Royal Anchor — Restaurant in East Hampshire

We have eaten here many times before but not in the last 5 years until today. We had returned to Liphook to arrange the burial of a family member's ashes. The atmosphere was alright but a bit flat as there was no one at the bar. It was like a deserted ship. There were a few diners but not many in comparison to previous visits when it was usually packed. Eventually a very helpful regular came over and told us to enter our car registration into the machine or we'd get a fine of £100 and that should hopefully get the staff to notice a customer was waiting. We have never had to do this before. The lady who appeared a while after that was apologetic for our wait and immediately took our order. The table we wanted wasn't cleared which she again apologised for and announced that there are only 2 of herself working. We opted for another one and sat down. My partner had a sticky patch where he sat so he proceeded to clean this with a napkin. After a short wait our food came out except his wasn't what he'd ordered. This was quickly rectified with a profoundly worried apology which we accepted. My fried chicken goujon wrap was a very sad affair and the portion of fries we ordered was a further disappointment. The wrap whilst tasty only contained 3 goujons which rattled around in the disproportionally over sized wrap and no melted cheese or mayo. There was a slither of green something when I delved to the bottom of it. The bottom of my wrap had been put on the plate into the salad side garnish which was swimming in a dressing which made that part of the wrap soggy and as such that part of it was unappealing to eat. I actually couldn't face the garnish either and I usually love salad stuff. It just seemed slimey to look at. The portion of fries were not piping hot and were like an after thought of a left over batch. The portion size of the fries was in my opinion very mean as well. In comparing my wrap with my partner's; he had the chicken and bacon wrap. The two were incongruous and disproportional too. His wrap was full of chicken, cheese, bacon and salad leaves. It was piping hot and delicious. All through this I was aware of 3 other staff members who had ventured out from where ever to answer a couple of phone calls. Once these were dealt with they disappeared leaving the lone worker who had served us to carry on. She seemed very overwhelmed with all she was having to cope with on her own and as such appeared to be completely unsupported. The first table choice on our arrival remained uncleared as we left as well. Overall it is clear that the interior of the building is in need of being taken in hand to prevent further decay. The paint work in the ladies is tired to say the least although they were clean except with one cubicle out of order. The staff similarly could do with some team building expertise. To leave that lady alone doing what seemed like everything wasn't professional. It was sad to see such a difference in all things that matter. Its all in the detail and that was the problem. I have tried to upload 2 pictures but your server won't upload them. I can attach them to an email if you wish. Kind...

A good and spacious pub with excellent pub food. It has a copious *free car park and is merely a few minutes' drive from the A3. *free - - - just tap your reg no. into the bar-top tab to be given 4 hours of non-charged parking.

What more could you ask?

On a recent visit, I had garlic mushrooms on a slice of ciabatta. Although I was rather expecting whole button mushrooms deep-fried in batter, instead they were just sliced and *cooked. I should have paid more attention to the menu! It does say *simply fried.

My companion had cheesey nachos, on which he didn't comment.

We both chose the same mains! As my mate said, "Scampi are always a fairly safe Pub Lunch bet." Although, to be fair, I chose them not as a *safe bet but because I love seafood and Scampi are one of my faves.

I wasn't disappointed. They were succulent and the batter WAS crisp. I had it with chips and salad and my guest went for peas instead. Mushy peas are another option, even though Liphook is far from the North! *)

At thirteen quid, it was a very good deal. But I can't help feel I would personally not have minded paying a bit more for a more original *gastro type menu.

Although I booked, it wasn't necessary. You could just rock up - - - the place was barely a quarter full. Maybe if it had been a reasonably priced Gastro Pub, it might have been more bustling.

However, I do understand from the Landlord's pov that this would create more hassles. Higher prices and thus customer expectations would inevitably lead to more complaints, whether justified or not.

Plus, the added drama of finding, recruiting and day to day reliance on and dealing with a *Prima Donna Chef. But...

Awful experience in the anchor last night .we had booked a table for 6.15 pm as we had a large number of family visiting from scotland.The pub was quiet apart from a table of 6 arriving at the same time as us . We were told that there would be a 45 minute wait on food which surprised us as the place was quiet.The 45 minute wait ended up being nearly a 2 hour wait We ordered food at 6.45 and my meal didn't come out until 8.20!! The waitress Karen was apologetic and worked very hard to bring meals out alone.The only positive part of our experience was the lovely Karen.! However the meals came out sporadically and so meant we could not eat together . The older children were geting hungry and tired . We were told the chef was on his own as another chef had called in sick ! SURELY knowing you had a bigger party booked more staff would be on hand ? It was a terrible experince and no money off was offered for the wait and inconvienince .The food when it came out was luke warm and i wont be recomending the pub to anyone. As we walked in the back door to the pub it smelt disgusting from the toilets The locals were at the bar swearing loudly whilst we were standing at the bar whilst the bar man said nothing to them. The big space we were in was cold causing my my mother inlaw to have to eat with her coat on . An terrible dining...