olive & anchor

great addition to horseshoe bay!. the calamari was good, the fish and chips were ok but at $19 for two smallish pieces of halibut, under whelming. the pulled barbeque chicken sandwich served on a house made bun was worth the drive and the salad theburgercame with was excellent and full of nice little treats. i'd order the full size version as my main next time. nice patio facing the park. service was friendly and welcoming.

follow up visit:
i've been back a few times and have ordered the house salad with sautéed prawns twice. very good.

burgers are good!. sunday lunch for 2 while waiting for the ferry from horseshoe bay to departure bay. oyster burger, garlic prawns and seafood chowder.

lovely spot near the harbour; and nice ambience inside - filled with natural light a decor that suited the theme of the restaurant. service was good.

food: really good oyster burger, garlic prawns and seafood chowder were nice.burgerbun was soft, the oysters were not too deeply fried, and a good mix of coleslaw and dressing inside.

tip: come early to check in for the ferry and then take your time, have a nice lunch rather than have to rush onboard the ferry and then have to wait on these massive queues for food inside the ferry.

the food was fresh and very tasty. my husband ordered the oysterburgerand he loved it the buns are amazing so lite and fresh. would defiantly go again when back in horseshoe bay.

this restaurant was one of the places we wanted to go to when dine out started this year but we never had a chance to try it then. we were hyped and excited when we decided to go tonight after seeing all the good reviews here. the service was pretty good... nothing to complain about. our food came out all at once... which we didn't expect cause we thought our appetizers would come out first. so we didn't know what to eat first. we had the kfc chicken wings and mussels. both were pretty good but some of the mussels were undercooked cause the shell didn't open. my boyfriends oysterburgerwas not bad however my ling cod entree was pretty bland and dry. my friends fish tacos are apparently pretty tasty. we left work full stomaches.. but didn't feel like it lived up to the hype too much.

unfortunate lack of care. my wife and i have been here many times and enjoy it, but one time it didn't measure up. my wife's oysters were all dry that even i could tell from across the table, my tofuburgerwas super bland, a side sauce for the crab cakes was exactly what i buy and having in my fridge and the waitress took part of my meal away, i agreed as i thought i was done, but really wasn't and it was gone. being this was a very bad experience, but normally one of our favourite places to go to, i emailed the manager to share about the experience, letting him know i otherwise love his restaurant and looked forward to returning. what answer did i get? none. zip. didn't even bother responding to a loyal customer who was full of praise. from where i come from, that is unheard of, but i guess they just don't care about their customers there as it's on the water and they have enough. kind of sad.

delicious food and great service. this place was great overall. here are some details with ratings out of 7:

service (7/7) - we were greeted by a friendly host, who immediately started getting a table ready for us. we waited for about a minute and during that time, two other servers checked in with us to make sure that we had been helped out. all the staff were super friendly and helpful.

kfc (korean frled chicken) wings (7/7) - nice presentation (see photos). wings were fried nicely and were super crispy. the sauce was delicious mix of spicy and sweet. there were pickled carrots and daikon served on the side. wasn't really sure how these complemented the wings, but they were tasty on their own.

fried oysterburger(6/7) - theburgerwas filled with three battered and fried oysters, tartar suace, tomato and coleslaw in between a brioche bun. the fillings worked well together and the oysters were fresh and crispy. i wish there were more! the brioche bun was tender, slightly sweet, and a pleasantly flaky crust. try this iwth a side salad as it is a bit heavy overall.

seafood chowder (5/7) - topped with croutons instead of the usual crackers, which was a nice change. the chowder itself had lots of salmon and a few bits of clam. it was not as creamy as usual, which was good because theburgerwas a bit heavier.

pulled chickenburger(7/7) - chicken had a nice smoky flavour which was complimented well be the avocado. theburgerwas accompanied by kennebec fries, which we had never eaten before. they had a perfectly crispy exterior and fluffly, creamy interior.

i would highly recommend this restaurant. all the dishes were very reasonably priced (comparable to chain restaurant prices), but tasted amazing.

what a bad change.. went here on friday, august 8. mediocre food, lousy menu selection, and a manager that was clearly new or just bad at his job.
used to go here when it was a pub, a nice spot to sit and have aburgerand a beer while waiting for a ferry or a ride. after the changeover, the only thing that has gone up is the prices, everything else has gone down.
for $15, i expect aburgeri can hold with two hands, and a pile of fries. not a slider and a small cup of fries that were clearly cut by mccain. the server we had was good, but she didn't have a lot to work with. and we got water with our overpriced beer - seriously you can't get a water filter? the tiny lemon wedges do not disguise the cistern taste in a water glass.
and the icing on the cake here - we were in the middle of our meal and the manager hauls all the servers into a little meeting on the floor, in front of customers, and starts ranting on about how they need to do this and they shouldn't do that. this went on for a good ten minutes, while about half the place was full, and in full view and earshot of every customer in the place. very unprofessional.
we won't be back to this place, and without a severe overhaul of the menu, pricing, and procedures - i don't think we'll have to wait long for it to change to a new owner.

the best in horseshoe bay. after receiving 'powder eggs' in my boathouse $18 omelette i have been looking for a new place in horseshoe bay to meet friends from the mainland. this is the 2nd time we've been to the olive & anchor... and on both occasions the food has been excellent and the service so very attentive! today i had the chicken pot pie which was amazing. wife had the chickenburgerwhich was amazing. our guests enjoyed the fish & chips and the very unique "hot dog". can only give compliments to the chef and the servers!

putting on the wait!. my wife and i had time to kill before taking the ferry and found this little gem. i ordered the take out cheeseburgerand fries. a nice cheaper option to the dine in menu. plus we could take our food and eat it at one of the picnic tables across the street over looking the bay. beautiful scenery! it took 16 minutes to make while we sat at the bar to warm up on a mid-november day. it took longer than we would expect for burgers and fries. don't do the take out if you are in a rush! we both loved the brioche buns they used and myburgerreceives a well above average mark. the fries were a little soggy though. the inside of the restaurant had all the characteristics one would find in a decent pub. decor and atmosphere were good and the restaurant appeared clean.