! (yay)
Once we figured out where the dining room was we head back that way down the narrow and cramped hallway. We see a waiter and ask if we can get a table. He points out the host (way in the back) and wait for him to come back toward the entry way. When he finally does we ask how long the wait is and he says at least an hour. So we ask can we get food at the bar too? He answered ask the bartender (and describes the same guy I talked to the first time). We give up hope and leave.

A quelques rue de la gare de Waterloo, The Anchor and Hope, un pub plutôt gastronomique, vous attend à un coin de rue.
N’ayez pas peur de la partie «pub» qui n’est que la partie visible: monde en terrasse, une pièce dédié à la partie bar et surtout bondée.
Un conseil: Longez la tenture et allez au fond pour préciser que vous voulez manger sur place car il y a, derrière, une pièce dédiée à la restauration !
On dîné en partageant sa table (exceptée pour les rares tables de deux personnes) avec des inconnus dans une très bonne ambiance, et sans touriste. Dépaysement garanti.
Pour l’anecdote, il y avait deux vieux amis britanniques en face de nous et un premier rendez-​vous galant sur ma droite (qui s’est bien passé et il y aura un deuxième rendez-​vous ;)).
La carte propose des spécialités anglaises qui se sont révélées être raffinées et savoureuses ! Il y a aucun doute à avoir sur la fraîcheur des produits et je peux assurer que la gastronomie anglaise propose des plats délicieux !
Les fromages proposés sont anglais et la serveuse a été de bons conseils pour choisir celui qui correspondait le mieux à nos goûts.
Quant au dessert, je crois bien avoir goûté le meilleur cheesecake !
Le service a été impeccable et j’ai passé une très bonne soirée dans cet établissement typiquement anglais.
Petite note: Cuisine (ouverte) et toilettes très propres !
Moyenne note: Très bon rapport qualité/​prix.
Grosse note: Venez tôt pour né pas faire la queue.

Great food here as usual. No point in recommending any dish though as the menu is so changeable.
The one thing that did annoy me is the minuscule glasses. Fine for water, but a bit silly if you order a cocktail. It’s all a bit cramped.
It’s also a little expensive for what you get, but enjoyable and a nice place to stop before the theatre or catching a train

Alright me old sparrow? Alright about sums it up. its Alright, I’ve had goats brains and eaten a rams nut before. Lock it down with prompt service and you could be nailing it but its all too up in the air, got the wrong nights menu when ordering.
I’d like to like you more, but I was left disappointed especially at 16 Queens Pounds for a bowl of ragu.

Came here with a few friends on a Monday evening, and it was still very busy! The pub is divided in two, with a dining room and then a pub area where you can also have food, and there are a few outdoor tables as well (but no standing room outside, really). The pub area is kinda odd, with an assortment of tables of different heights and types… one was high with stools and had an annoying pole in the middle, whereas the next one over was low to the ground. My friend and I sat at the bar for a while, but there was also a big pillar in the middle of the bar. Eventually we snagged an outdoor table where we waited for our two other friends, a decent spot even though there were a few passers-​by that approached us to ask for money, which was a bit uncomfortable. It also rained for a little bit while we were eating, and the awning has a few holes, but we just about managed!
As for the food, the menu changes daily so unfortunately the exact name/​description escapes me, but I had a venison dish (round cutlets of them served with vegetables) and it was great. I’d say they only have about 5 main courses to choose from if you’re not sharing, so it’s probably advisable to check the day-​of to make sure there is something to your liking. My friend ordered the sole and they served the whole fish, bones and all, and also suggested potatoes as an extra side dish as it came served with almonds and swiss chard… I thought that was a bit unusual, for sure. But the service was good, and luckily I ordered a pretty tasty meal, so overall I’d say that Anchor & Hope is a solid pub, a little quirky, but I’m not sure what has cultivated its reputation as one of the top pubs in London (as there is pretty fierce competition).

Great atmosphere. Sophisticated food. Reasonable prices and good drinks. Really enjoyed the evening out. Recommend it for a lax night out with the lads.

I find it quite common that English pubs are usually named by putting two of these following words together: Angel, Anchor, Arms, Castle, Crown, Elephant, Hope, etc. So when I saw the sign «Anchor & Hope,» I assumed it is a pub. Situated close to the Young Vic Theatre, we went to A&H after a show, looking forward to some standard pub grub.
We were quite confused when we saw the menu. Where are the pies, burgers, and fish-​and-​chips? It turns out it is a gastropub, so instead of the burgers and fish-​and-​chips, we have rump of beef, Spanish ham, pigeons, etc. Since it was late, we decided to stay and give A&H a try.
I, being a non-​adventurous meat eater, opted for the pappardelle with asparagus and fresh ricotta for £16, which was more expensive than some of the meat dishes. I thought there must be something special with this pasta dish. I was underwhelmed. The assumingly homemade pappardelle looked homemade: irregularly sized, clumpy, and some of the noodle had holes in the middle. If the food tasted good, then I would have overlooked it. But it was super greasy (oil and ricotta), and for what I got, it was overpriced.
I’m not the only disappointed diner. The worst dish for us was the roast rump of Longhorn beef with horseradish, dripping potatoes (cooked in beef fat), and rucola. We were served a HUGE rump of bloody raw beef that was soooo chewy that we had a hard time cutting the meat. After a while, I even got nauseous watching the beef being sawed and yanked and ripped apart, blech! We had to complain to the server about how inedible the beef was, and nicely (and appropriately) enough, the server took the beef off our tab. (Btw, the service was nice.)
On a slightly not-​so-​bad note, my friends got Spanish ham with white asparagus and duck with lentil, and they thought it was fine.
However, the disappointment does not end there. We continued onto dessert. We got the lemon pot & cassis, buttermilk pudding with Bramley apples and salted caramel sauce, flourless chocolate cake, and a cheese plate. The presentation of the buttermilk pudding was so unappealing. All 3 components combined onto one plate; it looked like chew-​less food served at a nursing home. The other 3 desserts were fine; nothing spectacular.
Our tab (minus the beef) ran up to £82. This kind of money should not be spent on such a mediocre meal.

I took advantage of meeting some uni friends in the Waterloo area to try out one of London’s semi-​secret foodie hidey holes
The Good Food Guide has banned the use of the term gastropub in its reviews as they feel it’s hard to know what one is any more. However, walk into the Anchor and Hope and you’ll find yourself in an archetypal gastropub
It’s got a bustling pub drinking area separated from a dining area. You can see the open kitchen from the dining area. They have a policy of no reservations, so make sure you check in with the server managing the waiting list before hitting the bar
As one of our gang was running late, we snagged a table in the main pub area. You can order food from the same menu
While waiting for our late running friend, my friend and i ordered a couple of starters. I had a lovely crab risotto, which was packed with a deep seafood punch. My friend chose the snail salad. These were amazingly tender and not overdone with garlic as they sometimes can be
Unfortunately, I didn’t get a main course. When our last friend arrived, he deemed it was too noisy to talk properly. So, sadly, we left for main course elsewhere

I’ve now lived in London for almost two years and I’m lucky enough to have this restaurant be down the block from me. I have yet to have a bad meal there, but the real standouts for me have been the lamb and cassoulet .I love their prossecco cocktails too.
I actually don’t mind the communal seating, but wish they took reservations for dinner (sometimes I really crave their food but the wait can be a bit of a deterrent), but it’s the kind of place I love to bring people visiting from out of town for good food and a great night out.

This place is always busy so when a friend suggested dinner there I was intrigued to try it out. You can’t book a table but you can get your name onto the list when you get there and have a drink in the bar whilst you wait.
Tables are communal but we got a small table to ourselves which was nicer (although it was a table you’d normally expect for two when there were three of us so it was a bit of a squeeze).
The staff were friendly and attentive and it’s great that they have a different menu each day so you get really fresh and seasonable ingredients. If you like fish and meat, this is a great place for you! Lots of game and whole fish. I’m a bit of a fussy eater so I was quite limited on the menu but my friend and boyfriend I was with had plenty to choose from. If you want a special, get it ordered quickly as I was gutted when the steak had sold out, although I had roast beef which I did enjoy — it was really rare and tender and there was a lot of it.
The food was great, but we weren’t wowed by it and it was quite pricey, especially for what we had.
i probably won’t go there again, but I can see why it is popular.

We arrived ten minutes after opening time on a blustery, wet Valentines’s Day. We wanted to leave it to chance and find some place spontaneous that doesn’t take reservations since we were walking around the city all day being Tourists. The Anchor and Hope could not have been a better place (with a few exceptions).
We didn’t know that all the tables are communal. If my boyfriend had known, he would have vetoed the choice from the getgo. The look on his face when he saw the three other people at the table in various stages of eating/​ordering and waiting for dates, was priceless. But we were completely soaked from the weather and happy to sit down and warm up.
We ordered a bottle of Rioja, the octopus, foie gras and the pheasant pie. One of the people across from us suggested the pie and so did the server. It may not have been my number one choice for a v-​day dinner, but we needed two people to share it, and I’m always game for pheasant. (Ooh… Sorry… That was really bad, wasn’t it?) order it, we did!
The wine was light and crisp and the foie gras was great. The octopus was nice, but I wouldn’t order it again– I found the pieces a but too small and lost in the crème fraîche sauce that bled down beneath and made the rest if the dish suitable for nothing more than sopping up with bread. (The bread was wonderful btw.)
Communal table became more fun one everyone was acquainted. Londoners are so friendly and polite!
I saw the braised Lamb Neck go by and had a severe case of food envy as I watched them tear the soft tender meat from the bone like the beastly carnivores they were!!! It’s worthy to note that although the Anchor and Hope is heavy in the game and meat, they did have some nice vegetarian options like the Tagliatelle with Hedgehog Mushrooms, butternut Squash and ricotta.
Our Pheasant Pie arrived and it was massive!!! A golden crust, huddling carrots, mushrooms and tender pheasant. There were quite a few bones in this pie, which was a but if a turn off for me. While I understand that’s what pheasant is like, I swallowed a couple and prayed the whole time that they made it down ok.
Then we had a little lemon pot with cassis. And while it was, indeed– little. It was pure perfection and about all that we would have been able to eat, anyway.
Now, after such a charming evening… Why only three stars? Well, my boyfriend and I were both really sick for the rest of the night. We made our way straight back to the hotel, but instead if V-​day lovin’ we were both gripped with cramps and nausea for the remainder of the evening. I never quick to blame the food I’ve eaten, but we both shared the same things and were both very uncomfortable after that for a good long while into the night. We thought that maybe the Pheasant was just hard for us both to digest???
Anyway, whether it was the fault of the pie or not, we are both left with some good and some awful memories from last night. I would still recommend this place, but the food itself was just ok. The service and ambiance made it more if an experience for us.

Stopped by for a bite of food and a pint with a friend after visiting the Tate Modern. We were lucky to score a spot at a counter as the place was bustling and vibrant at 9ish on a Saturday night. The menu changes daily or you might even say hourly as specials disappear as the night goes on. Fortunately everything was delicious and our slightly limited options didn’t mean we didn’t end up with amazing food. My dish of roasted pumpkin over soft polenta was prepared perfectly and matched wonderfully by the cheese, chestnuts, and kale on the dish.

Enter a group of 8, very hungry post-​Thorpe Park experience, ready to eat. A lot. Magically, The Anchor and Hope had a table for us. Although a very cramped table, but a table nonetheless!
For the positives, I will say that the food is quite good! All of it is obviously fresh and locally sourced. Everything is made in house. I mean EVERYTHING. So much so that when I asked for mayo for my chips, I was told that no mayo was made that day, and then chided that there is some garlic aioli on my dish anyway (more on the service later). I had the beetroot salad (delicious!), roasted chopped kid (not so much chopped, but definitely tasty), and the rhubarb queen of puddings (also delicious and the added bonus of a funny name). The downside to this is that menu items do run out. I had been thinking about the fresh made ice creams the entire evening only to find out they had run out when it was time to order puddings.
The quality of the food is somewhat brought down by the kinda crummy service. At multiple points in the evening, we were greeted with surliness. Definitely not my favorite emotion in the world of service. At one point we were told we were taking too long to order and that there were people waiting at the door. I mentioned above the chiding I got for wanting mayo when there was already aioli on my plate… Just odd little service related things like that which really got under a lot of our skin.
Eh, it was a good experience for the food! Give it a go… maybe you’ll have a better service related experience!

I don’t say it often, but dinner at the Hope and Anchor is practically perfect in every way. It’s been a while since I’d been, and longer since I’d written about it, so thought that a re-​review was due. I’m very pleased to say that its place in my personal grubby, food stained list of London’s dirty, sexy and cool restaurants is still assured.
If you can’t cope with the recycled pub schtick, the buzz and irritations of tightly packed, shared tables or are looking for a quiet romantic dinner (at least one that doesn’t involve sucking meat juice from your fingers) then steer clear. If you’re fond of being hypercritical, you’ll be pleased to know it’s also unsurprisingly difficult to get a table, even early week, so either get there really, really early or be prepared to wait in the over spilling and rowdy bar. Whinge about that, because you won’t be whinging about much else.
Arriving late we were lucky enough to stroll straight in. Skipping the usual wait at the bar with it’s attendant reasonably priced (if basic) cocktails and well kept pints, we opted for a lovely drop of spicy Douro from the shallow end of the wine list as we took to our rickety wooden chairs at the brushed wood shared farmhouse table at the front. For the Farmer, this was home away from countryside home, particularly when he’d settled long enough to peruse the single sheet menu with its gruff single word descriptors of fish, flesh and fowl.
Hunks of fresh tangy sourdough with a huge pot of butter were followed by fresh, fragrant and wonderful British asparagus, succulent green vestal virgins dipped in a sharp hollandaise and decapitated as quickly as we could get them down our greedy little necks.
Coming down to the mains eyes and bellies just couldn’t resist the whole mustard braised rabbit for two to share. A quick check before committing for both of us — «How’s the rabbit? Worth it?» The waiters eyes glazed over as under his breath before he smilingly muttered «it’s fucking beautiful guys». The staff are utterly delightful — when you ask opinions, you really get them. They smile as they reel off the staff dinner menu from last week, smile as they advise a cheaper wine than we were planning on and genuinely seem to love working there. And who wouldn’t with this kitchen? I’m tempted to pay for a job here, just to guarantee tasting this food daily, though I’d struggle to get through the tightly packed tables after a week or so of it.
The Farmer has the most marvellous day job, a classically trained singer for hire (like a gun for hire but with marginally better better life prospects, despite the hairy tour tales he has), it’d be a cliché, not to mention untrue, if I said he was singing in praise of it. That being said, there was a contented hum from us both as we sucked the last bones dry. Soft, slow braised bunny in a creamy sauce sopped up with triple cooked chips. It’s not a healthy option, but when it tastes this good you just don’t care.