Portstewart’s Anchor claims Pub Food title

General manager, Danny Coyles, with his trophy for LCN Pub Food of the Year.

When many of us think of Portstewart, we immediately picture its lovely Victorian promenade which seems to be perpetually thronged with visitors. Certainly, the soaring popularity of the north coast region as a whole has done much to boost the flow of holidaymakers and day-trippers in recent years and that’s all to the good of the burgeoning hospitality sector in the triangle area.

Among those riding the crest of the present, strong economic performance is The Anchor Bar complex at the top of Portstewart’s main thoroughfare. This year, the venue claimed the title of LCN Pub Food of the Year at our annual awards in Belfast and its well-known general manager, Danny Coyles, was at the gala evening in The Europa to hear the winner announced.

Declaring himself delighted with the outcome, he said that winning awards such as this was “a very important achievement” for any aspiring venue:

“Not only is it good for boosting the level of recognition that you enjoy, it also gives you an idea of where you stand against the rest of the market,” he added. “It’s very important to get involved and participate in events such as the LCN Awards and we do it all the time.”

It’s now 10 years since Danny first arrived at The Anchor and the venue’s food offering has developed rapidly throughout that time:

“When I first took over, food was an aspect of what we did but it wasn’t nearly as extensive as it is today,” he recalled recently. “One of the first things that we wanted to achieve was to create a good team in the kitchen and three of the chefs that we have now taken on have previously been head chefs in premises in this area. We felt this was a strong starting position for us, getting the team in place to give us consistently good food.”

Danny dismisses the familiar criticism levelled at pubs and restaurants outside the province’s main urban areas by city chefs who accuse venues of cooking bland and repetitive menus that lack innovation:

“Our clientele likes good wholesome food and nothing that is too out there,” he explained. “We have tried to change elements of our menu in the past – and we often do introduce new ideas – but we have found that there are many things, staple items such as steak and stout pie, lasagne and a type of peppered chicken that we do, and if we try to remove them, customers demand that we bring them back. There are certain things that have been on every one of our menus for the last six or seven years.”

The Anchor Bar itself was built in 1898. It’s the oldest bar in Portstewart and despite a rolling programme of refurbishment and renovation at the venue, that traditional aspect of the bar has been deliberately preserved.

The main bar is constructed using reclaimed Victorian mahogany and is set opposite an ornate period fireplace around which the clientele warm themselves in the cold winter evenings. The walls feature photographs of the north coast taken by the late Seamus Loughrey as well as historic prints of Portstewart from the early 1900’s. The bar is the social hub of the town and both locals and staff provide a warm and memorable welcome to the many tourists visiting the area.

This section of the premises can hold around 220 people and food is available there seven-days-a-week from noon until 9pm. From there, a short staircase leads to the more lavishly decorated Anchor Bistro. Fully renovated last year at a cost of £250,000, the bistro has a maximum capacity of 80 covers.

Other elements of the complex include Aura nightclub, situated above the main bar. Originally known as The Top Deck, the club – which operates on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings – is one of the most popular student venues on the north coast.

And there are 20 comfortable guest bedrooms also available which were last year awarded four stars under the Northern Ireland Tourist Board’s grading scheme.

According to Danny, The Anchor’s performance in recent years has exceeded expectation:

“There’s no doubt that we’ve been able to buck the trend,” said Danny. “While other businesses are seeing a drop in trade, we’ve been able to maintain steady growth throughout. Back in 2010, our turnover in the year was £2.4m and by last year, that figure had grown to £3m. That’s a good return on our efforts and I put it down to the fact that we are prepared to re-invest in our business. We have totally renovated our 20 bedrooms, the bistro and the bar and we are now in the planning stages of renovating the nightclub, which should go ahead in January.”

Danny came to The Anchor as general manager around 11 years ago, following a career in the civil service. At that time, the premises was owned by his brother-in-law, the late Ian Madden, whose family also owned the Montague Arms in Portstewart from 1974. Ian was a well-known and respected businessman who owned several licenced premises in the area before purchasing the Anchor in 2003.

Ian passed away in January 2012 and Danny stayed on to manage The Anchor which is now held in trust.

Danny isn’t complacent about the business – he points to the way in which many businesses in other nearby towns such as Coleraine are struggling to survive – but he says that the hospitality culture is changing and it’s up to publicans like him to react to protect their trade:

“I think we have a generation of young people coming up now and their lifestyle is no longer what it was in the past,” he added. “They’re doing their drinking at home and then coming out for a couple of hours later in the evening, so it’s a very small window of business for all of us.

“A large part of this change is down to the fact that you can buy drink very cheaply from your local supermarket. I have had to shut down my off-licence, although I open it on request, because I just couldn’t compete with the supermarket prices.”

In order to compete in this new environment, Danny said that it had been necessary to broaden the offering so that it appeals to as wide a cross-section as possible. As well as the rolling programme of refurbishment, there has been significant investment in staff training – all front line staff have now been through the WorldHost training programme. “You really can’t underestimate the significance of well trained, friendly staff and it is essential to let them know how much their contribution is valued.”

Going forward, the priorities will include a focus on standards and continued investment:

“Sometimes when you are in business, you can’t see the wood for the trees and you can think that everything is OK, but you really have to be able to look with a critical eye at all angles of the business in order to see whether things really are going as well as they should, “ added Danny.