Hungry on the South Bank We found ourselves on the South Bank during a day in London. In a very busy tourist deluged area, the dilemma was trying to find a lunch spot that would would satisfy our hunger and not be just awful. After a brief look see, we decided to give this place a try. Of course we had to try the fish & chips as this was an obvious specialty. My order was served hot in a large portion to satisfy just about anyone.In a high volume tourist dominated spot, The Anchor was better than what we expected. read more

This place is a labyrinth, all sorts of stairs and doors and sections. Actually arrived in a decent sized group but we Brownian motioned ourselves into a few different groups in different parts of the bar (the upstairs outside area is to be recommended!). This pub is ancient too, it was rebuilt in 1676 (after a fire I guess, but not the great fire), so who knows when it was first built. 17th century perv and author Samuel Pepys (come on everyone came across him at school at some point!) supposedly watched the Great Fire of London from this vantage point. Apparently the number of tourists here can get a bit annoying but I didn't particularly notice. Whatever - they serve some good ales at their many bars and I expect to be trying to get a table on the roof terrace some time this summer. read more

I find myself here a lot, mostly because I go to the Shakespeare Globe a lot, and I just wish that this place was either slightly cheaper OR had better beer on tap. They have all the standard stuff - Stella, Heineken, Strongbow, yadda yadda - but you wind up paying almost £5 if not more for a pint! A G&T here cost about £5.50. Yikes. Nice location, great place to unwind after a long day (especially in the summer, when they open up the patio seating area) but in the end, it feels like what it was always intended to be: a tourist trap. read more

Fish and chips. Tap brews. Pub fare. What you see is what you get. They say Shakespeare used to drink around here somewhere between gigs. read more

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Waited just under 50 minutes for our order of fish and chips while the rest of our party received and finished their food. Rude server/bartender was unhelpful and unapologetic. She finally brought the plate to us and we enjoyed fried fish and chips, cold peas, and an ice block of what seemed to be a frozen onion.. fascinating experience. read more

The Anchor is an institution in London; not only is it the site of an original pub dating back before the Great Fire of London, but this particular pub has been there since 1676! The best thing about the Anchor is, of course, its location. There is abundant outdoor seating right on the river's edge. If you can't get a seat there, or would rather eat, there is plenty of room inside, over two levels, and diners can sit outdoors on the second level and look out over the Thames. Admittedly, the food is basic, and I've actually seen them heating up a microwave-meal lasagne, but hey, it's simple pub fare, and nothing beats sitting on the river's edge with a cool pint in the summer. read more

If your a tourist pop in for a pint to say you've been here. Everyone else steer clear. This pub promises so much, outside seating, right on the river, fish and chip shop inside, summer BBQ and its a traditional English pub (former brothel I think from 16th century!) but it just doesn't deliver. Most staff don't speak English and those that do are miserable to the point where I want to shake them. The food is average and every single time I have eaten here both me and my friend have had quesy stomachs the next day. The drink prices are tourist prices so expect to overpay. The toilets are gross and often flooded. In the summer its packed due to its location - you can see its attractions but I wonder how may people go back?. The only reason i've been here more than once is that I used to work next door so it was often used as an 'office do' venue. Avoid this pub if possible - instead go for one of the many off the beaten track English pubs the other side of Borough High Street. read more

I love this place. It is nice little walking distance from Borough Market. It has a huge beer Garden in front of the Thames. Also in the summer has a BBQ going with amazing sausages and burgers. Worth a trip read more

I went to Anchor Bankside after work with my girlfriend for a meal. The menu at Anchor Bankside was small but the service was good and the table staff didn't bother us every five minutes to make sure that the food was ok. read more

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Nice interior, pretty authentic. Food was very average. We had the roast beef. Way too much gravy, too much salt and the Yorkshire pudding was like rubber. Their 1730 pale ale was decent. read more

If you have heard about bad British pub food, this place will male your dreams come true. The service is slow and they could not process credit cards. The fish and chips was dry and oily, leaving a bad taste in the mouth after eating. I couldn't eat my dinner and was put off food for 3 days after dining here. You have been warned! read more

The Anchor - Eat at your own risk - Pubs Near Me - London, XGL

Major tourist trap! Was likely amazing before commercialization. Terrible food and service! Awful! Avoid!!! The only reason I gave it 2 stars is because the building it very cool. Maybe have a pint and then move on. read more

This is a great bar on the South Bank! Walk along from London Bridge along the cobbled lanes and its roight on the river. It has an outdoor area right by the river - great for summer! Its huge inside and has all these seperate alcoves and rooms - perfect if you have a group of people wanting their own area for a session. It has a nice atmosphere and a good crowd frequent it. They look like they are havigna big party there for the 26th of Jan - Australia day - so a place to be if you are aussie on that day - thats if you can pull yourself away from Shepards bush Walkabout. read more

This is a typical british pub, with its typical booze, food and decoration. It's placed next to the Thames, in the south shore. It was supposed to be a place frequented by famous writers, and it's easy to figure out why, with different rooms on the ground floor, a restaurant upstairs, and also two terraces: one on the first floor with fabulous views and other outside the building, being the closest you can get to the river. Unfortunately, there's no beer garden, but you won't miss it that much with all the riverside available for you. The prices are not expensive, but sometimes it can get quite overcrowded, meaning that ordering can be quite a nightmare, specially if you are hungry. Anyway, food is quite tasteful, despite they don't have anymore Sunday roast, one of their best. Instead, they have a wider selection of fish & chips, and you still can order your roast on the restaurant area. read more

They filmed Tom Cruise enjoying a pint outside of this pub for Mission Impossible. The pub itself is ok, a bit touristy in the summer but it is quite nice sitting out by the river with a pint. read more

This is quite a grubby pub but in a great location right on the river. Uber busy in the summer, the pubs interior is not particularly nice and I think most of their trade comes from tourists. Not really a locals pub but nice to sit outside in the summer. read more

Horrible service waited nearly 2hrs to get our food. Prices are ok but I'm sure you can go to any other location and get the same thing. So don't waste you time here read more

We really enjoyed our lunch here. Instead of using public transport, we walked everywhere in London, so we really worked up an appetite. I had the mushroom and beef pie, and it came with a side of vegetables that were actually al dente! It was delicious- one of the better pub meals we had. It's certainly in a convenient location. read more

The server was too quiet. He didn't try to upswell upswell up sell the mega fish and chips read more

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There are some people who would say that al fresco, riverside drinking in November is just plain stupid. My intellectual retort to this arguement is: PAH! If you have a hood on your coat, a pair of pink striped mittens, a full bottle of wine and a packet of cigarettes, there is nothing the British weather can throw at you for which you are not prepared. And, by this rationale, so began an evening of drinking in the Anchor Bankside. Or, rather, outside it. I have to admit, I don't think I've ever actually drunk inside this pub. The outside patio area on the Thames is so alluring that we always, but always, sit outside: in the summer, when it's bursting with drinkers and you'll be hard pressed to find a table, and on nights like tonight, when we were the only crazy people choosing to be buffeted by the wind and rain under the billowing and creaking awnings The Anchor is the perfect spot for a bit of people-watching and putting the world to rights. read more

On the London river cruise they said the anchor was the oldest bar in London and thought we'd check it out. Had their famous fish and chips and while the portion size was quite large it was average. Sat on the outside patio and atmosphere and drinks were good so that made up for the average food. read more

The Anchor - Cod and chips - Pubs Near Me - London, XGL

Your regular pub - without much character though and the homey everyone-knows-everyone feel - as it is right beside the Thames and therefore can be a tourist spot. Service is lacking as well. The space is huge though - with a lot of choices to offer: tea, food, drink outside, etc. The view of the River from their rooftop is amazing, I was reading here during the summertime for hours. read more

This pub was a bit overwhelming if I'm honest. A beautiful building on the outside and absolutely huge but inside it had become so commercialised and had lost all of its original old charm. There were loads of different sections to it and different bars and restaurant areas within it, which made the toilets quite a challenge to find. Although it was quite fun exploring it at the same time! There was a craft beer bar in a room off the main bars but unfortunately that was closed at the time. They also had a fish and chips bar on one of the levels which I thought was a great idea. I didn't eat there but the fish looked and smelled delicious! read more

Pretty good pub considering what a tourist trap it could be sitting right there on the Southbank. An absolute labyrinth of a place, it's got room after room and floor after floor of space, bar and terrace (and even a slightly separated, covered and raised up terrace overlooking the water). I've ended up here simply to escape the rain (twice), as well as for pre-meditated Friday night work drinks and in the middle of the week day because I was just around and needed a break. The first time we stumbled in on an England v Australia rugby match, so the place was packed, loud and slightly terrifying. Though somehow we managed to get a table for four -- which is either a testament to how large this place is or (more likely) we sat directly under the TV which meant it was a table without a view that no one wanted :) More recently I came for work drinks, during which one of the upper floor rooms was reserved for our group. We had a small dedicated bar and bartender, while the space was tucked away and had access to an almost private upper-floor terrace. It worked well for our group of 40-50. I think most people will be tempted to hunker down and get lunch or dinner here, but I don't recommend it. It's a lovely place to rest your feet with a pint, warm up by the fire and dry off if you've been doing the tourist thing all day, but there is better food to be had very close (try Nando's for chicken, GBK for burgers, PizzaExpress for pizza/salads or, if it's a Thurs-Sat during the day, walk around the corner to Borough Market for a plethora of unique food stalls). read more

We are tourists and while the location is nice, the food was just so-so. We ordered the fish and chips and while the fish itself was nice, we ended-up picking off the batter because it was a bit soggy. They had poor timing on our order - one came out quickly, the other came out when we were nearly finished. They were nice about taking it off our bill. read more

Massive tourist trap of a pub along the Thames that's rumored to have been a watering hole for Shakespeare and other olde famous English people as well as a brothel and various other interesting establishments. The place is worth going into if you're walking along the riverbank for a quick pint or some fish n' chips, but it's not the best pub by a long shot. There are a ton of rooms, a bunch of bars, and plenty of places to sit, which make it a bit fun to wander around in and explore. Service is pretty atrocious, but I don't expect much at a pub anyways. Worth popping in to check out and come to your own conclusions. read more

Poorly skilled bartenders. I went here for food with some friends who were visiting from Canada. The bar wasn't busy, but the two female bar staff couldn't cope. They were taking absolutely no notice of which customers arrived at the bar first and they allowed at least two people to jump the queue. When my friends went to the bar, they said the exact same thing happened to them. Part of being a decent bartender is noticing who has been waiting the longest. It seems like these bartenders aren't skilled or trained for their jobs. I dread to think what it's like when the bar is actually busy. I'd never go back here. I prefer to be served by professional bar staff. I was embarrassed to have taken my friends to this place. read more

Raining and in search of a pub that was not packed on a Friday night, we came to The Anchor. Crap service as the bartender spilled the beer on two people in my group hitting the tap as he lifted it over the counter. No apology. Crap beer as it tasted .... bad. Relatively empty and a dirty bathroom. Find somewhere else. read more

Absolutely dreadful food. Just interested in serving cheap low quality food at extorniate prices. Avoid and pick up anything from the stall at Borough Market instead. read more

A complete tourist trap with horrible food and mediocre beer. My fish and chips the fish was tasteless and tough.

This is clearly a tourist trap. We went there to get fish and chips in the evening. We ordered at the bar, gave our table number and then waited... and waited... and waited... Not many people got food so we thought they were just slow. After an hour I went to ask and it turned out they apparently were not able to find us to deliver our food. I mean, we were right there and that is what table numbers are for... They finally brought two cardboard boxes of cold fish and chips that had clearly been sitting on the counter for at least half an hour. We asked for fresh ones. After another 15-20 minutes we got our food. Instead of mushy peas we just got normal peas. We didn't get proper cutlery. Between the two of us we got two wooden chip forks, one knife and one spoon. We also got two tiny packages of tartar sauce, one package of ketchup and one package of brown sauce in total. What a joke. The fish was all batter and the chips were way too salty. Worst fish and chips we ever had in London... read more

Great cocktails with a true pub atmosphere along the Thames River. If you want to drink at one of the oldest most ornate pubs in London this is your place. We did not eat here. read more

Looks can be deceiving. Anchor is a huge pub located on the south bank of the thames close to Southwark Bridge. I have walked past on a number of occasions and have always wanted to go in ... attracted by its open riverside seating area and the roof terrace. I went there twice recently during the world cup. On the first trip we had booked a table upstairs but during the second i had just walked in. First shock. Just 4 tv screens in the whole pub which probably had more than 10 different seating areas. Two downstairs and two upstairs and only one in the open air. There were multiple rooms without tv's ... which is not cool if you are advertising that all 64 matches would be shown there. Second. The service. I understand that pubs in England are notoriously slow but this one was an order of magnitude slower than the rest. People had started queuing up at the bar from long before the match was about to start. I reached the counter after kick-off. The fact that the game had started did not affect the bartender's service standard at all. He poured the whisky and then stopped to do some work with the wine list with his colleague while i waited. After i paid by card, my receipt had been printed but he was too busy chatting to notice ... and all this while the match was going on. I got extremely irritated. Third. During half time one of us went to the bar to order some food. They said that food wasn't available, neglecting to mention that we could order in a different room. We were quite surprised to see later that people were eating. Well ... it was Anchor which lost some business. Fourth. When i went for the second time, to watch the 3rd-4th place play-off between Germany and Uruguay, i found that it was being shown on only one of the 4 screens ... the others were, believe me or not, switched off. The only reasons i am giving them 2 stars and not one are that they serve Black Label and their fish and chips is not significantly below average. read more

Charming atmosphere, but it feels touristy. Good selection of beers on tap. We didn't eat so I can't comment on the food. It's a fine place to stop for a drink, but I think better options exist nearby. read more

No complaints on my visit to The Anchor. The pub is pretty large, but we opted to go outside and sit by the river. I had a vodka + club soda, which was fine. Good tourist spot, but I don't think I would stay here for a lengthy amount of time. read more

Torn again on reviewing an English pub. The building has so much charm, it's old, beautiful, and cozy. They also have outdoor seating. BUT, once again, they have been commercialized and have the same menu of every pub I visited in London. It's basically a chain restaurant, in a really nice building. The rumor is that Shakespeare used to drink here, so it would be nice if they had an old school traditional menu. But, it is a fun little bar, with an outdoor deck and patio. We had an appetized and the Pimm's pitcher and we enjoyed our time. If they could fix the menu, I would definitely be back again! read more

If you'd like to wait more than 45 minutes for a very average burger, this is the place for you! Includes self-serve ordering at the bar and servers who do not give a crap. Tables were dirty with dishes from former patrons left on them. We asked 2 different waiters if they would clear the table, response was "in a minute" but it never happened. I finally put all the aforementioned former patrons' dishes on another dirty empty table (other patrons did also), got a napkin and wet it from my water glass to wipe down the table. Horrible, awful, terrible service. P.S. Dirty bathroom with no TP in stall. read more

A massive pub but its for tourists only as the service is terrible. Fair enough it gets busy but look how well the Market Porter just round the corner deals with being busy, the staff here just don't really care. read more

I can't tell you anything about the food, but it had a great atmosphere and great drinks. We sat on the big river side patio that overlooks the Thames. Great place to stop for a drink and enjoy the scenery. The building was also quite nice and large. read more

Nice little place. Were a little off with us about the food and where we could sit mind. Nice enough little pub though in good location when walking along embankment read more