One of the newest additions to the developing over the rhine quarter district, Anchor OTR is a hip seafood restaurant at 1401 Race Street. The restaurant opened with such an overwhelming success that they actually ran out of food! Now that's saying something.
I was excited to see what the buzz was about so I visited on a Saturday night with my wife. They do not take reservations so we went early (also because we consider ourselves to be old and must return before the hipster kids take over and make us feel even older). The exterior and interior walls are textured and colored with burnt cedar facings, the space has an orderly and comfortable feel with brown paper insets and oyster crackers on the tables. Their belief that "uncomplicated is better" is felt as well as seen. The service was excellent and the menu was full of delicious choices. We eventually resolved to try the cockles and hush puppies for appetizers, then had the calamari and lemon salad to share. Our main courses were divine; my wife had the scallops and risotto and I had the X. The only difficulty was choosing between the ice cream sundae or the seasonal crisp for dessert. Both included our Madisono's Madagascar Vanilla Gelato, so we were stumped. In the end, the blueberry crisp won out and we were in homebaked heaven.
