The Anchor, Bristol

A good sized pub just off the A369, this was taken over by the rapidly expanding Mezzé chain a year or so ago and was extensively refurbished. Following their financial difficulties, it was sold on again and is now run by the guy who had Melbournes BYO restaurant in Park Street many years ago, and this name has been resurrected in the restaurant at the pub. The bulk of the pub runs along the front of the building, with the restaurant at the rear being housed in what may have been a skittle alley in a former life. Next to this is an attractive garden, again heavily renovated with decorative lighting and such like. The decor style is now very contemporary, which to me makes it debatable whether it really feels like a pub anymore. As I recall from a previous visit many years ago, it had quite a traditional pub ambience so this is rather a shame, although it is of course no fault of the current incumbents. Flooring is mostly wood strip with much stripy wallpaper around as well as patterned banquet seating and plenty of cushions. A free standing chimney breast covered in slate tiles contained a wood burning stove, although I’m not convinced this was a genuine wood burner despite the pile of logs stacked next to it. A similar chimney and fire was in another corner. A small room off to the right might be described as a snug, and this was covered in “bookcase” wallpaper and also had an old type-writer on the window sill. Various miscellaneous objects were dotted around to add to the decor such as miniature topiary bushes, various different coloured umbrellas hanging by the door and coloured water beakers on the tables. Food wise, the bar menu offered a reasonable, although not especially extensive, selection of pub grub dishes such as fish & chips, ham egg & chips, burger and a prawn curry. These were mostly priced around the £7/£8 mark and there were also a range of pizzas for around £9 and wraps for £7. Deals are available on some nights such as 50% off pizza on Mondays and Steak Thursdays. There is also a separate restaurant menu which is a little more expensive. My American pizza with Chicken Breast, Hickory Smoked Bacon, Spicy Sausage and Monterey Jack Cheese was a generous portion and quite tasty. Beers on tap were Gem and Doom Bar whilst ciders were Thatcher’s Dry and Thatcher’s Gold. This is a tricky one to mark. Food wise it certainly shows some promise, and I will no doubt return to check out the restaurant. But for a pub, it really didn’t have the right ambience for my taste.