Scran: Hope and Anchor in Tenby

Colin Drury's monthly series profiling venues pairing amazing food with independent beer visits South West Wales…

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Colin Drury

Photos:
Hope and Anchor

Saturday 25 July 2026

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This article is from

Yorkshire

issue 133

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If you want to know how fresh the fish is at the Hope and Anchor in Tenby, it's probably worth asking the fellas that crowd into the front bar from around 4pm on any given day. As often as not, they're the fishermen who've caught it.

“We're the closest good pub to the harbour here,” says head chef Steve Penson. “So, when they're finished on the water, this is where all the boat boys come. A couple of drinks, a bowl of cawl [a traditional Welsh lamb and leek soup], shooting the breeze.”

There have been times, he notes, that the fishermen bring in their catch, stay for a pint or two, and then order the very fish they've brought in.

“I had one of the boys drop some spider crabs at the kitchen door the other day,” Steve continues. “He says, 'I fancy some of those myself'. I said, 'give me an hour and they'll be ready'. That's how quick we turn it round. I had some Pembrokeshire seabass brought to me last week that was still breathing.”

Welcome then, reader, to a Welsh gastropub where the seafood and beer selection could scarcely come with better provenance.

The Hope — as locals call this small nautical paradise — has been a Tenby staple for decades now, but it was ten years ago that owners Michael Evans and Julie Jones decided they wanted better and more local beer on tap.

They set up Harbwr Brewery a quarter of a mile down the road and when they saw how quality, hand-crafted drinks flew out, they figured they should do quality, hand-crafted food to go with it. Thus, they refurbished the entire pub, created a small and simple dining area, and tasked manager Jason Rossiter with bringing in a first-rate chef. He, in turn, called an old friend who was originally from Tenby but who had spent a decade in top kitchens everywhere from the Cotswolds to Berlin. That was Steve Penson.

“The idea of going back home and helping create this amazing food place right by the sea; I couldn't say no to that,” Steve remembers.

Amazing is an apt description.

But first, the beer. The 12 taps and five hand-pulls skew heavily to Harbwr (with one or two macro brands thrown in) but then, why wouldn't they? Drinks like the Viking Saga farmhouse IPA, the Sea Horse American pale and the RFA Sir Galahad red are mouth-watering, and when supped late in the afternoon serve as appetite-whetting aperitifs.

Which, indeed, brings us back to that seafood. Some 75% of everything served at the Hope comes from the waters around Tenby, including the mussels, lobster, hake and salmon. “The mussels are especially popular,” says Steve again. “People see it being dropped off and ask when they'll be on the menu.”

At the time of my visit, they're served with a garlic and pepper infused marinara sauce, while — also on the specials board —

an oven-baked fillet of hake sits tantalisingly on a bed of herb mashed potatoes and new season asparagus. “There's almost nothing on the plate that isn't local,” says Penson with pride.

Just as pertinently, perhaps, while this is undoubtedly elevated seafood, it also has real get-stuck-in energy. Both inside and out, there is a constant hustle-bustle about the Hope (people, we're told, start singing in the bar if Wales have won the rugby), yet somehow that atmosphere only adds to the vibrancy of the eating here. It's roll-your-sleeves-up dining, and food that encourages another drink. Well, why not? Let's go with the Heist Belgian IPA. Slurp.

“A few years ago, we were really a summer place,” says Steve as we begin to conclude. “We still are that but these days, we're busy all year round which, I think, is testament to what we're doing here.”

I'm inclined to think that those fishermen in the bar would agree.

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