Review: The Anchor Inn, Hartfield

Time for Sunday lunch. And this time it’s a pub in the green Weald, in the heart of Winnie the Pooh country, the Anchor Inn at Hartfield. Lovely old building, plenty of character within, friendly service and Harvey’s on tap. A classic beer that deserves to be known far wider than its Sussex home.

We didn’t mess around with starters. Maureen’s roast beef was excellent meat, served very pink, meltingly soft to eat and with good flavour. Fine specimen of Yorkshire pud. Decent mix of veggies and some very sturdy roast potatoes. Gravy worthy of a nod.

My venison was even better. Great flavour on the roast loin, made more deluxe by the boozy prune gravy. Big stems of broccoli soaked this up well. And then a friendly slab of properly naughty Dauphinoise potatoes.

Puddings were a mixed bag. Apple and pear crumble was a decent specimen, though no different from what I’d knock up at home. My chocolate tart was a sad brick. It really was a brick. Twice while trying to break mouthfuls off I ended up firing them across the table or onto the floor. PING! Useless. No sense of luxury when I did eventually get to munch through some, and the accompanying raspberry ripple icecream was equally lacking in flavour or texture.

The cook a mean roast at the Anchor. Maybe try a starter instead of a pudding, though.