Review of Blue Anchor Feering for food in historic building

The family-owned The Blue Anchor is a converted 16th century coaching inn which is now a boutique hotel and restaurant.

Night - There is a different menu for the day than at night at The Blue Anchor (Image: Newsquest) Booking was required for the restaurant and my party of three was chaperoned into a ‘zone’ of the restaurant.

Medium size tables seemed to be in the middle with tables with a usual capacity of up to 10 behind us.

The sight of a roaring, and very hot, fire at 7pm on an October Thursday night was welcoming and suited the historic venue, which you could tell by its wooden framework is steeped in history.

Fire - A traditional fire was in the middle of the restaurant (Image: Newsquest) To start, I suggested we had two items to eat from the ‘Whilst you are waiting section’ instead of the ‘starter’ section and due to the generous portion size of the mains, I would not recommend both a starter and pre-starter – unless you hate dessert.

Pre-starters - The warm breads minus one roll with dill oil and butter (Image: Newsquest) The warm breads served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, £5.50, and Haldikki olives, £4.75, made sense for three people – these are sharing platters – and were moreish, decadent, and kept you going during the reasonable waiting time. 

For a main, I ordered the top of the menu pan fried seabass fillet which came with purees as well as Hasselback potatoes for £22.

Fish - Pan fried sea bass at £22 was at the top of the mains section on the menu (Image: Newsquest) As a huge fan of fish, and I have to admit I was fancying something not too heavy, I really enjoyed the execution of my meal and the crisp Hasselback potatoes which I have never had. 

It was perfectly balanced, wholesome, and worthy of its price point.

Meanwhile, I was able to sample delicious mouthfuls from the succulent chicken supreme with generous Tuscan potatoes and not too salty chorizo, £20.

Generous - The Chicken Supreme with chorizo was a generously sized meal (Image: Newsquest) Perhaps my favourite dish was the refreshingly zingy Mexican marinated chicken with smashed avocado on flatbread at £16.

It was a combination of cumin yoghurt, pickled red onions, and other garnishes married well together as well as being different enough from traditional restaurant food. 

Favourite - The Mexican marinated chicken with smashed avocado on flatbread (Image: Newsquest) Two desserts were ordered from what was a generous selection – 9 desserts including a cheeseboard – with the passionfruit cheesecake with lemon sorbet and lemon curd being chosen as well as a trio of mini desserts, both for £7.95.

Winner - I would recommend a dessert as part of your meal (Image: Newsquest) The finesse of the savoury food continued into the desserts which were presented prettily, tasted sumptuous, and my favourite elements were the lemon curd and sorbet which had a standard you only find in restaurants.

Selection - A chocolate brownie, pineapple cake, and passionfruit cake (Image: Newsquest) The Blue Anchor in its evening menu provides choice and mostly importantly delivers providing delicious food at about less than £40 a head - perfect for a treat or as part of a trip to Essex.