The Anchor

Really great pub on the water! Good food and great place to go for a meal out. Lovely if you also choose it as a walking destination, as you can walk down the canal path.

Gorgeously situated along the river near a lock, within reach of the passing canal boats, The Anchor has a good share of lovely pub feast and wide asssortment of offerings at the bar. On a summer afternoon with the sunshine and passing boats, it’s hard to imagine anything lovelier.

Recommended this place by a friend who found it by mistake so went there for the first time today.
It is a more «high end» pub in the way that one would need to do a booking as it gets busier in the evening. First, we went for a drink and sat outside which is lovely during a sunny day as it overlooks the river.
After making a booking, took a walk down the footpath which is lovely (leads to a few sites and there’s a piece of history written on posts after every few KM’s or so).
The food came in no time and service was good. The meals were big enough to finish (I don’t like waste) and tasted good (as good as pub food can get). 2 meals and a drink each = £24, not bad !
I would go back again and will recommend.

a beautiful setting amongst the greenery and river but very slow service, however its worth it. The food is tasty and of a good variety.
We had the bangers and mash which the hubby enjoyed and i had the philly cheese steak (i’ve heard so much about these i had to try it).
The wait for cooking is acceptable however the wait of taking the order, getting bill etc is rather long so don’t go if you have anything else planned

The Anchor is a beautiful pub, in an amazing spot next to the river. However, the service and food are just not on par.
Annoyingly, upon a recent visit to the pub with my family, we had a terrible (and, unfortunately, not uncommon) experience. We had a reservation at 2:30 PM and arrived on time. We were then seated immediately and ordered drinks and starters within 5 minutes of arriving. Everything was excellent up to this point.
Unfortunately, at this point everything went south. Starters arrived at about 3:30 PM (about an hour after arriving, with frequent prompting to the waiter of slow service). And the rest of the food didn’t arrive until 4:00 PM (an hour and a half after arriving)!
This was only the beginning of the bad news. The steak was completely overdone and dry, the burger (with all the extras added) was ice cold, and the pasty was also cold with crusted ketchup on the side (probably due to being left on the hotplate for so long). All three dishes were sent back to the kitchen after talking to the pub manager (who was surprisingly good at dealing with the situation).
The good news is that after another 20 minutes, a half decent version of all the dishes was served, with the burger being quite tasty!
All-​in-​all, it is a shame that a place with such great potential (due to its location and gorgeous exterior) is under-​performing in two other key areas (food and service). I would strongly recommend considering other pubs over this one as this is not an anomalous case, and many people have recommended me not to go this pub in the past.

Recommended.
Great location by a small river with indoor and outdoor dining on a fairly quite road.
Good menu selection of burgers, sandwiches, fish, chicken, and beef and some salads. Two of us had the fish and chips. Dish had a large filet of deep fried fish an a suitable amount of fries. Others with me had burgers. All were happy with the quality and amount of food provided.
Orders are placed at the bar and then delivered to the table. Service was friendly good.

A pub located just beside the river — how romantic!
As soon as it gets warm you are able to sit outside in the sun just beside the river and enjoy the tranquility of this hidden away place near West Byfleet.
Wisley gardens are nearby where you can enjoy a very nice stroll along a path planted with flowers and trees you have never heard off before.
The outside space is quite spacious, but still, on a sunny day you need to be fast to grab a table. They offer the normal drinks and english pub food line up and the prices are ok.
Defintiely worth a visit if you are in the area.

Lovely spot on the river, but the food was pretty average despite a promising menu. Most of the staff were young and too cool for school. Nice enough, but not memorable (unless you count paying £4 for a bottle of water!)

Location is The Anchors best feature. It’s absolutely gorgeous perched along side the canal. It’s a great place to sit outside and have a few pints and too many chips. It’s kid friendly, with a playground and no one seems to Mind them running all over the place. I would definitely recommend it!

I really like this place — it’s in a picturesque setting beside the canal with plenty of attention spent on the outside dining area. As such, it’s perfect for whiling away the long summer days with a drink watching the canal boats pass by.
The flip-​side of this us that even a sniff of decent weather will makeThe Anchor ridiculously busy, with long service wait times to match. Persevere, though, as the food is good. Not quite exemplary, but a worthy match for the view.
Being a bit in the middle of nowhere also makes it very peaceful. Flip side again: the smallish car park is inadequate for the number of people the pub can house, particularly on the aforementioned busy sunny days, so expect the single road to quickly jam up as people wait and lap around the car park waiting for that elusive space. Those with larger vehicles should also be aware that the bridge crossing over the lock by the pub is quite narrow so crossing it with a wider load can be a bit precarious.

Great place to sit on a sunny day, location makes up for the average food, but traditional Ham/​Egg/​Chips are fine.
Sussex smokey was a let down, Frozen/​Microwave and large scale cattering don’t mix

i visited this pub for the first time a month or so ago (when the weather was still nice) after driving past it the week before.
I have to say I was really pleased with it. We got there for lunch just after it opened at around ten past 12 and I’m very glad that I got there so early. It got busy quite quickly after that.
The food I thought was a reasonable price (it’s typical English pub food — bangers & mash, jacket potatoes, ploughmans etc). I just fancied a simple jacket potato which was nice although very stingy on the beans!
Lunch for 2 was about £24 (including a diet coke and a large cider) but I was expecting more, just by looking at the location etc.
Location is great, on the River Wey. My only major problem with it was the dogs — although I’m sure if you don’t have a crippling fear of dogs then you’ll be fine (they are only allowed outside the pub, not indoors).
All in all, an enjoyable experience here, but on a sunny day, I’d recommend you get there early!

I LOVE THIS PLACE! If you are after a lovely homely cooked meal, made with with lovely produce… COME HERE! Cosey interior makes you feel like you’re at home or feel like a million miles away from modern life. A truly lovely pub and restaurant. Staff are amazing and are very attentive. Only bug bare only have one beer on draft. But very good for its wine and ales.

I went here for the first time today. Amazing setting on the river Wey, we took one of the multitude of tables outside by the river.
Standard pub fare, but on the higher end quality-​wise. By pub fare, I mean exactly that — the usual suspects, scampi and chips, steak and ale pie etc are all on the menu.
The loss of a star is due to the fact that it took over an hour between sitting down and receiving our main courses, and the chicken wing starters resembling a chicken curry — messier than usual!
I wasn’t too bothered though, it’s the weekend, I’m off work, it was busy, and was willing to cut them some slack.
It was a lovely afternoon and there was beer to be had, however in retrospect, service should be quicker!
Recommended for lunch, and a drink or three. It is off the beaten track, but worth it if you are in the surrounding area.

This has got to be one of the most pictureque locations for a pub in Surrey, and there are some nice walks, not least along the canal — you can just keep walking all the way to Guildford.
However, I really can’t see how anyone can describe the food here as good. We had a mezze which turned out to be lukewarm, slightly tough pitta bread, along with some ghastly, cold dips which seemed to be straight out of a cheap supermarket ‘value’ range. The other dish was a traditional bangers and mash meal which was equally grim. The sausages were pretty much cremated and the veg reminiscent of 70s school dinners — soggy and tepid.
I hate to be so negative about the food, because otherwise the pub is really nice, but for people used to a reasonably good standard of food in the south east of England and Surrey this fare is really sub-​standard.

The Anchor is in a lovely scenic location by Pyrford Lock. You can sit outside and watch all the canal boats go by. A good range of real ale and the food is excellent but expensive. the service is first rate. Two large car parks. You get the best out of visit here when you can sit outside although it can get very crowded, especially Sunday lunchtimes.

I’m a HUGE fan of The Anchor! It’s out in Pyrford, so not exactly easy to get to for Londoners, but WELL worth the journey on a weekend.
I have family that live nearby so I’m lucky enough to have been about 6 or 8 times. It’s by no means a fancy or high-​end place, but the food is fantastic and the atmosphere is unbeatable.
It’s situated on the Wey River by the Pyford lock. It’s in the most scenic and beautiful area! After dinner we always take a stroll along the river and watch the long boats pass by and see little bunnies and frogs and other
contenders. It’s also very close to an old 11^th or 12^th century ruined abbey which is gorgeous.
So the food– mostly pub fare, but the best of it’s kind. I’ve never had a meat pie there that I didn’t love and I don’t believe I’ve ever left food on the plate, it’s just too tasty to be conservative!
The desserts are wonderful. The sticky toffee pudding is always a hit and the chocolate brownie sundae is wonderful as well, but the best I’ve had was the marscapone cheesecake. I think it may have been a special because I’ve only had it the one time but I can honestly say it was one of the best cheesecakes I’ve ever had.
I highly recommend The Anchor for a refreshing pint and an excellent meal, followed by a wonderful stroll along the Wey.

Went there for in the course of a long walk, and the setting is fantastic, pub was a bit run down, but i think it’s had a refit now and may even have changed hands, and i hear the food is really good. worth a visit just for the sake of a great walk along the canal.

fantastic setting, on the route of many great walks in the area, food used to be indifferent but i think it may have changed hands recently and is much better. kids can feed ducks swans etc.

I was narrowboating on the Wey River this weekend and a wise local pointed us towards the Anchor. Am I ever glad they did, because it was fantastic.
It’s located right beside the Pyrford Lock and Pyrford Marina, making it a very popular stopping place for boaters. They obviously get a lot of land-​based business as well, because they have two large car parks.
The pub is very new, clean and spacious inside. There are a few dozen tables outside on the lawn right beside the river, and the entire place was very nearly full on the sunny Saturday afternoon that we were there. It’s a friendly, fun atmosphere.
The food’s a bit on the pricey side for a pub (£10 for a pie, £9.25 for fish and chips) but everything we had was large, good quality, and excellent. My entire group of 7 boaters loved it all. Most had the fish and chips (with peas in a little bowl, for those who like food segregation). Two of us had the steak and ale pie, which was great. One person had the chicken and ham pie, which she reported to be also wonderful. My wife had the tuna nicoise salad (real grilled, not tinned, tuna). There are a few rarer options too, like slow-​roasted pork ribs.
The puddings looked absolutely amazing, but there was no way we could consider eating any more.
Beers were really good, with a couple of Badger ales.
The only bad point is that it’s so popular, and gets so busy, that the queue for the bar to order drinks or food can be really long. There is a counter spot for food orders only that is sometimes open.
Toilets were large and clean.
A nice touch: the baskets of apples and pears with a card inviting you to take one of your five-​a-​day fruit/​veg portions when you leave.