Blue Anchor Pub & Restaurant in Ashford

Visited with family which included a two year old child. The pub is a lovely local country pub, clearly popular with the locals. A very traditional Kentish feel to the place. The restaurant side is quite small so we would recommend booking on a weekend. The menu is quite limited( which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The food was good, nice fish and chips. Portion size was ok. Very friendly and helpful staff. Must point out no children’s meals, however the omelet was nice and eaten without issue! A nice pub in a nice area.

Why is this quiet on a Saturday night. The very best steak au poivre I have tasted. Amazing. The service was so friendly

We had a lovely afternoon in this fab pub. The food was far superior to other visits in the Ashford area recently. The fillet steak was spot on for me but the star of the show was the French Onion soup!! The hostess was very pleasant and the whole service was extremely efficient. The pub itself looked very welcoming. In these difficult times it was a real treat and that’s why I have written this review!!

It was quiet when we went, but that must have been due to the hot weather. We were served very efficiently and the food was unpretentious and delicious. The staff were very courteous and helpful. I would highly recommend this pub.

We were staying for two nights in the area and decided to eat at the Blue Anchor the first night as it was within walking distance (and a pleasant enough walk from any direction I would think, the roads to the village are very quiet.) The service was welcoming and we enjoyed our meals enough on the first night to return the second night as well. We both had crêpes the first night and on the second I had chicken forestière followed by a delicious orange liqueur sundae and my partner had a cheese and bacon burger which he found to be very good, particularly for the price. The only reason I haven't given five stars is because, due to the dining area and bar being close together and open to each other, it was hard to have a romantic dinner with the loud conversation and occasional language wafting over from the regulars in the bar, although if I wasn't trying to have a romantic dinner this wouldn't bother me at all, and it is always nice to see people supporting their local pubs!

The staff were lovely, so accommodating and very helpful. We all had such a lovely time with beautifully food! I ordered sea-bass which was a special on the menu and it was lovely! I really enjoyed the French onion soup as my starter too! We will be back again, this pub is everything you could want for a cosy country feel. If you get the chance to visit, you really must!

We have had another super visit. The fillet steak and rochefort sauce is so good but so is everything.

How lovely to be able to dine out again at The Blue Anchor. Staff very welcoming and helpful. Very friendly pub and our food today was absolutely delicious. My starter of mussels were the best I have tasted , my main course was also very tasty and the lemon flan ended a very appetising and delightful meal. My wife had the starter of smoked salmon stuffed with prawns as her main meal with the addition of new potatoes and salad, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Visited this pub on a bank holiday afternoon. Despite there being a lot of people in the pub, mainly in the outside area, the staff took time to chat to us, and look after us. The food was deliscous, and my vegan daughter was provided for. I could not recommend this pub more highly.

There was nothing really wrong with this pub save for the fact we were the only ones in it and not even the bar staff talked to us. Also the internal decor is rather miserable and old fashioned in a dark sort of way due to lack of daylight with toilets right next to the dining area.

The scallop starter was very good, the French onion soup was ok but the steaks were excellent! We had a nice evening in ok surroundings.

Great meal at the Blue Anchor. Staff were very helpful in respect to dietary requirements. The inside décor is a bit tired, but once the food arrives you forget about the décor. I will be happy to eat here again which says it all really.

Everyone has a reservation about saying that they have never had a bad experience at a particular restaurant, because you dont want to jinx it....but we always have a fabulous meal when visiting this place; 3 generous courses for £21 is very good value. This is a very well established favourite of ours, tables are limited so suggest booking ahead

Visited yesterday evening with friends. Our host had been on numerous occasions. However, we were greeted very warmly by the owner and made to feel very welcome. The menu was very varied and to suit all tastes and all reasonably priced. Our food was well prepared and enjoyed by all. In fact an excellent evening was had by all. We will definitely visit again.

Lovely food, friendly and professional service. Plentiful portions. Clean toilets. Good to see a pub that welcomes dogs.

Have revisited the Blue Anchor several times in the last month.Great menu spoilt for choice.Fixed price £21 for 3 courses or al a carte.All the food has been perfectly cooked service was class.Those of us of certain age will remember Annabelle and Jackie from the Rowan tree in Hythe(a few years ago).This is the best pub food you will get anywhere

Party of 6 to celebrate a birthday, we all had starters which were delicious especially the prawn and mushrooms, generously served with tasty bread. The fillet steaks were amazingly perfectly cooked and super tasty. Highly recommend and will be back.

Excellent service from the lady owner and her French husband, the chef. Wonderful mussels and duck and great French fries.Will keep on returning! A lovely place , great food.It is a proper local pub, so expect that. However, a young man with a BMW badge on his shirt was swearing loudly and consistently the whole time we were there while his dog was loose to run around. Apart from his close circle of companions,his very rude behaviour could have spoiled the evening for us and others.

I came here today to enjoy a burger which was said to be absolutely magnificent. My expectations were high! And boy, did they not dissapoint. I could not decide between a cheese and bacon burger or a garlic butter burger. Kindly, my server offered me both in one burger!!! I was blown away with how well cooked and seasoned the burger was. The Brióche bun was perfect with the heavy beef flavour. And the sharpness of the cheese and smokiness of the bacon added texture and a binding agent for the flavors. On top of this, a creamy and subtle garlic butter made this burger into the monster it was! The fries (to my suspision) were indeed hand cut. I do believe they could have been cooked a little longer to have more crisp. However this was redeemed by the homemade coleslaw which accomponied the burger and fries extremely well. Service was great, food was excellent.Keep up the great work. - Ethan

Another fantastic visit to the Blue Anchor, this time for Mother's Day lunch.The set menu is such great value: two courses for £18 or three courses for £20. Coffee is included as well.The menu may not be extensive but does have sufficient variety with the set menu consisting of a choice of 4-5 different starters, mains and desserts.The food is delicious and full of flavour with most dishes having a French theme. Clearly much thought and care goes into preparing and executing each dish.It's tiny inside so booking in advance is a must and it's a little off the beaten track but is only a short drive from Ashford and is definitely worth a visit.

We have eaten here several times now both for lunch and evening meals. Good food with various choices and even a good set menu 3 courses for £20 - evenings too. Try the duck - delicious.

Can only echo other reviewers - very tasty French menu, friendly welcome. Excellent value set menu (3 courses/£20). But also main menu has something for everyone, from a snack upwards. Tucked away in Brabourne Lees, got parked on road just opposite. Don't miss it!

This wonderful little oasis is becoming a regular luncheon fixture for us. Well worth the 50 minute drive. Spectacular French cuisine, friendly personal service and great beer/wine. There is also a small sheltered garden for the better weather.

I teally like this small and cozy pub and restaurant. Lots of locals plus passer bys. We had some lunch whisch was really nice with above average portion sizes.

Both my wife and I had a "let's not bother cooking" moment after two full days at work and having seen that "the anchor" had started a burger bar in the village directory we decided to walk to the pub.

Love this pub. We are landlord and landlady of Woolpack just up the road. Had a rare evening out, great steak, lovely atmosphere highly recommend it.

A super little country pub with Superb food , consistently good beer and great service. Always a friendly welcome.

Thoroughly recommended for a great meal at a great price in a really quaint little restaurant. Avery good value fixed price menu is available alongside an A la Carte that is also reasonably priced.

Vivimos unos pocos minutos a pie de este pub local agradable que casualmente tienen su propio chef excepcional así como un rango aceptable de cervezas. Comimos aquí cada mes o así y la comida y el servicio no puede ser criticada, pero ten cuidado. Los aseos están. Ubicado en el área del restaurante y el bar a veces ruidoso es muy al alcance de la mano. Así que si estás buscando una cena romántica, que no es para ti, si por otro lado tienes una débil vejiga y pobre oyéndola será perfecto. Ahora, esto no debería disuadir de ir, los otros comentarios son casi como uno solo en decir lo bonito que es y son correctos; me gustaría ver la zona restaurante cambiaron a la vuelta de la esquina en la zona de bar y me quejo no más!

Mi esposa y yo visitamos este encantador pub regularmente, más a menudo a la hora de comer, disfrutar de una comida de la buena comida acompañada de excelentes cervezas.

Surprise yourself and eat here. This is a real locals pub, where there is barely standing room at the bar at weekends. Yet the food is superb French cuisine. Incongruous but true.

we visit here regularly for dinner in the evening, staff are always friendly and the food is always good, particularly the sea food crepes

This small pub restaurant with a French themed menu serves delicious food time and again.The menu is a little limited but still provides sufficient variation and the set menu of 3 courses for £20 represents excellent value. The steak is particularly good.Staff are always friendly and attentive and service is quick.

Whether you choose from the French menu or the Sunday Roast, you won't be disappointed. The atmosphere is always friendly and welcoming and you won't get a better pint anywhere in Kent. Tucked away from the passing traffic opposite the village green in Brabourne Lee's about five miles from Ashford.

Lovely local village pub. The best food around but have to book as always seems busy. Locals and staff very friendly making it ideal even if you want a quick pint. Best of all worlds.

This is a regular village pub, obviously popular with locals. The landlord is a very good French chef and the service and his great cooking raise this place to another level!We enjoyed tasty moule marineu followed by a good steak , well cooked.It's quite small and you may need to book.

We are very local to the pub and met up with friends. The pub is clean, small with a nice atmosphere. The food is ok here but the menu is super limited. Which would put me off from revisiting for a meal.

We love coming here to eat, it's a lovely pub to come to, very friendly staff and amazing food.We usually come with the children but we had a night off so came just the two of us, we had the tapas to share as a starter then my wife enjoyed the blue cheese and spinach crepes whilst I had the Margaret de canard which was fantastic. Prices are very reasonable and you always leave with a smile on your face.We will be coming back and telling everyone to come here too.

A very friendly country pub, we chose from the tapas menu - no problem replacing meat options with fish to suit us. Really well presented, very tasty and excellent value. Quite a surprise in the depths of Kent countryside, would definitely return.

I suggested this pub for its location for a meet up with an old friend. It was a Thursday evening and we decided to eat there. We where so surprised at how good the food was, I had the mushroom starter (yum) and the steak and I can honestly say it was the best steak I have had in any restaurant in the UK for a very long time.(I cook a great steak so stopped visiting other restaurant in the area). The service was great, can highly recommend!!

This cosy little restaurant was recommended by a friend and I have since been back numerous times, for lunch or dinner. The service is good and the menu offers a good choice of lighter bites, a set menu and a la carte. Starters and mains particularly good. Food is well presented and tasty and very good value for money.

Visited for the first time with family having heard good reviews. The restaurant is in a picturesque quiet village , a lovely location. We were warmly greeted and seated in the restaurant. The restaurant is a large room with a bar at one end and a log burner at the other end. The restaurant was busy with what appeared a lot of regular customers which must speak for itself. We ordered our food which arrived and was very tasty , no particular complaints about any of the food it was very good but lacked the wow factor. The House wine was very very sweet and not to our taste. The other wines were very good. I must add the food is very reasonably priced. This is not a fine dining restaurant and lacks a certain finesse but is still worth a visit.

We went there few times as we love it . Became one of my favourite place to eat . The landlady is very friendly . The food is always perfectly cooked , tasty and well presented . I like the cosy atmosphere with the fire and the fact that it's a small place but you don't feel crowded . three course meal for £25 . Good value for money . Especially when the food is delicious .

We come here as often as we can. The French style food is superb, the beer great and the service friendly and attentive. This is an amazing little oasis that can be a little difficult to find but is well worth hunting down.

We were regular visitors to the Blue Anchor and enjoyed the banter among owners and regulars. Sadly they moved on but were still determined to give the new owners a go. What a difference. Tired food, tired waitress ans overall a pretty dismal experience. We went back again in the hope that it was teething problems and a one off: sadly it wasn't. So if you're used to 70's school dinners, you won't be dissapointed. Sadly for us, we won't be going back.

Great to see Annie and Jacqui back. Chicken crepe tasted the same. Sunday roast lamb was as you expect very good. Loved the log burner and warm welcome.

I came in here expecting at least average food and service based on the reviews on TripAdvisor. Unfortunately, I found the service to be both poor and unfriendly, and the food to be very mediocre. While I understand that they were going for imitation French food, it ended up being more like aspirational pub food. The service was not very welcoming, and the waitress barely acknowledged our table. It's unfortunate that the overall experience was unimpressive.

The menu here has a slight French leaning. The food is good, hot, and tasty. The staff are friendly and the welcome warm. Particularly tasty and filling, are the crepes.

A tiny gastropub, nestled in a small Kentish village, this is an easy place to miss, but if you do, you will be missing out. Only half a dozen tables or so are in front of a crackling log burner in this delightful traditional setting. The food, unsurprisingly given the proximity to the sea, has a strong bias towards seafood and French cuisine. We had a delightful duck with cherry sauce however. Price wise, very reasonable for the high quality of the food. £19.95 for a 3 course set menu with coffee, and the set menu actually offers a fairly wide range of options. The approach is rustic and no-nonsense. On the plus side, that means really excellent portion sizes, on the downside (if you like that sort of thing) , don't expect fancy wine etiquette. (We were given the bottle to serve ourselves and no wine cooler provided). However, the service is extremely friendly and personal, and the laid back ambience of the place wouldn't suit fancy "fine dining" table waiting anyway. We will definitely return, as this is without doubt one of the nicest restaurants in the area, at a price which makes regular visits very manageable.

Great to see Annie and Jaqui back I the UK. Blue Anchor is different to what they had before. Some of the old menu available. Standard of food was high. It felt very new but that will change. Very enjoyable lunch. Will be going again soon

Since we were thinking of moving to this area, we stopped in at The Blue Anchor for lunch. We were well treated to lovely comfort food, and the owner of the place tried to help,with our questions about the area. I loved it from the first minute! Do go out of your way to try this lovely restaurant/pub!

Super food, nice ambience. Highly recommended. Visited a couple of weeks ago with friends and we all had Moles and frites as a lunch and returned for this week for a very nice dinner with friends.

Annabel and Jacky (previously Rowan Tree in Hythe) have returned to England after several years in their restaurant in France. Hooray! They are very astute in that they haven't changed their a la carte menu and the food is as good as it ever was......delicious! My favourite brochette de poulet is just as I remembered it, and the blue cheese and spinach crepe makes my mouth water just thinking about it.The food is like seeing old friends - as you get exactly the good standard you remembered and grew to expect, and the price is reasonable - so you not only have an enjoyable experience but it's also very affordable!Welcome back. Now that we've found you again we shall keep coming back.ps and my husband is thrilled that you now have real ales!

New owners but food and service not as good. Friday night very quite, apart from a noisy lad atthe bar, which is close to the dining area. Food very old fashioned, with lashings of large lettuce leaves !!! Good to have a pub restaurant in the village, hope things improve.

Called in on Saturday night because we wanted a non-chain place to eat. (We were staying in a local Premier Inn and could have easily walked next door) So, was it worth the drive ? Yes it was. We had great food, good service and some good beer & wine. Would happily go back if we are in the Channel Tunnel area again.

Went last Friday for a meal with some friends and had a wonderfull dinner.the food and service was above my expectation I will recommend without hesitation anyone to visit this place for lunch or evening meal .Well done to the new owner jacky for having creating such a pleasant retreat .Value for money as well

The Blue Anchor is a lovely old world pub, quaint and cosy and Annabelle & Jacky serve up a delicious menu that is very reasonably priced. We recently visited with a group of friends and the Moules were absolutely delicious. The food is every bit as good as it was when they ran the Rowan Tree Restaurant in Hythe in the late 90's. For anyone who liked the Rowan Tree you will love the Blue Anchor. It's a good idea to ring and book first as it gets quite busy.

I booked a table at this restaurant to have a celebration meal on my wife's birthday , and was not dissapointed . The proprietors , Jacky and Annabelle previously owned a restaurant in Hythe which was excellent , and have not lost their touch . There is a warm atmosphere as soon as you walk into this pub / restaurant , and the menu is all of the old favourites that I remember . It has that "French" feel about it ,and the choice , although limited is very tasty . The food and service was excellent , and also the welcome . We will be returning with friends very shortly .

We very much enjoyed our trip to the Blue Anchor. The restaurant looks very much the same, but the menu is quite different. We were impressed by the quality of food, service and somewhat taken aback by the exceptional value for money. It is a place that will continue to be one we visit when in the area. Good luck and well done to the new team!

I visited mid week with friends, the staff were friendly and welcoming. The food was excellent, a good choice of potatoes plenty of vegetables. A good price. The staff could not do enough for us, we will definitely be back. I have eaten here before, and the food and welcome is always good.

I took my mum here for Mothers Day last year & again this year. I've also had Sunday lunch here a couple of months. Food is so good & such great value. The staff are so friendly & helpful. We had a wonderful afternoon. The Blue Anchor is a wee gem. You won't b disappointed. I'm booking to come back in a couple of weeks.

Lovely cosy little restaurant, relaxed and attentive service. The menu was not expensive and had some really nice sounding dishes on it. I'd recommend the goats cheese and pear starter and the lamb rump main (jus/ sauce was amaaazing). 2 starters, 2 mains, 2 pints, a glass of wine and 2 soft drinks and it came to less than £50. amazing value for money, will be returning.

This was my first visit and I didn't know what a perfect little gem was right on my doorstep.The welcome was warm and friendly and the food was absolutely delicious. We had two lovely starters, 2 delicious guinea fowl mains, a couple of glasses of wine plus sparkling water for just £43.00 (amazing value). It was very relaxing too - just a perfect evening. I will definately be back

Lovely family run pub! The food at this establishment never disapoints its always amazing. Sunday lunches are also Delightful and such great value for money. Every dish is always so tasty and always comes with a great variety of fresh vegtables. great service and lovely food what more can you ask for! :-)

Took the mother-in-law here for a Sunday lunch last week. Very friendly staff, very generous portions, very reasonably priced, VERY NICE. Will definitely go again when we're down that way.

Visited here with a friend to catch up with the gossip and latest news.We had a lovely meal, excellent food, great service and never felt rushed.Will definitely be back

Well I am very pleased to live so close to a superb pub/restaurant. In fact we can walk to it in 5 minutes if we are not busy chatting. We have been coming here for a good few years and not once have we been disappointed. We always take friends and family when they visit but I generally go with some delightful lady friends. The dinner menu is excellent and it always takes us ages to decide (we are known for it) but lovely Jackie always brings us a bottle of red wine to aid our choices. Our favourites are the chilli prawns or scallops to start followed by duck which is sublime (everything cooked by Jackie's husband). We often choose other dishes but are generally swayed by the above choices. If a lunch visit is on the cards the steak/onion/mushroom baguette with chips is to 'die for'.It is a very sociable venue and we are always warmly welcomed. It is excellent value.I will never hesitate to recommend a visit to this fine hostlery.

We have dined at the Blue Anchor a few times and have to say that every time the food and hospitality has been terrific. It is all cooked to order, so there's always a 20min wait or so, but the pleasant atmosphere means the time doesn't matter. There are lunchtime meals available as well - sandwiches, baguettes, wraps, soup, salads, omelettes, etc.It can get busy (locals know a good value meal when they see one!) Fri/Sat evenings and some Sunday lunchtimes, but the service doesn't seem to suffer. The Sunday menu offers three roasts and everything on a Sunday is priced in one, two or three courses.There is a good range of choices on the menu - various fish, pork, beef, lamb and game dishes plus more than one vegitarian option. Good selection of starters and desserts as well. Main courses are priced about £9 - 13; starters and desserts about £4 each.There are always two ales available - Doom Bar and another regularly changed guest ale, as well as all the usual other selections of lager, cider, wines and spirits.Atmosphere is very good and there are two distinct dining areas. Most tables are four-seaters, with some two and one larger (maybe eight?) in its own snug. There's a covered patio at the front (ideal for smokers) and a garden at the back, with several picinc-tables.