Anchor & Hope SE1

So after seeing Six Degrees of Separation at The Old Vic (which I thought as brilliant) we trundled along The Cut to the Anchor & Hope pub for a late dinner. I have wanted to try this place out for ages and had always been slightly put off by the no bookings policy and the stories of people waiting for hours for tables. It was pretty full when we got there and we were told it would be at least 45 mins until we got a table but then we were offered a place at the bar, which suited us fine.  At first the big fella behind the bar was a bit gruff and I was starting to think that maybe some of the bad service reviews were right but he turned out to be great (and made us a prtty decent espresso at the end of the meal).  Unfortunately given it was 9.30pm pretty much all the stuff we wanted to eat from the menu was gone but we settled on a cassoulet to share and a carafe of robust French wine. The whole meal was rustic, warming and hearty - right down to the dense bread and the tumblers for the wine. The cassoulet was delicious - although I didn't want to think too much about what some of the "bits" were - I think they said there were gizzards in there. Anyway the whole thing was super tasty - cassoulet is a slow cooked stew with white haricot beans and various types of meats - sausages, confit etc. This was a textbook example and despite the gizzard issue, was delicious. I will definitely come back here and try more of the menu - but the first visit was very promising!