The Blue Anchor, Brixham

Official site of The Blue Anchor - theblueanchorbrixham.co.uk

Official site of The Blue Anchor - theblueanchorbrixham.co.uk

Located in a prime spot within view of, but not actually overlooking, the harbour, this is a traditional looking pub that presumably doesn’t have to try to hard to attract punters in given it’s position. Internally it’s quite traditional too and has all the ingredients of a cosy pub with black wooden beams on the ceiling, much exposed stonework on the walls as well as white plasterwork, a blue wood panelled bar counter and all sorts of nautical artefacts as befits it’s location including blue anchors, a ship’s wheel, plenty of ropes, a life buoy, some oars and the obligatory display of different knot styles, although this time they were in a rather trendy glass case illuminated in a very vivid blue. The ceiling had plenty of hanging glass pots in rope sleeving as well as strings of fairly lights. An unused fireplace was off to one side, and there were also various shields and horse brasses around. So far, so good, and as I said before, all the ingredients of a decent boozer. What let it down on our visit was the clientele, many of who seemed to be a little rowdy. One lady who was obviously very drunk, another talking far too loudly, almost shouting… It just didn’t have a particularly comfortable vibe to it. A restaurant was down a few steps to the left and a quick glance at the menu showed a selection of upmarket fish dishes with many of the mains coming in at around the £20 mark. If I were to be paying this much for the food, I would certainly want a more convivial atmosphere. Beers on tap were Abbott Ale, Doom Bar and Dartmoor Jail Ale. Ciders meanwhile were Thatcher’s Gold, Orchard Thieves and Old Mout, as well as a box of Old Rosie on the end of the counter. Perhaps I caught it on an off day, but from my experience, it’s not somewhere I’d bother with again.