Located adjacent to Harvey Nichols in the city centre, the Crown & Anchor is one of Joseph Holtâs premier pub restaurants. Its recent refurbishment has left it with a new drinking area complete with plasma screen, a freshly designed dining area and extended exterior seating.
For a relatively old building, the Crown & Anchor looks rather contemporary from the outside and successfully maintains this modern mood throughout the interior. The bar area is rather welcoming and this is reinforced by the friendly bar and waiting staff. My eating partner and I were each provided with a drink and then shown to our seats. We would usually choose a different drink each to try and get a better idea of the range of drinks provided, which were quite extensive, but knowing that Holtâs own Diamond lager was available, we opted for that.
The dining area was rather pleasant. The tables were suitably spread and the soft lighting was pretty much perfect; not harsh in the slightest but I was still able to see what I was eating. We decided to skip appetizers and went straight to the main course. If we had decided to have a starter, we would have been faced with a fairly wide range of options from Soup of the day (£2.70), to Crispy Duck Rolls (£4.60) and even an Indian selection (£5.15).
For our main we were spoiled for choice to be honest. We could have chosen from a range of salads from £6.95, including Pan-fried Chicken and Bacon; a number of hot baguettes or ciabattas; a choice of fish dishes such as a Fresh Salmon fillet served with vegetables and choice of potato; a selection of Jacket potatoes; something from the grill, one of which could have been a 10oz ribeye (£11.95) and on top of all that a wide range of classic mains such as Beef Chilli (£6.40) and Cumberland Sausage and Mash (£6.70)
My colleague went for the Steak and Ale pie (£7.10) but with mash instead of chips in an attempt to âtestâ the skills of the mashers. He believes that one of the keys to establishing whether somewhere does good food is in the mash, he gave it two thumbs up and the same went for his pie. This is a great complement as he claims to be somewhat of a pie connoisseur. I decided to go for the beef goulash (£7.95). The goulash was sweet and tangy with nice big chunks of tender beef, the rice was fairly basic but was well cooked. It was served with a side salad and half a crusty baguette, both of which were fresh and crisp.
For dessert (the large majority of which were £3.40) I sampled the Jam Roly Poly with custard. It arrived promptly after our main course and was very nicely presented. It could have been a little more moist but the custard soon remedied that. My colleague took on the Manchester Tart at this stage, for geographical reasons. He was slightly disappointed with his choice as the custard on the top was slightly dry but did not hesitate to wolf down the rest of it. Also on the dessert menu was; Chocolate Pudding, Apple Pie and a selection of Ice Cream.
Kids are allowed in the bar in the hours that food is served which is 12pm to 7pm. To cater for the little ones there is a kids menu featuring the likes of chicken nuggets and fish & chips. There is also a kids healthy menu available in case youâve been listening to Jamie Oliver. Also available on the menu is a series of hot or cold snacks including nachos, chips and garlic bread.
On the whole we really enjoyed our lunchtime at the Crown & Anchor. The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly which suits the warm design of the interior perfectly. The wide range of drinks available is only outdone by the massive variety of choice on the menu. The food is of good quality and this being a city centre pub, the prices mean you are getting excellent value for money. I would recommend the Crown & Anchor to anyone looking for a relaxing lunch or a great value dinner in the city centre.