1 The Anchor & Hope

It won't take bookings and doesn't open on Sundays, but, reveals Mark Taylor, for the second year running, the Anchor & Hope is top of our poll

Number one for the second year, the Anchor & Hope remains the crowned prince of gastro pubs.

In a year that has seen several high-profile openings, this rough-and-tumble pub is still regarded as the best in Britain. And for good reason.

As anybody who has waited nervously for a table will testify, lunch or dinner at the Anchor & Hope is a unique dining experience. The pub's famously rigid no-bookings policy may not be to everybody's taste - rumour has it that even Gordon Ramsay and Kevin Spacey have been turned away - but it's lack of compromise that sets this Waterloo boozer apart from its many contemporaries.

The pub doesn't open on Sundays or for Monday lunch and wines are served in quirky tumblers and carafes, rather than highly polished Riedel glasses, which also adds a certain boho charm to the place.

When it opened in August 2003, the Anchor & Hope attracted enormous interest from food writers because of the dream team behind it. Chef Jonathan Jones had worked at Fergus Henderson's influential St John restaurant for three years, which is where he met Robert Shaw, who was a barman there. Jones introduced Shaw to Harry Lester, who had been working in the kitchens of the Eagle and the Fox Dining Room.

The glue for this partnership was Mike Belben, owner of Eagle and the Fox (placed numbers 5 and 7 in our Top 30).

One of the Anchor & Hope's strengths is the kitchen's religious use of seasonal produce. Nothing on the menu, which changes with each service, appears out of season. This means pink Yorkshire rhubarb in January and asparagus in May and when they run out, it's on to the next thing.

Two-and-a-half years on and little has changed at the Anchor & Hope and this is one of the reasons co-owner Robert Shaw thinks it has won the Pubchef​ award for a second year.

"There may be items on the menu that people haven't seen before, but we're still doing the same thing," he says. "The style of cooking hasn't changed, but we're always trying different recipes because the guys in the kitchen are constantly reading. We all dine out constantly and we get inspired by lots of different things."

With 1,000 covers a week, there is clearly no reason to change the no-booking policy, either. "It's not for everybody," says Shaw. Some people are horrified when they're told they will have to wait for a table. But there are others who are quite happy to sit in the bar, have a drink and wait."

For the customer, there is a genuine sense of theatre to the place, especially with the dining area concealed behind the heavy burgundy curtain. "That's how we wanted it to be," concedes Shaw.

So what does he put the incredible success of the Anchor & Hope down to? "It's run by a group of people who are passionate, who care and who are experienced. A lot of effort goes into it and it's hard work, but when you have a team of people who are passionate about it, it gels and you work well together. It's also about maintaining standards."

Of course, the big question is whether there are plans for another Anchor & Hope. Shaw is remaining tight-lipped: "Possibly. We're keeping an eye on things, but we're very aware that we don't want to dilute what we've got here and we wouldn't want standards to drop. We'll be very careful about what we choose to do."

Behind the scenes at...The Anchor & Hope

Owners/licensees:​ Robert Shaw, Harry Lester, Jonathan Jones and Mike Belben

Head chef:​ Harry Lester and Jonathan Jones

Turnover:​ Confidential

Wet:dry split:​ 50:50

Covers a week:​ 1,000

Covers for diners:​ 60 in restaurant, 23 outside

Best-selling dishes:​ Rib of beef, chips & béarnaise (for two); Slowcooked lamb shoulder and gratin dauphinoise (for five); Bakewell tart

On the menu...

Warm snail & bacon salad, £6.60 Beetroot, horseradish and watercress salad, £5.00 Braised hare & mashed swede, £12.80 Roast Middle White, boulangere potatoes and apple sauce, £16.00 Cassoulet (for four), £54.00 Chocolate cake, vanilla ice cream & hot chocolate sauce, £5.00 Panna cotta & rhubarb, £4.80

Recipe

Cuttle fish and chickpeas​

Ingredients​

2kg/4lb7oz cuttlefish - cleaned (try to save the ink sacs or buy a couple of sachets)

1 small bunch parsley

4 cloves of garlic

1 chilli

100ml/3½fl oz olive oil

3 lemons

Tiny tin of tomato purée

1 glass white wine

Method​

Cut up the cuttlefish into nice big chunks, chop the parsley, stalks and all, the garlic and chilli and gently fry it in the olive oil adding the cuttlefish before it starts to brown. Stir, turn up the heat, season generously, cut lemons in half and squeeze them into the pan and drop them in, too. Add the tomato purée and ink, then the glass of wine. Stir and cover the pan tightly. Turn the heat down very low, or put in a low oven. The cuttlefish is done when it is totally tender and feels like it could almost melt in your mouth. Serve with chickpeas and aioli or with polenta. Gremolata (finely chopped parsley, garlic and grated lemon zest) added just before serving adds a certain freshness.