The Jersey City waterfront is gaining a new nautically themed eatery as the long-anticipated Blue Anchor Bar + Kitchen is now soft-opened inside space overlooking the Newport Green.
Jersey Digs was first to break the news about the restaurant early last summer, and construction has been underway ever since. The ownership team behind Blue Anchor Bar + Kitchen includes restaurateur Johnny Leung, who has run local favorite Komegashi since it first launched in Jersey City back in 1990.
Leung is partnering on the new eatery with Chris Kong and Admen Kong, Alan Lau, and Kelvin Yiu, who are partners at Brooklyn’s Teppan Territory teppanyaki-style restaurant in Downtown Brooklyn.
Their finished vision is opening on September 5 in a 2,210-square-foot space at 166 River Drive inside The Beach complex.
“We’re thrilled to be part of the beautiful Newport neighborhood, an energetic community that offers a flourishing, innovative culinary scene created by the best of local and national chefs and restauranteurs,” said Chris Kong, partner and co-owner of Blue Anchor Bar + Kitchen. “Blue Anchor offers a new kind of dining experience and we’re eager for the local community to dive into our menu and enjoy the flavors we are so passionate about.”
The menu for the restaurant’s soft opening includes a pan seared branzino, the obligatory but still delightful lobster roll, and what will be their full raw bar featuring both East and West Coast oysters, shrimp, and Hamachi and salmon crudo.
The full menu, slated to be rolled out in the coming weeks, includes additional fare like a seafood bouillabaisse, a shrimp po’ boy, and a creation called lobster vol au vent which blends puff pastry, crab meat, and lobster inside a seafood broth.
Blue Anchor Bar + Kitchen will additionally sport a brunch menu on weekends that features smoked salmon eggs benedict, steak and eggs with parmesan smashed potato, or ricotta pancakes with blackberry compote and lemon whipped cream.
True to its name, the restaurant sports a full liquor license and a cocktail menu that gives off decidedly beach vibes. Highlights include a kiwi breeze, a J.C. Sunset with Don Julio Blanco, Campari, blood orange and agave nectar, or an Anchor Sour with Bulleit bourbon, demerara syrup, lemon juice, and aquafaba.
Blue Anchor Bar + Kitchen is now open daily from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. and taking reservations through their website. The restaurant can be followed on Instagram at the handle @blueanchorjc.
The new dining option is the second eatery to open inside The Beach this year, as Dunhuang Noodles launched just steps away in March.
