Chips Ahoy

My 11 year-old son paused while reading How Much Poo Does An Elephant Do? to recite this interesting fact.

Quote, unquote: “90 per cent of restaurants fail in the first year. Of the ones that survive 90 per cent fail in the second year.”

My advice? Don’t open a restaurant, even though it would put me out of a job.

Because either way, it’s a notoriously hard way to make a living, and puts restaurateuring right up there with running Gordon Brown’s PR team.

But there are always exceptions to the rule and Jamie and Charlotte King have proved that if you’ve got the right passion and flair, anything is possible.

Because the number one rule – location… location… location – is not their forte.

Tucked around the back of Jericho in Walton Manor, you would miss The Anchor altogether was it not for its fearsome reputation.

Luckily, with Jamie in the kitchen creating fabulous food and his wife Charlotte running the front-of-house like clockwork, The Anchor is bucking the trend.

Add in a passion for local, organic food (where possible) and an enviable ability to involve the entire community, whether it’s a book club, toddler group, quiz night or rugby, and it’s hard to find an excuse not to visit.

And it obviously works, because despite the deplorable statistics, The Anchor has been doing a roaring trade since it opened in 2006.

If you’ve eaten here you’ll know why – the food is divine, but without any pretention. You can come and have a gorgeous meal without it being a huge deal, perfect for our mid-week supper.

And as soon as you enter the Art Deco designed Anchor it begins warming your cockles.

Have a peek at the menu and they’ll be steaming.

There were so many delicious options my first thoughts were: “When can I come back for more?”

But after a much-needed Bloody Mary we settled on diver-caught scallops with pea & mint puree, watercress and vegetable relish (£8.50) and winter salad with “Sharpham Rustic” cheese, parsnip & carrot crisps, which was full of wonderful crisp textures and flavours. The smoked haddock fishcakes, ginger lime mayo, Anchor chips & salad, are an Anchor staple and at £11.50 a delicious bargain, all the ingredients working together to zest up this beautifully cooked traditional meal.

My friend, uncharacteristically quiet during dinner, which spoke volumes for the food, described her sea bass with herb polenta and salsa verde, as “a perfectly cooked bass, moist and crispy skin, with well seasoned polenta. All totally delicious and a generous portion.” Praise indeed.

And we even managed dessert, not that we had room, but the fabled treacle tart with ginger cream (£5) has people flocking from miles around.

My friend was so full she could only manage the raspberry sorbet, which she cooed over, but I could tell she was jealous of the tart because this is a God of a dish, the ginger bringing this British pudding kicking and screaming into the 21st century.”

So there you have it. Another happy customer. Another thriving pub/restaurant. Another statistical contradiction.

So put that in your pipe and smoke it. The Anchor’s here to stay.

The Anchor is at 2 Hayfield Road, Walton Manor, Oxford. OX2 6TT. 01865 510282.