The Anchor and Hope, Waterloo

A favourite of mine for years, but I rarely get the chance to pop in (due to my wallet). Harry the chef wishes the place was a freehouse, as he's a bit of a beer fan (was impressed by the Thornbridge Hall 'St Petersburg Imperial Russian Stout' that I brought him last time) and seems interested in the idea of matching food and beer (which every chef should be interested in, rather than just wine wine wine).
The food there is amazing. Usually I don't bother with desserts at restaurants, but always do at the Anchor & Hope. Quince with caramel icecream was to die for, as was the hot peach with custard. The mains aren't too shabby either - possibly the best roast pork I've had, shin of beef between 14 was incredible. And the best steak I've ever had - soft as butter, blackened on the very outside, but bloody right the way through, served with grated beetroot with capers - incredible. Stop reading this review and GO THERE! Somewhere where I'd definitely take a girl on a date if I wanted to impress her with the places I go and the food I like (except you can't reserve tables which is a little annoying I suppose).

28 Mar 2007 19:41

The Old Anchor, Twickenham

Oops - I was mid sentence and didn't finish it:
the pub seems a world away from the Clubhouse next door, which is cleaky and has a team of freakish trolls serving behind the bar. The Old Anchor is a little oasis of nice.

28 Mar 2007 19:22

The Old Anchor, Twickenham

I've been using this pub since November 2005, just after Maureen & Clifford took over. And very nice it is too - really nice local crew, and the staff (the beautiful Tarny and Laura, and Daniel, who I won't call beautiful because he's a bloke) are all lovely people & good for a conversation. Clifford is very proud of his ales & keeps them very well, and Maureen runs an impeccable ship. I've not eaten there yet (barring a very good sausage sandwich), but the Sunday lunches are a local legend. It's nice and light if you want to go and do some drawing, with nice chunky wooden furniture, open fires in the winter. The quiz on Thursday is a lot of fun, even if I didn't win the rollover �400 round a couple of weeks ago... Attracts a sizeable rugby crowd on the relevant days (a rugby crowd who like to drink from glasses rather than plastic, and have escaped the clutches of the Tup). The pub seems a world awayMy only gripes are that Maureen doesn't play my CDs enough, and rather likes her Simply Red rather than my assorted mix of good stuff (Bonzos etc), and that the pub is a Young's pub, and not a freehouse. If it was a freehouse, no doubt Clifford would get some quality ales in. But Young's is OK enough. Huge thanks to Clifford and Maureen for letting me use the Old Anchor as an HQ for my fundraising - with their help & the donations of the Old Anchor drinkers (and the Real Ale shop where I work) we raised just over �2000 for Primhe, the mental health charity.

28 Mar 2007 19:20