The Anchor, Barcombe

This is a typical British pup that can utterly mistreat its customers safe in the knowledge that it's fantastic location alone will keep people coming back. The last time I visited was over three years ago and to purchase a drink one had to queue for 40 minutes. I had heard the management had changed and duly cycled up with my family to have a few drinks in the pub and then take a picnic down river. The Harveys is excellent as Harvey almost always is and the interior had been tastefully done up. One still had to queue a very long time to get a drink; even with no queue it took a good 10 minutes to get served. When we were done we set to cross the river with our picnic at which point the land lord stopped my parents and informed them to have a picnic on the land over the river the farmer would charge �25.00 and steered them to a table to eat in the pub. My parents excepted this as he seemed friendly and we duly ordered nearly �100 worth of food. Half of the things we wanted were not available, the blank faced barman didn�t seem to care at all that they could only offer a very small range of food, when I asked if the lamb came from the organic lamb farm next door he stared blankly as if the question was a daft one (is it?) We then waited well over an hour, watching bemused staff wander around the garden clutching plates of food they had no clue where to deliver. If we were not so hungry it would have made an amusing game; guess how many tables the bemused waitress goes to before finding the customer has long since left. When the food finally did arrive it was very poor and stingy. My roast was bone cold and the pate ordered my parents was described as 'very mean'. Chips where half cooked. I then met the farmer of the adjacent land (who I know) and asked him if he charged �25.00 for people to picnic on his land to which he laughed and said 'of course not, anyone can picnic there whenever they like. It is access land anyway' The farmer had heard this before and confirmed that the landlord has been saying this to people for some time. It is one thing to lie to people to get them to spend money on your food but to then fail to deliver food in a timely fashion or to a half reasonable standard is atrocious. I recommend people visiting here; bring a picnic, bring your own beer if necessary and enjoy the countryside without wasting your money in this dreadful pub.

27 Apr 2010 13:34