Anchor Inn in Babergh

Lovely quiet Saturday walk-in lunch. Sat in the garden. Good food and good value for money. Dog friendly and the staff were excellent.

Disappointed with the food on the whole. Great service from staff just a shame the food wasn’t up to scratch. Would expect slightly better steak and a few more peas for £28

I went to this pub as someone had suggested that it would be a great place to cycle to and perhaps have a drink and something to eat. However, although the place looked inviting, the food was not, as some of it was undercooked. I will not return to this place again, as I consider undercooked food a health hazard.

Everything you want from a a village pub. It’s always open, great food (especially the pizzas), a choice of eating environments and perfect for a snack or a more fancy meal out. A friendly and cozy atmosphere and it’s a great place to have a social drink because The Anchor is not just about eating out. Plenty of parking and I think it’s haunted! What’s not to like?

Had a pub lunch. Drinks were two pints of local bitter - Cloudless and Orchard Pig, both good, plus soft drinks. Food was basic and good - Cheese and Tomato toasted on sough dough, and a Tuna and Mayo and Prawn Cocktail sandwiches plus chips all round. Both bar and table service were excellent with helpful and cheerful young ladies staff. Pity we were unable to stay longer. An enjoyable experience but sadly no outside view. Highly recommended.

We stopped off on our way to the theatre. Convenient stop between Colchester and Ipswich. I had been before and had a poor food experience but it’s had a refurb and I assumed under new owners. Friendly welcoming staff and plenty of outdoor seating space. Ordered pizza. What promised to be an authentic Italian wood fired pizza was so disappointing. Veggie Supreme in name only. 8 thin strips of pepper and about the same of onion. That was it. Admittedly I asked for no mushroom and added pepperoni but that should not have been its downfall. Paid around £15 I think. The base was tasteless. Too much cheese and supreme it was not. Lots of other good pubs and restaurants in the vicinity, we thought we would give The Anchor another go. Such a shame.

Booked a table for 6 for Fathers Day via the pubs website, this was extremely easy and efficient. Great service on a busy lunchtime and was very impressed with the food and especially the friendly staff.. Will visit again.

My friend and I were staying at a nearby Air B n B, we needed to find somewhere for dinner. Looking in the information pack this pub was listed. We booked online just incase we couldn’t get in.. As it was a nice evening we decided to go early. We had a drink and sat outside. At our booking time, we made our way to the restaurant. Greeted and seated by friendly members of staff. Lots of areas to dine. It was busy, but with a few tables reserved for later on. The menus had plenty of choices. We opted for the 2 course set menu. Once food order was placed, it wasn’t much of a wait, our starters (duck spring rolls, and mushrooms on bruschetta) arrived. Both starters cooked lovey, with generous portions size. Not long after that our mains of steak frites with fries, peas and a cheeky portion of onion rings arrived, along with a ploughman’s. Both meals were lovely. All in all the food, price, portion size, and staff were all very good. We look forward to visiting again if in the area..

Excellent lunch with good friendly service. The food was tasty and a good selection of beers The fixed price menu had just been launched and we could have had any of the items; they were all tempting Waitress Julie made us very welcome

Homely feel pub with great food and wonderful staff Loraine and Julie made us feel very welcome and nothing was too much trouble. Will definitely be back !

Excellent menu, choice of set menu or main with specials as well, tasty food, friendly staff, we will booking in for a Christmas lunch and look forward to it.

Nice small friendly pub that do meals. Meals fine and popular but not so cheap s we're the drinks even basic shandy. OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK ok

Fist visit to this lovely country pub, conveniently located next to the A12. All the staff were so friendly and very proficient. really enjoyed and will try to visit again at some point

Called in for a lunchtime snack, most enjoyable, I had cheese and ham sandwich. If we are in the area again will definitely call again at this venue.

The staff are great, the food good but the portions a little on the small side,for the price. The thing that lets this place down is the state of the toilets, the toilet bowl itself was clean, but the floors, the walls and the skirting boards were filthy and need a complete makeover.

Excellent breakfast, couldn't fault the quality, service was superb and we were well looked after by the staff. We will certainly return.

Me and my husband came here for breakfast today ,It looks like the pub is under new management,We ordered the smaller breakfast,It all looked nice ,The sausages could have done with being in the pan a bit longer and there was something else on the plate we didn't recknise a round meat thing ? We think it was stuffing but not sure ,Sorry we won't be coming back ,We came here last year and throughly enjoyed our meal 👎

We hadn't booked and none of us had been to the pub before. What a great experience - our first time to visit the pub. Lovely staff who couldn't have been more friendly and helpful, great food, generous portions - tasty and piping hot. Dealing with my gluten-free diet was easy too. The pub environment was lovely. We will be back. I highly recommend you give it a try! Thanks so much Gina

The first time we visited The Anchor at Stratford St Mary a few months ago we were quite impressed. The food was very, very good. I remember I had fish and chips, which was excellent. Memorable, in fact. The next couple of times we visited we were rather disappointed, as the food did not quite come up to our expectations, especially following the experience of the first visit. On one occasion it was "curry night" and the curries we ordered were disappointing, to say the least. Anyway, the other evening we decided to give The Anchor just one more try. This time the food could only be described at best as mediocre and, sitting just outside on the patio (on the other side of a glass partition) meant there was only bar service for ordering, with prepayment required. Although the staff were friendly and helpful, I'm afraid we will not be going there again.

Brilliant evening with 8 of us celebrating a family birthday. Lovely food, generous portions and extremely well priced. Will be returning.

Sunday lunch, worst roast dinner I’ve had in months, starters were really lovely, but waited over half an hour for main course. Some mains were ok but the roast dinner was cold, strange vegetables as had 2 different lots of cabbage, red and green ( was so overcooked it was nearly white), roast carrots were cold and hard, gravy was thick and congealed, the lamb was 2 small thinly sliced pieces, about tea plate size and so thinly sliced you could nearly see through it, I ordered a side of cauliflower cheese, which was the best thing as it was hot, so disappointing as the starters were so lovely. Wish I’d ordered something else, or even gone somewhere better.

Nice country pub with plenty of choices, a short drive from Dedham. The steak was perfectly cooked and well presented. Lovely friendly service throughout. Thanks for the vote if you found this review helpful.

Amazing pub. Super food. Lovely staff. Just what you want from a village pub. Welcoming, great choices and so tasty

Lovely place, fab area. Food was good but average, visited on a busy time so staff were a bit hectic and you could tell. Quite expensive for what it is, portions could be a bit bigger too.

We visited here for Sunday brunch and will definitely be back again. We ordered a Anchor breakfast and a Lighter Anchor Breakfast which were great value for money, you can choose from 3 types of eggs so chose scrambled which were perfectly cooked. The staff...

Visited here for Sunday Lunch with friends, food was great including roast pork, turkey, fish and chips, quorn cottage pie and ham, egg and chips. All really tasty, little mix up with the turkey order but all sorted quickly, we also had various starters, all...

Beautiful old pub, in a beautiful setting. Lovely staff especially Julie, who looked after us so well and was so sweet! Food was amazing and good value for money. We will be back and will definitely be telling friends and family. P.S thanks for the...

Lovely traditional ole english pub with a wide selection of foods to cater for most Excellent service Amazing food Decent quality

We are from Hertfordshire but visit this part of the country regularly and wanted to try somewhere different than our usual places. We chose the Anchor Inn out of several other pubs/ restaurants in the area as the menu seemed the most varied and catered...

We had said we would not go back, but decided to give it another chance. It was a completely different experience this time. The staff were great,helpful and attentive, the food was very good, fresh and tasty, and the place seemed to have more atmosphere,...

We have eaten in the Anchor before but never a Breakfast. My wife and myself went in today and had an excellent meal. I chose the full Anchor breakfast and my wife the smaller plate. The two Cumberland sausages were very tasty as was the...

Had a great Christmas Dinner at the Anchor.Lovely food and attentive staff..would recommend a visit any day as the menu is varied with great choices.

New winter menu available covers most tastes, but I didn't see a gammon. We had three different meals, all excellent, from fried and grilled fish to late breakfast. Small issue with beer was quickly resolved in pleasant and positive manner. Real ales changed regularly to...

Really liked the atmosphere in this pub. Staff are friendly and helpful and the food is good with a great range from snacks and pizzas through to full 3 course meals. One nice thing about the pub is that the bar is separate from the...

I went with my family and my 2 dogs. Firstly the fact they allow dogs is a massive plus. Secondly the food was amazing, I had the lamb roast dinner and it was so good, I can’t wait to have it again. My daughter had...

Really lovely welcoming pub. We have had breakfasts, lunches and dinners and all have been really tasty and good value for money. Friendly and helpful staff and you can take the dog!

Food was reasonable although service was a little hectic. Seafood platter was tasty, albeit served on the black plastic tray it arrived in!

Real ale, quality lagers and great food that includes amazing pizzas (although no seafood pizza at the moment). Friendly, helpful and welcoming staff as well. It’s also still a proper pub so you can just have a drink there if you want.

First problem was that we were not offered the specials board (only noticed it, in the next door bar, by chance), we would almost certainly have ordered something off it if we had seen it. I was very disappointed with my salad (how can you...

The Anchor Inn has been transformed by its current/new owner. Its now a pub that appears to suit all age groups, families, friends and locals. The staff were friendly and welcoming. We enjoyed a drink and took a very nice take-away pizza. Next time we...

I was very surprised to see the change in the pub where I first me my husband 25 years ago. Lovely conservatory eating area and vast outdoor space. We all ate the lamb roast and were extremely impressed with the food, particularly the roasties! Looking...

I booked a table for 8 at 4pm( two families of 4) on bank holiday Monday. Shown to a lovely bright sunroom. The waitress advised they had been inundated with diners so there was a lot not being offered from the menu as they had...

Popped in to this pub as passing and was able to get a table for two. My wife and myself shared a white bait starter followed by two burgers n chips, two beers and two glasses of wine. This came to £60 , now how...

As recently re opened we went in for a quick breakfast. Very friendly staff and a very enjoyable breakfast. Will certainly visit again

Absolutely lovely place, very kind and friendly with really good food and better still dog friendly. Have been a few times now will definitely be going back. Thank you so much Jan Del & Denzil