Blue Anchor

The haddock and chips and the pork and leak sausages with mash were great when we visited this week. The place is huge and very old! The five real ales proved too big a range to sample on a single visit. So we’ll go back soon. The Theakston’s Old Peculiar was outstanding on this first visit. We’ll certainly go back many times in the future, although it is nearly 50 miles from our home.

I found the beer, (6X) to be hit and miss.
Food is disappointing.
The last time I visited I had Chicken salad; it was a greasy leg of chicken! I resolved to ensure I had breast on the next occasion.
I visited again, recently, and went for Chicken Tandoori. Again, a greasy leg but with Pandora herbs sprinkled on it and slapped on a bed of salad. Why didn’t I remember to ask for breast? Maybe it’s because it was 10 years since my last visit and will probably be the same time again before I endure such fare. I wasn’t even asked how my food was.
It gets the 1 star because it’s pretty but it don’t half trade on that!
Try 6 bells at Penmark. Much better food, not as pretty but what do you want.

A truly lovelly place to go out for a nice drink and bite to eat!

I love this place! Every year my boyfriend and I come here for Christmas do’s, birthdays, drinks, Sunday Lunch etc. The food is always brilliantly cooked with good size portions at a reasonable price. There is an extensive wine menu and a great selection of real ales. The Blue Anchor has amazing character and is a great venue for all occasions — from dropping in for a pint after a long walk along the coast or having a meal in the restaurant.

The approach to Aberthaw is pretty uninspiring, as this tiny village — once a busy mediaeval port — is now dominated by a Cement Works and the bulk of the huge coal-​fired power-​station, with aircraft from nearby Cardiff Airport flying overhead.
But ignore all that, because the Blue Anchor is what you come here for. It’s a fabulous old pub, with low ceilings (and some very low doorways), stone walls and a thatched roof. There’s a new restaurant extension, built in a sympathetic matching style, but the old section has more character, including a wonderful snug with a very low doorway. Dating back to 1380, it has traded as a pub almost continuously since that time.
One of the interruptions (in 2004) nearly put paid to that, when the roof caught fire and destroyed the upper part of the mediaeval building. Fortunately, the damage was repaired and, once inside, you feel a world away from the pub’s surroundings.
It serves a wide range of real ales: these include Wadworths 6X, Wye Valley Hereford Pale Ale, Brains Bitter and Theakston’s Old Peculiar, as well as visiting guest ales. As you’d expect from a former CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) pub of the year, they are very well kept.
It’s also well known for its home-​cooked food, often using locally grown ingredients, served either in the restaurant (Egon Ronay recommended) or the bar itself. As you’d expect, it gets busy, and Sunday lunch reservations are essential. Starters are around £5, mains £10 and desserts £5. Lovers of Sticky Toffee Pudding should go for that (and not expect to walk very far any time soon — portions are substantial).
There are a few parking places immediately in front of and behind the pub, with a small car park across the road.
Well worth searching out if you are in the Cardiff area.