The Anglesea Arms — Restaurant in London

The liver. Second largest organ in your body after your skin. That's why, when you eat, you get hot. That huge organ is working overtime, sorting the fats from the proteins, sending vitamins this way and that. Helping your hair curl, your lungs fill with air and your brain compute splitting three ways. And they say Sunday is a day of rest. Not for the liver it isn't. Not if you visit the Anglesea. My liver has sorted many a protein. But none I doubt as gleefully as the plate of molecules set before me at the Anglesea. My liver sent messages to my brain telling me to stop ingesting said ingredients on the plate. But my brain translated that to my mouth to simply ask for more gravy. The friendly server dutifully obliged. When my better half's mouth finally obeyed her liver and uttered the words, "I can't eat any more" my arms completely disregarded my liver's pleadings, reaching over to dust off her left over succulent beef. Every bit as good as my pork belly and only a firm beef eater or pork belly lover would err on the side of one against the other. Pork belly is a much abused cut at the Sunday pub lunch. I had a pork belly roast lunch the other day and I chewed through it like I was chewing through my 10 year old Adidas shell toes I can't bear to part with. But let me state for the record. This pork belly. Sensational. Crackling that does as the name describes. No chew. Pure crackle. Unctuous layers of rendered fat beneath. And tender strands of meat to chew on. Three layers of absolute heaven. Surrounded by gravy of perfect viscosity. Which you can ask for more of. Steamed veg that crunch and snap. And roast potatoes thick of shell and fluffy of innard. These are better than I can do at home. And they are pumping them out by the second here in the busy kitchen. A production line of perfection and the standard bearer for all Sunday lunch roast potatoes. These are the ones. Thick cut gravlax with a punchy, well textured horseradish cream was an excellent way to start proceedings but perhaps unnecessary given the generosity of the main. Each pudding that came out looked the business but alas couldn't trigger enzymes that would work on what came before quickly enough to allow room. The Anglesea is alive with people all day and getting a table on Sunday can be tricky. My advice is book whatever time they have. We took 4.30pm. The place was buzzing. If you can take your eyes off the beautiful roast set before you, you will discover a wonderfully warm, cosy, bustling old pub with panelled walls and open fire to the front. Brick walls adorned with local art for those at the back who are dogless and want to gaze into the small kitchen with five chefs working furiously to deliver. It's like staring into a fire. Their endeavour allows your contentment. Dust the roast off in your own time. This is lazy Sunday afternoon stuff and you won't be rushed. Give the liver a chance to regain its composure. The Anglesea has been packing locals and outsiders in for many years and this is why. Roll me home and get The Antiques Roadshow on. Sundays have never...

Nice pub, but check your bill (this kills me to share because I like the pub but it is what it is...)

So, I really like the Anglesea Arms and was excited to head back post pandemic but was surprised when my bill came and they snuck a double when I ordered a basic cocktail. Cheeky AF.

We then noticed they added a service charge (totally fine) but then gave us a prompt to add another tip without mentioning the one they had already added. If you're having a few drinks and not running an accounting firm at the end of your session, you're going to wind up over paying. That seems to be their game at the moment, which is disappointing.

At the end of the day, it's not about the extra few pounds, it's about the principal. We are there, giving you business, don't be sneaky and charge me a double (or give me one) when I don't ask for it. I love a buzz, but I didn't want that much alcohol at the end of a round of drinks. We also didn't want to wait 10+ minutes for drinks when it was nearly empty and be prompted to give two service charges.

We didn't say anything and the guy was nice but I won't be going back to a favoured pub for a while because that's just a level of greedy we don't need right now. Thanks, but no thanks. Enjoy the space if you'd like, but...

I've been to this gastro pub before and had a better experience than we did this evening. Firstly the menu was just plain odd. Only one vegetarian main option, Parsnip Custard with Endive. Of the fish options, the cod comes with black pudding and meaty sauce. This renders it unsuitable for pescatarians and therefore only leaves them with the trout, which is again rather limiting. My personal issue is with the attitude taken towards how a patron would like their meat cooked. I ordered the steak and asked for medium-well, only to be told they wouldn't do it. "Medium-rare" is as much as we do" is what I was told by two different waiting staff. I find this unacceptable. They explained that this is due to the cut of the meat, which apparently gets chewy if cooked any more. Well it would be nice to offer patrons the opportunity to decide for themselves, since they are paying for the meal!! My husband had the pheasant and felt it was undercooked. All in all a disappointing experience given that, with alcohol, you are looking at £40+ per head for a three course meal here. We won't...