The Anchor Bleu, Bosham

While the setting is great, and it is an attractive pub, I found the place very dissapointing. We popped in for a quick lunch, and while we didn't sample the beer (due to driving and too many the night before) we obviously tried the food.
The food is what really made the place stand out in the worst way. It was the poorest attempt at catering in a pub I've seen for many years. Myself and a friend chose a ploughman's each, one a stilton version, that other ham. The salad part consistent of a pile of iceberg lettuce, which as we all know is about as flavoursome as distilled water, and a couple of bland tomatoes. The bread was a pretty uninspiring mini french stick, and there was a dollop of coleslaw which has clearly come from a packet. The portion of stilton was pretty small too. For �5 I expect a lot better from a ploughmans, this was worth no more than �2.
My other half chose the daily 'special', which was an 'Ocean Bake'. I assumed this to be some kind of fish pie; a selection of seafood topped with crusty mash potato. It looked very limp and bland, with no discernable pieces of fish or seafood in there at all. This was served with some roast potatoes (why you would want potatoes with a fish pie?), some cabbage and carrots. The vegetables were overcooked and grey, having been sat out for ages. Apart from being a rather inappropriate accompiment to a fish pie, the veg was of a standard 1970s dinner ladies would have struggled to plummet to.
What really got to me with the food was how it was served. The food was kept in hot or cold plates by the bar, so was sitting around for ages. While this might be OK for some types of food, for others, such as cooked green vegetables it results in pretty tired washed out food. Things were obviously not cooked fresh as the day progressed; just knocked together in the morning and left to sit out. Even though they had the food on display, it did not look appetising. As least this gives you the chance to decide not to eat before you get it. I think they chose this system to get food served quickly, as the bar staff basically served up what you chose right away, and you took it to your table.
I really think this place need a good Gordon Ramsey make over to get the catering sorted out. It was very very poor and an insult to the customers. Given the lack of pubs in Bosham and its great position, this place has really taken for granted the one-off passing trade of visitors who are not going to go back again. Bosham deserves something a lot lot better.

8 Aug 2005 11:43