The Anchor — Restaurant in Woking

This pub is in a lovely location, and is dog-friendly. I often take my dog for a walk along the canal and stop in for a pint afterwards - in fact, I've been doing so for years.

I went in today, after 4pm, and it was busy with Sunday-lunch diners. But there were lots of seats available. So I ordered a pint and went to sit down at a table that was: (a) Not made-up for dining (no cutlery, or condiments). (b) Not in the obvious 'restaurant' section - the conservatory. (c) Had no 'reserved' notice on it, and (d). Was just a small two-seater table, up against a pillar with two chairs. Clearly NOT a dining table, in other words.

A person I'm assuming is the manager then asked me if I had a reservation. I replied "no, I've just popped in for a pint". They said "If you don't have a reservation then I'm afraid you can only sit here" and gestured towards an area I'm going to call 'the lounge'. If you've been to this place, then you'll know the area I'm referring to. It's TINY. 3 tables, 2 two-seaters and one 3/4 (4 max) seater. And it's a busy post-lunch Sunday afternoon. So, of course, they're all occupied.

So I said "There's nowhere to sit there" to which this person just said "well you can't sit here". So where am I supposed to sit then? This pub has a lovely outdoor seating area, where I have sat many times to enjoy a pint. During (and this is the important part) the SUMMER! But right now, it's February. It's 8 degrees outside. I want to sit indoors. Where there are plenty of free seats. But apparently I can't. So I got a refund for the pint and went to the Seven Stars instead (a much better pub, btw).

Just to say also, I have been in this place many times before, and sat in the exact same area where I was told I couldn't today. Without a reservation. Without ordering any food. And it has never been a problem. And I know other places do this, particularly on a Sunday, (looking at you, Boaters Arms in Kingston) but that doesn't make it any less ridiculous, unnecessary and off-putting. There were lots of seats at tables, that were not made up for food service, that did not have 'reserved' notices on them in there today. You could have let me sit down and enjoy a nice pint after a walk with my dog on a cold day. You chose not to.

Ok, bye then.

PS: The owner has responded to the above claiming that it was 'explained to me' that the table I went to sit at was "reserved in 10 minutes time". This didn't happen. Our conversation went pretty much exactly like this:

Him: "Do you have a reservation?" Me: "No, I'm just having a quick pint" Him: "well I'm afraid you can only sit in this area (gestures to tiny, completely full snug area)" Me: "There's nowhere to sit there" Him: "Well you can't sit here I'm afraid " Me: "Ok, I'll have a refund for the pint then"

Then he put the refund on my card and I left. That's it. Our exchange in its entirety.

Obviously, if you had explained that there was a reservation starting there in 10 minutes, then that's perfectly reasonable. I know what a reservation is!

In fact, if you had said that there was an imminent reservation at that particular table, then I would have asked if any of the other several vacant tables were available, as they can't all have reservations starting in the next 20 minutes that it takes me to enjoy a quick pint. Can they? But let's be very clear, you were not going to let me sit down to enjoy my drink. I'm saying (again) that you could have let me sit down, but you chose not to.

Look mate, if you don't want to let me have a seat in your pub then that's fine. I'll happily give my money to one of the many other, better, pubs in the area. One run by people who understand what the word 'hospitality' means. But don't invent conversations that never happened to try to portray me as being unreasonable, because now you're just being dishonest. And we...

The Anchor pub did not deliver on a pleasant Sunday Roast experience. Had a booking made here for a group of 7 and when we arrived our table was not yet ready. We were asked to hang around the bar and order some drinks. Took about 15-20 minutes before we were seated. Once we were seated no waiter came to check with us for at least 25 minutes. They were accommodating and were able to get fried chicken with a roast (bizarrely no roast chicken available for non-red meat eaters).

We ordered pigs in blankets, whitebait as starters. Mains: cauliflower cheese, roast beef, steak and ale pie, and fried chicken.

Every time we ordered a drink, something was missing. There was a one hour wait before the servers noticed we had not received a single bit of food. We then asked that they brought out the starters at the same time as the mains as it was becoming quite late.

The white bait was okay, the pigs in blankets were raw on the inside, the cauliflower cheese had little cheese and tasted of flower, the vegetables were raw, the pastry of the pie was raw and barely any filling.

The plating was inconsistent, but the roast beef was well cooked and seasoned.

When I spoke to the manager he did feel bad and gave us a significant discount. He explained that he had just taken over ownership and they had been having difficulties on their first weekend. It took a further 25 minutes after asking to pay to have the manager come and collect.

A huge shame as the location is beautiful. Don’t think I’ll be visiting...

No warm welcome! Bar staff said to check with another staff member that it's ok to stay in our campervans as advertised: please inform your staff how to greet & what you offer. They couldn't even smile!

We spoke to the other member of staff who knew it was OK to stay, she was seating people in the main dining area... I guess it was all booked on Mon night as she pointed to a self service ate of the pub opposite the footfall of bar and kitchen. I said we were having a meal and drinks & she said where we could just choose to sit in the bar.

At the table we discovered no menus. I had to go back to her to ask, she handed me 2 menus but one was for drinks so had to go back again for the other one. I asked if we had to order drinks at the bar, & she said yes and your food. Ceaser salad was swamped with sauce! My partner enjoyed fish & chips for almost £20!!!!

Another couple arrived in our area and to my surprise, they were taken to a table (by a chap we didnt see earlier), seated, given a menu each and asked if everything was OK will their meal. Noone asked us if our meal was OK, when our plates were collected, we didn't even get eye contact. Absolutely disgusting service!

We had drived 5 hours to get here due to the reviews and had planned to stay the evening to enjoy ourselves but didn't enjoy so left as soon as meal and drink was finished.

The overnight parking they offer is tight spaces, road noise, spotlights all night and morning with...