Hope & Anchor

A well-established, handsome pub where so many of the attributes that one looks for in a good pub are pulled together in a masterly and business-like way. Whilst bar food is of good quality and well worth the wait if you can't find a table, it is probably the wide range of expertly chosen real beers that mark Hope and Anchor out. For instance Timothy Taylor Landlord makes a regular appearance and the landlord is said to keep a list of regulars and their drinking predilections - that takes dedication and organisation but it sorts out the men from the boys. There is a wide choice of food which is served daily from 11 am to 10.30 pm - oh, the joy of being able to go in after 9 pm and order food instead of being confronted by a po-face behind the bar intoning the dreaded litany, "no food ordered after 9 o'clock". No wonder the place is always heaving, but if that's the price you pay for success, so be it.