The Anchor, Cannon Street  

For those who haven't been here for a few years, the famous old Anchor at Bankside has been massively refurbished. The beer garden at the side of the pub has been completely built on, replacing the patio area, where they used to do great barbecues in summer, with something looking like a Harvester. The old part of the pub has also been redecorated, but doesn't look too badly mucked around with, apart from the awful colour scheme. So now we have the incongruous sight of a quaint higgledy-piggledy 17th century building mated to a 21st century, engineering brick, formula olde worlde pubbe monstrosity. The whole lot set off with a giant, garish sign declaring the pub now to be the "Anchor Bankside, bar and restaurant" for the benefit of the passing tourists on the river cruises. The riverside area in front of the pub has also been extended and is crammed with garden furniture and patio heaters.
We always knew this was going to happen here, the area has been getting steadily popular with tourists and it's understandable that people will want to make money out of this opportunity. But the crass redevelopment of the UK as the Great Britain theme park is tearing the heart and soul out of the stuff that really made Britain great - enterprise, trade and industry - and the Bankside area was one of the last remaining vestiges of this in the centre of London.
By the way, the food and drink is exactly what you'd expect from a place like this.

reviewed:
09/05/2006

pub features:(click on an icon to see an explanation)

real ales

outdoor seating

riverside terrace

children can be in the pub until 9.00pm

separate dining area

ATM on premises

late opening

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