Anchor in Babergh

Great find, great food, friendly staff, reasonable pricing

Booked for birthday meal with the family, we got our table pointed out to us then sat and waited ten mins with no one asking us if we’d like a drink or anything so got up and left. Explaining to the girl with her hands in her pockets behind the bar why we were leaving.

Discovered this lovely pub on Sunday. Great atmosphere, food was excellent and the staff were very friendly - especially Judy behind the bar. Thank you!

This was my second visit to the Anchor Inn and was looking forward to going back. However, the wait for food was far too long (over 45 minutes) and when it did arrive it was cold, so much so I had to ask for it to be reheated. The food was average at best and pretty expensive for what was delivered. The servers were nice and the setting was also nice. Unfortunately though, the food was a big disappointment which was a real shame

Such a beautiful pub which is made even better by the incredibly friendly bar staff and the food produced there is way way beyond the standard of food I expected to find in a pub the home made cheesecake was to die for.

Great food, fantastic service .

A lovely pub with great atmosphere and fantastic food.

Good well cooked food. Nice atmosphere and staff.

Very friendly inn, nice informal seating area for a drink and bar snack, and a nice restaurant for a proper meal. Good selection of beers, food really nice and reasonably priced. Staff were very friendly without being intrusive. Highly recommended.

Great friendly place with a lovely atmosphere. Only had a light lunch, jacket potato which was average. Great attentive staff.

My in laws came to the Anchor inn and was pleasantly impressed by a member of your staff we believe her name was Julie she was not only helpful she made their visit enjoyable so much so that without a doubt they will be returning So a big thank you to this lady

First time going there and everything was brilliant

A proper village pub that's open every day where you can go just for a drink. Warm and cosy in the winter with comfy upholstered seating and sunny, with the outside/inside seating, in the summer. And great food that's reasonably priced.

A clean and pleasant pub with good food and friendly staff. The service on this weekday lunchtime was excellent.

Friendly, fabulous food, served very fast. Highly recommend.

Had a lovely meal. Can definitely recommend the chicken and ribs. Friendly staff. Dog friendly (bar)

We travel to the Anchor for birthdays because we love the food there. The staff are friendly and efficient. For me their excellent gluten free brownies are a treat.

Best food I have eaten in a long time. Happy atmosphere, the menu is perfect!!!

Went for breakfast this morning. Nice food, good service, lovely surrounding. Excellent value for money

Limited vegetarian options. Food was ok. Lovely pub

Booked for a birthday meal at the weekend. Had sent a preorder (as requested) via WhatsApp as couldn’t find an email address. When we arrived we stated we had preordered but they couldn’t find it, so we had to order from the main menu as not allowed the festive menu and then told the 2 things most of us wanted were unavailable. We therefore chose some starters that we had enjoyed previously at the Anchor inn but these were not of the same quality as before. We realised it was a busy time of year but our mains and sides were disappointing too, with one pizza not being sent as vegan (luckily one of the couple was willing to go veggie that night!), the onion rings greasy and bland and the fish goujons thin and overcooked with a strange, what may have been a tartare, sauce that tasted of seafood. One dessert was sent incorrectly and others not well described in the menu. However, this was a birthday meal and more important to us to have time with family so we would have taken this better if the attitude towards us from the staff was more caring. The fact that the meal we had been looking forward to for 8 people was messed up because a WhatsApp message had been missed, despite it being advertised on website as a communication method, and then a lack of food being available, was met with complete disregard and lack of care. From reading other reviews on Google about this pub I am expecting to be slated for our review but I hope that the staff at the Anchor Inn do take some note of this as not only have we changed our booking for a large party next year to another location but we were frequently recommending the Anchor Inn to friends and family. This experience has changed our enjoyment of it.

Had a Christmas meal with my vw club. Great afternoon great food great staff. Would go back fir find and drink. Lovely place.

Thankyou for a great Xmas meal from suffolk bgrs Vw club 💕 Brilliant staff and food . Thankyou for your hospitality. We will be back 💕👍

Excellent Christmas meal, delicious food, brilliant service and a great time had by all.

Tasty pub food. A good variety of dishes is offered. Nicely presented. Beautifully decorated for the festive season. Clean and relaxing environment. Friendly staff. Very helpful, attentive, and polite. Will definitely return.

Just had the Christmas lunch at the Anchor, it was fabulous. Staff were lovely as always, highly recommend.

We came last minute for a Sunday dinner. Myself and 3 children Food was fabulous and amended to meet my children's wishes. Portions were incredible! Great childrens sheet for their entertainment. Service was kind and we really enjoyed our time there.

Disappointed tbh. Nice venue with a lovely atmosphere. But.....starters were inconsistent with portions with some of us getting a big pile of white bait and some getting 4/5 little bits. When we told the waiter and showed the two plates in my photo he said "I guess one got lucky". Umm no you make sure your chefs are consistent. Knives and forks weren't handed to each person on the table of 8, instead they were thrown on a pile at the end of the table with a "hand them round to eachother" being thrown out as the waitress walked away. 2 of our meals were completely forgotten about when it came to mains. These 2 meals ended up coming out when the rest of us had basically finished. The mains weren't great with my ribs being cold and another on our table saying the Alfredo was clumpy as if It had been reheated. And OF COURSE one of the dessert orders was also wrong so had to be sent back for the correct order. All in all very disappointed as we came here for my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. They were actually a little bit upset by it. This place needs to redesign it's menu, way too many options to ensure quality/ease of service. On top of this a massive party was brought into the area around our table. We assumed they were in for a large table as they were hanging around being very loud. But turns out they were in a completely different room as they eventually walked out of our area. Spoilt the nice atmosphere for a large portion of our time there.

food was not nice at all. the sever tried to bring us food that wasn’t ours and when we mentioned that one of our party’s ribs was cold, she offered the ribs to be reheated for us. meaning the rest of the food would have been left to go cold… when the ribs were brought back out to us 20mins later this time being hot, we were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of grease coating all of the food which isn’t pleasant at all onion rings were raw and had the thinnest batter you could imagine on them the bun of my burger was so soggy it tasted pre-chewed, service wasn’t great because they were to busy chatting behind that bar would have been nice to had been asked if we wanted another drink despite our glasses being empty for half the meal. and that way we could have had something to wash the taste of grease and oil out of our mouths… won’t be coming back sadly as this was one of our favourite pubs

The chicken pie was amazing. Packed with meat and very tasty

Just had an evening meal food was beautiful staff were lovely fairly priced will definitely be going there again 👍👍👍👍👍

A lovely place, with wonderful staff and excellent food. Cannot fault anything about our visit. Thank you all so much. Will certainly be visiting very soon.

It is a really nice friendly pub, it has a comfortable atmosphere and the food is of a good pub standard and price.

Lovely pub run by the locals which is one of the reasons they are so friendly and helpful. There was a good choice of food and it was delicious and a good size portion. Definitely going back again

Made to feel very welcome on our first ever visit, lovely meal , great service and will definitely be going back soon.

Disappointed with some of the food but after I pointed out the chicken ribs were over cooked all I got was an empty apology and a “I’ll pass it on”. I spent nearly £500 there with my colleagues and because they offer nothing to make up for the poor food I will not book again.

Been there a few times now. Nice food . Lots of menu choices. Reasonably priced. Like the fact we can take our little dachshund there with us too

Very poor quality food. The sort that you get in a school canteen.

Absolutely wonderful food, great atmosphere absolutely love it here.

One of the nicest ploughman's I have had complimented with a great home made sausage roll. Julie was really lovely looked after us well

Staff friendly and food lovely, place clean plus great atmosphere.Definitely be revisiting

Not for me. Beer garden is on the main road no good with kids.

Honestly food is incredible! Service is lovely, can't complain about anything! 😁

A really lovely pub with lots of indoor and outdoor seating, great food (with plenty of veggie options) and friendly staff. Enjoyed a nice breakfast, will be back to try out the lunch and dinners for sure.

Had Sunday lunch for the second time. Would highly recommend it. Friendly and attentive service that made you feel very welcome and comfortable. Food was absolutely delicious and as for the cauliflower cheese, no lack of cheese, we joked with the staff that we could do with a pair of scissors to help with serving it onto our plate. Large plates with large servings at a reasonable price and lots of choice.

Friendly staff and fantastic food. They do a most wonderful Christmas Dinner

It was my first time there today. Great food, very well priced and lovely inside and out the back. Friendly staff also. Will be going back 👍 I recommend.

Had a meal here was good food! Staff friendly and very helpful. Pub was clean and lovely oldeny decor! Parking right outside. Nice little town round about for a walk after if full!!

Visited today with family, the first time in many years, wow very impressive. The staff very friendly & attentive. The menus are varied & have a great selection of food all at reasonable prices. I had the burger & could not fault it, very tasty. The choc bread & butter pudding also very tasty. For a Tuesday lunch they were very busy which was lovely to see. I will definitely be back. Recommended.

Popped in just now for what on previous visits was a nice dining experience. However... this is not the case this evening. 5/7/24. So I spent the best part of £50 on two meals, a sirloin steak and a pulled pork burrito.The later was inedible, disgusting, smelt off.

A very pleasant Inn in a delightful location. Food was very good and we were made to feel mist welcome (party of 7 walkers)

4 main meals very disappointing, poor quality steak, very small sea bass in no flavour meal; Aldi skin on fries; etc.etc. Staff not really wanting to be there. No atmosphere.

Fantastic food, great service, and fabulous atmosphere. I would definitely recommend attending woth friends 👌

First time in coming would go again does the menu ever change

Enjoyable lunch, quick service on a busy Saturday lunchtime. Thank you.

Delightful visit. The food was delicious. The staff were courteous. Food is well priced. Would definitely recommend this location based on my visit. I imagine parking on-site could be tricky if it was busy though.

Visited as we had a menu come through the door offering 5% or 10% during June depending on time of meal. Our leaflet said that we would be entitled a free loyalty card, valid for 12 months but there was no mention of it as as I wasn't feeling 100%, I was just happy to pay our bill as food was nice and we may not return for a long time anyway. Pub is lovely, inside and out and is on a couple of bus routes from Colchester with stops directly outside. It has a cosy interior around the old part of pub with a lovely bright extension and outside area with several more tables. Staff were very attentive and friendly. Food was well presented. I had the duck roll with hoisin sauce and sausage and mash. I was looking forward to the teriyaki salmon but it finished just as I was about to order.

Perfect service from Gabby, she was welcoming and attentive. Starter of duck spring rolls was delicious and piping hot, our mains were fantastic and the timing of everything was spot on! Clean and tidy pub with a gorgeous restaurant feel!

Service here was really good and unfaltering but unfortunately the food wasn't that great if I'm honest. I broke my rule of not having a roast dinner out because it never compares to one made at home. It was a busy sitting and maybe they had a off day in the kitchen.

Great service and excellent food

Julie was really friendly and attentive… food was lovely as always :)

Brilliant service , fresh , delicious food. I felt such a chilled out vibe and felt at welcome as soon as I walked in. Will 100% be returning and will be a regular

Absolutely fantastic food , staff absolutely amazing and so kind and sweet towards us , definitely come back again :)

Popped in on the way back from Ipswich as I'd heard good things so thought I'd give it a go and I wasn't disappointed. I chose the three course option for £25.50. Really well cooked and presented, lovely staff and a cracking pint of ale to go with it. The place is really well laid out with masses of space and the option to eat and drink outside with the tables having large umbrellas too. Plenty of parking, nice quiet setting, tastefully decorated, well definitely be back.

Fabulous service from the helpful staff - offered us a free drink as it was our ruby anniversary! Really nice food at reasonable prices. Dog friendly too! Would recommend…

Friendly staff with home made menu that caters for Gluten Free and other dietary requirements.

This review is in answer to the response from the owner to my wife’s negative but fair review of this establishment. Just for clarity, my wife is a trained chef so she does know what she’s talking about. 1. At no point were we asked if we had enjoyed our meals as intimated in the owners response. 2. The loaded fries have indeed received lots of similar negative comments, clearly visible on Google reviews. There was also absolutely not an option to choose toppings. 3. The steak bruschetta was indeed spicy. Not a problem for us but not mentioned on the menu. 4. The hummus was salty and inedible. 5. The waiting staff were not overly cheerful and a bit disinterested. We had to wait a fair while for our bill but still gave 10% gratuity. I have no idea why to be honest. The correct response from the owner should be: Please come back and we’ll try again to cook better food and make things better. We would happily have paid for this. Rather than, yeah well, best you don’t come back! Rude. Just plain rude. If everyone just posts positive comments, how is a business supposed to improve when it clearly needs to? Edit: Please don’t accuse me of lying. At NO point were we asked if we enjoyed the meal. We were ready with constructive criticism but weren’t asked. The food isn’t the real issue here, it’s your attitude. As you’ve said to another dissatisfied customer, take it on the chin and strive to improve. The gratuity was given purely for the waiting staff, we’re aware that gratuities are a significant portion of their income, that’s all.

Sadly, we had a really disappointing lunch today. After ordering the sesame prawn toast; we were told that we couldn't have this as the kitchen were having problems making it and couldn't keep it together when cooking it (if you can't make it - take it off the menu!!); the loaded fries were covered in a liquidy, over-processed yellow cheese sauce (should be a melted, mature cheddar) with very little loaded onto them apart from a few pieces of bacon and spring onions, the hummus was inedible (more like a salty, garlic dip) and the steak bruschetta had a spice to it that wasn't described on the menu. It's such a shame as we were hoping to find a lovely country pub to enjoy a bank holiday lunch at. Won't be returning sadly.

Staff were really friendly and made me feel welcome as I waited for my girlfriend to join me.

Has a disappointing lunch experience there yesterday, with the following issues: 1. I had noted in the booking that we were celebrating my Mum's birthday and this was not acknowledged in any way. Having owned a restaurant, I know how cheap and easy it is to do or even just say something for someone's special occasion, and the difference it can make. 2. It was only when we ordered our food that we were told that the pork hadn't yet been delivered for the day. This information should have been shared as soon as we were given our menus to avoid disappointment. 3. The loaded fries I had as a starter just had a bland 'cheese sauce' on top. Loaded fries should be smothered in a mature cheddar and this seemed quite lazy considering the margin that would still exist on such a dish, even using real cheese. 4. The four cheese pizza I ordered was almost certainly a margarita. Firstly, it had a tomato base, which I've never experienced with countless other four cheese pizzas. Secondly, although there was a lot of cheese on the pizza, it didn't taste like there was more than one, and that a bland cheddar. I would usually mention such issues as they arise, but I just wanted to have a good time with Mum, hence the feedback here. In the pub's favour, they do a good job of hosting my monthly book club and take American Express. The duck spring roll starter was also an excellent dish, according to my Mum. Turn up another day and/or order different dishes and you may well have a five star experience.

Brilliant and a gluten free menu

Good food friendly staff great service would recommend.

Just had a meal here for the first time since refit and it was lovely 😋 great size portions and the strawberry and white chocolate cheesecake was amazing 👏

We had a party of six, we have eaten here before for breakfast which was lovely, but our roast dinner today was very disappointing, although everything was there it was just all really cold! The potatoes were the weirdest thing I've ever tasted, the cauliflower cheese was swimming in water not cheese! We told the waitress who didn't really seem interested!. Unfortunately sorry to say we won't be back for roasts again, and at £160 a little steep!!..

Good choice on set menu reasonably priced Friendly service.Lovely relaxing birthday meal.

Good food and dog friendly he even got a bowl of water and biscuits.

An excellent venue Lovely Food Very Clean Helpful and Polite Staff Will definitely go there again 😀

Mediocre Sunday roast. I had the veggie roast as don’t eat meat, basically like stuffing with a few carrots. Felt like one of those cheap mixes. Tasteless gravy and roasted veg had no flavour. Fed up with the fact that many pub restaurants feel they can serve vegetarians a poor alternative without taste or imagination. My husband said the meat was bland. The conservatory at the back was tacky with plastic foliage and was basically a shed, although the main pub was cozy We won’t visit again.

Lovely pub, the breakfast was delicious, perfect amount of food.

The food is over priced, the burger was very greasy especially the onion rings, the sauce was cold and I was ill after eating the meal. I didn't mention it at the time as it was suppose to be my Birthday treat! Yes I do have the right Anchor, the Jus as you call it was cold, the onion rings in greasy batter and I was ill.. typical response of pub not listening to their customers

This is an exceptional location. The toilets are now unisex which was disconcerting for my wife.

Food was ok. Cheesey chips though with cheese sauce was a bit of a disaster would have been nice to have melted proper cheese. There isn't may veggie options However the pub itself is lovely

Went for a Sunday roast with my family today (03/03/24). It was amazing one of the best roast dinner’s we have had in a long time. Amazing food amazing staff and amazing atmosphere. Thank you

1st visit for our birthday men! Lovely food and lovely friendly staff! Another diet drink would be good! Sugar free sprite/ 7 up ???

Excellent Breakfast this morning, everything lovely and hot including the plate. Great quality at a very good price. Deceptively large building at the rear.

Had high expectations for this pub as we called in just for a drink but saw that almost all the tables in 3 different dining rooms were all reserved. Thinking that 'it must be good' if so many people have pre booked for Sunday lunch. We had breakfast as it was still morning. Good points: The breakfast menu had many excellent choices. The pub/restaurant/ toilets were very clean. Bad points: A nice friendly smile from the staff & management wouldn't go a miss. Definitely need to look at better customer service. Bacon, sausage and hass browns very over cooked (infact inedible) Will we return? Possibly 6/10

Stayed locally with friends and stopped for breakfast. Lovely food, friendly staff. Recommend a visit.

Great food and big portions. Reasonable prices and welcoming staff had Sunday lunch and others had burger meals could not fault h by

Such delicious food! The burger dipping sauce is a killer, so yummy! Service was super friendly and a lovely vibe.

New years eve party ,fantastic live band Robbie Gladwell and Friends , price for food was good but although the food came quick it was not as nice as it sounded. Ordered champange to see the new year but it didn't arrive.

Lovely place for lunch today ☺️ even the pup was spoilt with snacks ❤️

Granted, we went in at a quiet time, but we got a very friendly welcome from the staff and regulars. The customer at the bar even checked to make sure his golden retriever was not bothering us. The roasts were a decent sized portion and delicious!

Really welcoming old fashioned pub with good food and great service. Very pleasant and dog friendly. Great place to stop route

Visited on NYE for Dinner, our party of four were generally slightly disappointed with our food, service was fine on a busy evening, the band and atmosphere were excellent and as a result we really enjoyed our visit. The Manager was very helpful in his communication pre-meal.

Nice pub/restaurant, we were a party of 20, meals prebooked, and came out from the kitchen in good time. One meal was missing but once staff were informed it arrived very quickly. The staff were attentive and friendly. I would recommend for a family meal out.

Had a lovely breakfast and staff very polite and helpful

This pub is one of the best pubs for food I’ve been to…..and it just keeps getting better. Lunch today I had the burger, it was perfect, absolutely delicious. Elle had tuna melt on sour dough, again fabulous. Great staff and classic beamed English pub

Set Christmas meal quality was very disappointing, the vegetables were either rock hard or mushy, not much flavour & the lamb was all fat & bone.

Brilliant pub, absolutely fab food and decent wine. Very happy. Will definitely be back again

It was our first visit but it will not be our last. The atmosphere was cosy, all the staff were welcoming and attentive and most importantly, the food was plentiful and delicious. Extremely good value for money.