The Ripley Anchor — Restaurant in Guildford

If I could give 0 stars on the food I would. We got 10 different dishes and the only one that was remotely edible was the hasbrown chips that were surprisingly in need of salt. I say surprisingly as almost every other dish was severely over salted including the side of broccoli (surprisingly difficult to mess up). Everyone at the table was very disappointed; the calamari shared similarities with car tires and coated in very dense batter and tasted very cheap, frozen and unbearably over salted. The sun driedb tomato hummus was once again too salty and sour. My mum had the sea bass which was sub par at best for the price and was very oily and was onn top of what can best be described as inedible canned baby food (also lacking the courgette that was meant to be included). I had the pork belly which was quite dry which I'd say if more difficult to achieve than a moist pork belly which was on top of undercooked ratatouille with crunchy vegetables. The food was very disappointing and even more so due to the price which was about £60+ per head. We went on a Friday evening and we were one of 4 tables which speaks volumes in its self. Overall we all very disappointed and hope this place improves and decreases their...

A really lovely meal to celebrate a recent special occasion.

We tried The Anchor for the first time last week and were blown away by the quality, taste and presentation of all the items we ordered. The menu is small but thoughtfully compiled and has something for everyone. The presentation is beautiful, you really feel like you’re dining in a fine dining type restaurant and the taste matches it! I have a peanut allergy and felt 100% safe and totally cared for by the waiting staff who checked in at every opportunity to ensure I wasn’t going to run into any problems. An incredibly thoughtful touch that I loved at the end of the meal was when the 3 others in the party had a hot drink which came with a little Blondie with nuts. Knowing I wouldn’t have been able to have that the lovely waitress bought me over a few chunks of fudge that I could have instead (despite not having a hot drink!). I can’t tell you how many restaurants I often miss out on this because of my allergy and this small gesture meant a huge amount to me, thank you so much!

We will 100% be returning to this lovely family run restaurant because the quality of food and thoughtful service...

The review below is what I said a year ago:

'A great gastro pub with really good service. Also perfect for a drink and snacks'

However The Anchor has changed and not for the better. The food remains excellent but:

Not everyone wants a craft beer, please have something mainstream as well. Locals love 'Silent Pool' and other local drinks. Please bring them back. Please serve drinks in an appropriate glass, gin should come in large bowl style glass not a tumbler similar to what you'd drink from in Weatherspoons. We'd like proper cloth napkins, not paper towels like you'd get in a public loo. The staff used to be so friendly, remember you as a regular and make conversation. Not any more. Please turn the lights down in the evening, it makes the place far more cosy and welcoming.

The above sounds harsh and isn't meant to be because this is decent pub. And, it's an expensive place to eat and drink which means expectations are higher. I hope some of the great things about The Anchor...