Katherine MacAlister visits The Anchor and finds a worthy opponent in the busy catering scene

It’s the kind of place you’d come to meet a soldier on leave in the 1950s,” my friend Nick said pursing his lips as he purveyed the parlour-style dining room at The Anchor in Jericho.

The former Oxford boozer was doing a roaring trade on Saturday night when we arrived horribly late, our bus having been delayed by 45 minutes, meaning we arrived hungry and flustered.

“Not to worry,” the boys had texted when we’d warned them. “The Anchor has the rugby on in the bar and free WiFi, so we are happy as Larry. Take your time.”

And as we waited at the cold, dark bus stop we could imagine them enjoying the gentle dining area with its wooden tables and black and white parquet flooring. And while there are no palms, tinkling music or waiters in penguin suits, it’s not far off.

Blowing in like an autumnal warning, we found the boys perched comfortably at a table in the corner, nibbling on bread and enjoying a bottle of the fabulous Rioja, which we ploughed through for the rest of the evening.

It was the perfect venue for meeting up with old friends, still offering that tantalising air of somewhere new and exciting, even though it’s been open since November 2013.

The menu follows. Very Enid Blyton, decent food – mackerel, mussels, new potatoes with mint and butter, roast beetroot with watercress, roast peaches with elderflower sorbet, good, clean fodder that you might expect at the vicarage, with overtones of Downton’s Mrs Patmore.

There are also some modern additions thrown in for good measure, to ensure we don’t wander up memory lane permanently – tiger prawns, the house cheeseburger, a good selection of steaks, a reminder that we have moved on since the days of the empire.

Acoustically it’s quite noisy, the E-shaped bar leading through into the next room, the ceilings high, and as all the boys, including Mr Greedy have grown beards, conversation was rather muffled and we had to shout.

All good preparation for when we’re older I’m sure, so bring an ear trumpet if you have one, no one would bat an eyelid. A monocle wouldn’t go amiss either.

The menu was simple, delicious and uncrowded. As we were so late, understandably most of the specials had gone, as well as the wonderful sounding mussels in a sage and cider sauce, and fries, which Nick blamed us for all the way through the meal.

He was placated with the duck salad £6/£10 (crispy duck, watercress and mooli) which arrived beautifully laid out on the plate and tasted divine.

The mackerel was also suitably soothing, chargrilled and served with watercress and beetroot (£6). The special – roasted Jerusalem artichoke, little gem and blue cheese salad was another little nostalgic gift of wonder. The blue cheese was a Shropshire so more gentle, which blended beautifully with the nutty artichokes and crispness of the lettuce.

And while we tried a great mix of mains from the lamb rump (£16) served with bulgar wheat, aubergine roast peppers and pine nuts, which drew great compliments about it’s slightly crusty outside and pink inside, as well as the quinoa, feta and roasted squash salad with pine nuts – a lovely juicy, soukish dish – the chicken won wings down.

Served ironed and flat, as a half or quarter, with garlic butter and chips (£9/£14) nothing had prepared us for the moist, garlicky tender, dripping, barbecued, chargrilled bird. “Exceptional,” Mr Greedy announced wiping his newly acquired facial hair with the enthusiasm of Brian Blessed.

“You could come here and just eat chips and drink red wine,” we all agreed whole-heartedly as we pondered dessert, settling on the vanilla pannacotta with poached pears in red wine (£6), and the roast peaches with an elderflower sorbet (£6), even though we were all stuffed to the brim.

They were worth the discomfort, again beautifully simple, the flavours and expertise ensuring a stellar finish and taste.

Reluctantly we sailed out into the autumnal evening. A charming evening then, soldiers or not.

ESSENTIALS

The Anchor
2 Hayfield Road Oxford OX2 6TT. 
01865 510282 
theanchoroxford.com

The people: Julian Rosser, who owns The Crown in Woodstock, The Duke of Cambridge in Little Clarendon Street and House off the High Street, Oxford.

Parking: There is a car park.

Opening hours: Monday to Friday   9am to 11pm.
Saturday and Sunday 10am to 11pm.

Do try: The children’s menu – £6.95 for three courses.