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The Blue Anchor, Reigate
Reigate
RH2 9BL
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Blue Anchor
I don't believe I've ever been to Reigate before and walking down from the railway station to the Blue Anchor, I was struck by how pretty a town it was, but that it was such a shame that it was so blighted by traffic.
The Blue Anchor is on the main A25 road west out of Reigate, but still well within the town centre. The large pub sign featuring a blue anchor is quite apparent.
Inside, there is a simple L-shaped interior. But continue through the pub and you will find a suntrap patio whose rear overlooks a cricket pitch. As luck would have it, a game was in full flow and several people were crowded around the rear of the patio garden watching the action. Elsewhere on the patio, there are also some covered seating booths for when the weather is not quite so nice.
It was a little disappointing to see just a single real ale on here. That was Surrey from the extremely local (just a few doors up the road) Pilgrim brewery. Not exactly my favourite beer of the day, I still enjoyed my time supping it in the sunshine.
On 16th June 2022
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2501 recommendations about 2500 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Blue Anchor
This is a very simple single room pub with a large beer garden on the main road through Reigate. The pub has a basic L-shaped layout with a similarly shaped servery on the right-hand wall. The room feels quite intimate and cosy thanks to a proliferation of dark wood, from the floorboards and servery to wood panelled walls and dark beams crossing the ceiling, muted lighting and traditional pub furniture. The servery is broken by a couple of very large load-bearing pillars which suggest that there might once have been a multiple-room layout here, but it all felt very much open-plan on my visit, perhaps in part because all customers were sat outside. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of seating available inside though, with tables and chairs in both the front part of the room and down the entire length of the left-hand wall. Décor is a little lacking, which means that the traditional feel engendered by the fittings and fixtures is lost a little thanks to too much empty wall space. Some breweriana, plain mirrors and a framed pub cricket (?) shirt fail to adequately compensate. Doors to the rear take you out to a large patio garden with excellent views of the local cricket pitch, although a side-screen was partly blocking the view on this occasion. A great many picnic tables are available out here, many of which are sheltered under large umbrellas, and there is a row of bench seating booths under a canopy to the left. Nice hanging baskets and flowerbeds add a good splash of colour and a persistent pub cat was eagerly eyeing up the potential for any spillages from the few folks who were eating out here.
There was just the one hand pump in action on this visit, dispensing a good pint of Pilgrim Gold Spice with two other turned Pilgrim clips and a fourth pump left unused. A friendly barmaid ensured I used the hand sanitiser and filled in my contact details, but by the time all this was done, she had vanished, leaving me in the care of a barman who served me without breaking from his conversation with a colleague for even one second.
I quite liked this place but thought it really lacked any kind of distinctive character internally, which has already meant it is starting to fade from memory a little. The garden was the big selling point from what I could see and I enjoyed drinking a good beer from a brewery located a few doors down whilst watching the wickets tumble out on the cricket pitch at the back, but whether that is enough to make me want to return is very much up for debate.
On 18th August 2020
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Blue Anchor
Recently reopened after a period of closure, the pub has a single L shaped room with wooden flooring supporting various mixed seating. Two cask beers available from the four handles on the bar, both from a fairly local brewery Pilgrim ,Progress and Surrey,the former was decent. On the downside modern dance music was being played far to loud, this at early lunchtime , competing with Come dine with me on TV, I'm not sure the young Eastern European couple (I think) who appeared to be the new tenants, have completely grasped the meaning of a traditional English pub.A pub that could do better in my view but nonetheless better open than closed.
On 9th June 2019
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1879 recommendations about 1852 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about Blue Anchor
There were two ales on in here - Sharp's Atlantic and Harvey's Best (£3.85 a pint). We were hoping for a Pilgrim Brewery ale in here, as the brewery is next door, and one of our number had seen it in here in the past. The Harvey's was in excellent shape though. I didn't see any sign of food, but to be fair we weren't looking for any as we had already eaten at the Bull's Head.
As others have already said, it appears that the cottage to the right has been incorporated into the pub. Inside the pub, the area on the right - which would have been in the erstwhile cottage - down a step or two is carpeted, framed by dark wooden posts, has a couple of sofas with low tables in front of the wood-framed brick-built fireplace. The main area of the pub runs back down the left hand side of the room, and is furnished with a row of normal tables and chairs. But the pub's best feature is indeed the garden, which looks out over a low wall to the neighbouring cricket ground. We were looking forward to sitting outside on a late August day, but of course the British summer weather prevented this.
This is a rather nice pub. It was very quiet when I was in there - my group were the only customers in there - but I hope it gets busier in the evening or at weekends. This is another Reigate pub which I would be happy to revisit - in the hope that it would be nice enough to sit outside and would have a Pilgrim beer on.
On 9th September 2017
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about Blue Anchor
A bit unprepossessing at first, this pub has a rather stripped-down, basic appearance, apart from a snug area off to one side with sofas. Most of the clientele seemed to be out in the large paved garden to the rear. Disappointingly, the only ale available from a row of pumps at time of visit was Sharp's Atlantic but it was drinkable enough. The menu was also not hugely exciting, however the chicken burger that appeared was excellent and genuinely home made. By the end of the session I had warmed to the place a bit. Overall, pleasant enough but has the potential to be much better.
On 8th August 2017
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3352 recommendations about 3289 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about Blue Anchor
The exterior looks like a once historic pub (I see C.17 quoted elsewhere) but the inside is pretty battered and dingy. The windows are original and the open wood burning stove is welcome. However the knocked through L shaped interior and tatty bar (seemingly fashioned DIY style from plywood) massively detract. The only real start of the show (and it is a star) is the garden, a patio that has an enviable view over the cricket ground. Four pumps at the plywood bar, at first glance there appeared to be nothing on as two of the pumps were undressed and the other two had turned clips – however this was because the barmaid was busy cleaning the pumps. On enquiry there was a decent choice of Twickenham Naked Ladies and Purity Gold. Unfortunately the Twickenham was murky and went back. The replacement of Purity was, in fairness, a good drop. Noted that during my 20 minutes here the pump clips never did get re-attached properly. So a single serviceable ale (on a Friday evening!), a DIY bar and a ropey sense of professionalism makes this a massive disappointment but the building blocks for better are here. Will anyone use them? Judging from reviews elsewhere, this place has been below-par for years so probably not.
On 16th March 2016
- rating: 5
[User has posted 5132 recommendations about 5115 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about The Blue Anchor
An unusual looking building from the outside, the pub appears to have been built on to the end of a row of older cottages and now seems to incorporate one inside. The pub also has one of the largest pub signs I have ever seen. Inside there is an L-shaped space with a beamed ceiling, leaded windows and a large inglenook fireplace nowadays containing a wood burning stove. Mostly regular seating but with a few sofas by the fire where a large group of friends had secured their premium spot for the afternoon, the fireplace area is carpeted but the remainder of the pub is boarded. An immediate acknowledgement from the barmaid on entering who was serving someone, always a good sign, four handpumps, one unclipped, offered Doom Bar, Hobgoblin and Pilgrim Vulcan Alia (£3.60) which had travelled all of six or seven doors down from the brewery up the street. A nice fresh drop it was too.
The interior is attractive and seemed to have a genuine age to it, particularly in the appended cottage area, décor included framed rugby and cricket shirts, both of local teams and sponsored by the pub, as well as the local pilgrim related stuff with pictures of travelling groups and Canterbury Cathedral.
There were menus rolled into glasses on the tables but I didn't read, a specials board offered Bouillabaisse (£4.95), Steak and Wild Mushroom Pie with Mash, (£9.95) amongst other options.
To the rear, doors lead out to a very attractive garden with views across a cricket field and to the wooded hillside beyond, a great spot I imagine in summer but not on a wild windy and wet November afternoon.
I liked this pub, warm, comfortable and welcoming with a good buzz to it, worth a visit.
On 10th November 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1708 recommendations about 1681 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Blue Anchor
The Blue Anchor is an L shaped pub with a snug and inglenook to the right of the entrance. The bar is also towards the right and seating stretches down the left hand wall. I spotted a lone plasma screen that was turned off during Monday night football so I guess that live sport is not available.
The bar is stocked with premium and standard draught products. Two of the four hand pumps were unused leaving Surrey Hills Brewery’s Shere Drop and Sharps’ Cornish Coaster as the ale options. Food is available from midday until 15:00 and 18:00 until 20:30 during the week and from midday until 20:30 on Saturday and midday until 15:00 on Sunday. I didn’t see any menus or food prices because the kitchen was closed for yearly extractor hood maintenance, which was a new one to me.
Out the back is a huge beer garden full of picnic tables.
On a depressing note this is where I saw the first advertisement of the year for Christmas (15/9/2014)
On 26th September 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5276 recommendations about 5244 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Blue Anchor
Looks a bit odd from the street, as the main entrance is located in a newer and higher addition to what looks like a row of traditional cottages. Together with a rear extension, these two parts have been opened out to form a 'L'-shaped bar with a mixture of traditional and more modern features. Refurbished relatively recently by the look of things, with bare boards and a rather sparse black and white decor scheme. Background music. Busy. Patio beer garden to rear. Two of four handpumps in operations, offering Hobgoblin and a decent pint of the local Pilgrims Weald (£3.20). Overall, one of the better pubs in Reigate (although this is not a difficult feat...).
On 4th February 2012
- rating: 7
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]