The Blue Anchor, Teignmouth

This is a smart and rather quaint ale house with a single room interior, at the far end of the town centre. Entering through a very stiff and narrow set of double doors that I thought might ensnare me as I tried to pass through them, you emerge into a carpeted room with a cosy seating area to the left with the bar to the rear, and an open seating space to the right. The left side of the room has hard backed benches under the front windows, a somewhat firm sofa and various tables and chairs through the remainder of the space, primarily arranged around a nice stone fireplace with a lit stove inside and a blackboard above detailing forthcoming live music events and Six Nations Rugby fixtures, with a TV screen to one side presumably used to show the latter. The bar has a modern counter with some quirky anchor shaped coat hooks, another TV screen on the matching canopy and a basic mirrored bar back. The right side of the room is almost a reverse image of the left side, minus the bar, with a stone fireplace on the side wall, bench, sofa and chair seating filling much of the space and an unused TV screen on the wall. There’s also a smart bookcase on the end wall, an impressive collection of trophies on shelves to the rear and the flags of the six nations have been draped over another section of wall. A door to the left of the bar leads out to a tidy patio side garden with plenty more seating and a good amount of shelter. Old pop tunes played in the background throughout my stay, which gave the place a bit of an odd vibe and might perhaps explain why it was one of the quieter pubs I visited in town. This place has a reputation as one of Teignmouth’s best bets for good ale, so hopes were high and appropriately enough, there were five relatively local beers available on handpull – Salcombe Seahorse, Palmers 200, Hanlons Citra IPA, South Hams Black and White and Swan Ruffled Feathers. I opted for a half of the Ruffled Feathers, which came in at £1.90 and was in good nick, served to me by a friendly, if somewhat bored looking, barmaid. This is a decent enough ale house and probably your best bet for finding some decent beer that swerves the usual regular Devon offerings, but the place felt a little lifeless on this visit and whilst it may well work better with a decent crowd in, I didn’t feel compelled to stay any longer than I did on a quiet Thursday evening.

Small single bar corner local a few minutes walk from the town centre. Up to 6 real ales on tap mostly from local breweries. pub is OK but nothing special.