Ye Olde Cherry Tree, Southgate

01/12/2015 - Staff at this joint clearly hate working at this pub as the service you get is terrible. The Chef must be very unhappy as his/her talents are wasted at this place. The food is very good indeed but good food cannot be enjoyed when you are surrounded by moody stroppy staff. Dont get me wrong not all the staff are bad but the ones that are know who they are and should resign. Perhaps a job as a security guard is more their cuppa tea LOL

5 Dec 2015 14:52

The Anchor, Southwark

It was with a cautious optimism I peered thought the newly installed windows of Southwark�s famous 'tourist trap' as the re-decoration took place. June 16th the banners exclaimed. How nice it would be to have a change from the soul-destroying 1940s music of the Thameside at lunch I thought to myself.

The day arrived and started well enough. Nice weather, seat on the tube, no disasters at work that morning. It was with a mix of enthusiasm and trepidation I stepped out of the office with my esteemed colleagues and ventured forth towards the pub known as the 'Anchor'

Cautiously one foot entered followed by the other; 'Superb' I exclaimed as nostrils were not hideously assaulted and my feet did not become one with the wooden floor. What was once colloquially known as the 'bog of stench' had been cleared out- no mean feat considering its once mighty depth.

The first hurdle had been eliminated and for the first time there was hope for lunch once more...

Alas 'twas a mere glimmer of hope for star-crossed lunchtimes. From afar the terrible hordes of corpulent Americans looked perfectly manageable for the army of bar staff we were promised would be on hand; their rank only two deep in the ever-present battle to be served. Confidently we ventured forward, but with every step our positivism was eroded; every step another wave against our sandcastles of hope.

The bar staff numbered 3, then 2 as another one was redirected to 'glass pickup'. The horde's number beginning to swell as a Tsunami approaching the shore. SA was the first to succumb to the terror, his bladder finally failing as he sought refuge in the gents. JD was next, and then all sense of camaraderie was lost as every man fought to escape their doom. I was lost, alone and disorientated by what resembled 'coffee shop' in the corner and the mind-scrambling price of the pubs' wares. Instinct kicked in and like a caged animal I fought for my right to survive. The adrenaline surged through my veins like fire and I found myself outside in the sunshine. I ran for the comfort of the office like a bullet from a barrel.

It has been four days since that fateful lunch and it has taken me this long to be able to recount this tale of tragedy. I leave this story so that others will not make the same mistake as my friends and I.

Please stay away from what was, and indeed still is... a tourist trap.

20 Jun 2008 17:15

The Anchor, Southwark

I personally think that the comments about this place are a little OTT. I mean, Ok the food isn;t great and its expensive, but at least it has an upstairs bar, and comfy leather chairs, and is set next to a beautiful old cathedral... no wait.. thats the Mudlark... The Anchor? dont get me started. I used to dread going there with my lunch colleagues, who insisted on standing on a sticky floor that smells like a tramps shirt caked in last nights sick,whilst waiting an entire lunch time for a warm budweiser cos the fridges didnl;t work.. but that was just the begininnig... now after a refurb, i gathered my strength and went back for a re-assessment. I am pleased to say that I was right to avoid it in the first place.... i mean, not only have they introduced table service, it is SPECIFICALLY for the upstairs bar, with limited beers, served to you by cheap labour hired from the back of an intercontinental truck. When asking for "Star" you get "stella" and when you ask for a beer thats not there, you have to go all the way downstairs, to watch, what i can only describe as mental patients in black tops get in each others way whilst fighting to rape you for your hard earned 3.60 for a fizzy pint of warm p1ss. "Its got its own Fish and Chip Shop", the excited owner exclaimed as we looked around - Yes it does - but try the hell asking for "just chips" - you get greeted witha strange look, not disimilar to watching rain-main having a w@nk, before being told its either �8 or �10 for Fish and chips!!.. I must admit its plus side is that you can look down the tops of scantily clad women as they hurry from better pub to better bub in their summer wardrobe, and the floor no longer smells, but give it time... I just feel Sorry for the poor american tourists who come to england to visit "a good old british Pub" and then get r@ped of their stirling for somthing they can get for �3 at london bridge - My advice is - if they are looking for somthing good and british, go to any other pub at closing and call a skinhead a limey thug - you can get a good old british kicking for free!

20 Jun 2008 16:33