The Anchorage

The fish pie was excellent, it had been made to order with chunks of fresh fish and large prawns served with fresh greens. The menu was quite different not the usual selection of dishes. The toffee apple sundae was a little disappointing, spiced diced apple with a couple of scoops of ice-cream on top think they could have done better. Service and decor great!

The food was very poor. The sourdough bread we started with came out from the kitchen very hot after having been fresh baked for us but had a rubbery crust and a very dense texture so didn’t seem as sourdough should at all. The fish pie consisted of three prawns, one small chunk of white fish, half a hard boiled egg in a dish full of sauce topped with mashed potatoes. The mixed greens that came with it (mostly kale) was nearly raw and the peas were hard. The sea bream with new potatoes, spinach and a lemon dressing was nice although a little oily and no lemon flavour about it. The worst of all though was the fish and chips even though it had appeared to be most promising from the start. As the person eating it was almost finished and getting towards the tail end of the fish it didn’t smell nice and as they started to pull out the fish from the batter at that end the fish was off and it stank. It smelled so bad that everyone sat on our table for 5 could smell it across the table. Obviously we called the waitress who in turn called the manager. He could smell it too and agreed straight away. He was horrified and embarrassed. We felt sorry for him and our waitress as they were both helpful, kind and attentive throughout, doing their best to give us a great evening but being badly let down by the kitchen staff. He took the fish and chips off the bill as well as an extra 20% discount by way of an apology. That was appreciated but as a trained chef myself though it really worries me that any chef can serve fish that smells so bad. There is no excuse for that ever making it onto a customers plate and I won’t be returning.

I hate writing a negative review but the food was very poor indeed. The staff were fabulous, friendly, respectful and helpful and handled our complaint swiftly and were very apologetic. About the food. I felt very sorry for them as they were clearly embarrassed. My friend and I were there for lunch for her birthday. There were quite a few dishes unavailable but we settled on the hot fish platter to share. It was quite expensive at £70 but it was a celebration; we also had a side order of fries. After ordering the waitress told us there was no soft shell crab, but they would add extra mussels and some potted prawns. We agreed, only to be told a little later there were no potted prawns so we would be given more salmon instead. When the food came the mussels were clearly frozen,, totally over cooked to nothing, many shells were closed and they were inedible. The coating on the oysters was doughy and heavy and the bread was dense and heavy and not at like sourdough. It had garlic butter only on one slice. The fries were perfectly cooked. We spoke to the very helpful waitress who brought over a manager who was clearly embarrassed. He could nit have been more polite and kept apologising. He agreed the food “was not if the standard his boss would expect” and asked us only to pay £20 for our drinks and fries. It’s such a shame as this could be a fantastic restaurant. There is an abundance of sea food and fresh vegetables locally that it is hard to understand how they could get it so wrong. The decor is nice and well lit together but who wants to go to a restaurant to be faced with inedible food? I hope the owners take note and simplify their menus and find a better chef! I won’t be back until they do.