Review: Anchor & Hope, Waterloo, London

Anchor & Hope
36 The Cut, London SE1 8LP, Tel 020 7928 9898

We had an exuberant little dinner last night at the Anchor & Hope beside Southwark Station - myself, Andrew of Spittoon, Jeanne of Cook Sister!, Jenni of Pertelote , Johanna of The Passionate Cook, Nick (Jeanne's husband) and special guest, Pille of Nami Nami, who was down from Edinburgh for a conference and whom we were welcoming to Londontown. I hadn't come across her blog as yet, so it was nice to meet a new online foodie.

The wine was pleasant and the food was very good. I had the Steak Tartare [£6] and a side dish of Roasted Potatoes [£2.80]. The steak came with optional mix-ins of raw egg yolk, capers, herbed salt and onions (all of which I did mix in) and was tasty, trim and excellent quality. A couple of the others were a bit dubious about trying raw meat but after a mouthful agreed it was lovely. The baby roast potatoes were hot, lightly oiled and perfectly cooked and made an ideal accompaniment.

Of everyone else's dishes, Andrew's Giblet Salad was also extremely nice (somewhat to the surprise of those of us who usually don't like lights and suchlike), though we agreed it was more a summer dish as it was light and the leaf was a little too bitter. Pille's Goat's Cheese on Toast was gorgeous - fresh, light and smooth on the tongue, and the duck part of Jeanne's Duck with Lentils also really shone. I found the thyme in the lentils much too heavy-handed, and I also didn't think it was a good combination, but the duck was really, really good.

My dessert was a flop. Polenta cake (good taste, not too sweet or too savory, but much too gritty), Marmalade ice-cream (once again, much too heavy-handed - it would have been fantastic at a quarter the strength but was overbearing as it was) and Blood Oranges (lovely) [£5] just didn't match each other. Pille's Panacotta dessert was nice and Jenny's Almond Tart was delicious, but Johanna's Chocolate/expresso Mousse-thingy with liquid cream on top was divine and stole the award for dessert of the night.

On the whole, the mains were impressively good, although the desserts weren't quite so much. But the prices were very fair, and it's definitely a gastropub I recommend and would cheerfully revisit. One warning however - it's extremely popular. Arrive early as there's no booking. We visited on a Tuesday (usually Deathnight of the Week for restaurants) and it was chocka all night - we ended up eating at a table in the pub part of the establishment, not the restaurant.

Comments

[Barbara Fisher]

Steak tartare!

One of my favorites that I rarely eat anymore, but ah...a most divine dish.

I have promised that the next time I go and pick up meat from our farmers in Columbus, that I will pick up a bit of tenderloin and mince it by hand for a proper steak tartare so Morganna can try it. Zak and I were describing it to her and she was drooling....

[Christina]

I'm pretty careful where I eat it myself, in the Land of the Mad Cow. ;-D

Mmmmm...

[Pille]

Hi Christina - it was lovely meeting you in London last Tuesday! Great write-up of the dinner as well - I went back on Saturday for more:)

[Monkey Gland]

I'm annoyed that I missed the meal as I suggested the pub in the first place! I had a rather pressing matter to attend to at Highbury ;-)

[Christina]

Ah, we all wondered where you were! Never mind, next time. Definitely worth a repeat visit. :-)

[Owen]

Jealous!

I ate one of the top 3 meals I ever ate in a restaurant there - right up with Chez Panisse. I realize I caught it on a top night (for example, the dessert I had - a lemon moussy thing) was the BEST dessert I have ever eaten.

I'm jealous of how nice a community all you London/Brit bloggers have.

Oh - and the best meals ( at least a couple of them) I ever ate were NOT at a restaurant! That may change when I win the lottery and can afford the French Laundry...

[Kake]

Useful review, thanks; I've linked to it from the Randomness Guide to London.

I also love steak tartare :)

[Christina]

Thanks! Neat site you have. :-)