BITE user comments - ronpegram
Comments by ronpegram
Stopped here for lunch while out walking. Pleasant location opposite church. Refurbished interior with a lot of space given over to formal dining, but a more traditional saloon bar has been kept, and there are a few seats outside at the front, with a larger patio at the rear, so the place still caters for drinkers as well as eaters. Welcoming bar staff. Harvey's bitter in good condition. Food very good - ploughman's had crusty bread, plenty of tasty local cheese and home-made pickles and was carefully presented. Plum and apple crumble delicious. Service efficient and reasonably speedy. As others have said, not cheap, but not extortionate either, and very good value for what you get. Only snag was an abundance of wasps on the patio. Overall, hard to fault.
29 Aug 2011 12:57
The Vinols Cross, West Hoathly
This place is closed, with a sign attached saying "business for sale".
29 Aug 2011 12:41
Some of the reviews for this pub have clearly got it confused with the nearby Anchor at Pyrford Lock. Please check that you have the right pub before posting. The Anchor in Ripley is in the High Street, the one at Pyrford is by the canal.
21 Feb 2011 17:16
The King William IV, Mickleham
Visited during a country walk on the Bank Holiday after Christmas, so naturally the place was very busy. We found the landlord quite welcoming - and the number of muddy boots outside the door testifies to the fact that walkers are indeed welcome here.
The prizewinning Alton's Pride from the Triple F brewery was delicious and obviously well-kept; and the log fire was a definite bonus on a frosty day.
Sadly it was the food that failed to impress. As a previous reviewer has noted, they do seem to try to do too much in a very small kitchen. This resulted firstly in a very long wait of nearly an hour - just about excusable on a busy bank holiday, but a real irritation for some of our party. Then the food itself was very patchy. Nothing bad, but not all good. Risotto was good, and vegetables were cooked just right. There was some excellent and tasty stuffing with my pheasant. But the pheasant itself was dry, and a friend's roast beef was not pink as promised. Most of the main dishes came with the same combination of vegetables, runny gravy (even with vegetarian Wellington) and rather tired Yorkshire pudding - possibly added to make the meal look like a huge plateful (which it was) but surely most pub customers are no longer impressed by quantity alone.
We didn't have time or room for pudding because of the delay and the large helpings, so can't comment on them.
I feel that if they limited the food offering to the basics of jacket potatoes and ploughman's, together with just two or three well-presented and more ambitious dishes each day for the chef to show what he can do, the result would probably be a great improvement. But I don't see it happening as it is clear that many customers are quite happy with the present set-up. So won't be going back soon.
29 Dec 2009 18:34
Really excellent food in very attractively refurbished pub - foodie, but snacks available for those who don't want a full meal; and there's a pleasant garden area with tables. Passed my private sticky toffee pudding test (one of the hardest dishes to get right). Service on a bank holiday was also very good - and certainly not slow. They did make an error with one order, but corrected it very quickly and without hassle (which makes a pleasant change from serving staff elsewhere who try to blame the customer for their mistakes). As our party all drank wine we didn't get to test the beer - but we will certainly be going back to do so.
10 Sep 2009 20:39
Disappointing. On the plus side there was a fair range of real ales, and no quibble about serving lunch at 2.30. There is also a big garden with plenty of tables, but when the food came it was, as others have noted, of no better than average quality. Helpings overlarge, burgers dry and served on chewy ciabatta bread which was not an improvement on the usual soft bun. And difficult to get to the bar past the kind of regulars who mistakenly think that they own the place.
20 Aug 2009 12:35
And by the way it is not 0.3 miles from Shawford Station - it is right next door, which can be very handy.
4 Aug 2009 13:22
And by the way it is not 0.3 miles from Shawford Station - it is right next door, which can be very handy.
4 Aug 2009 13:21
Popped in for a drink while waiting for a train. A local resident had told us that this is "more a road-house than a pub", and this seemed a fair assessment. Large signs outside advertise cheap meal deals, and at 12.30 on Sunday it was just beginning to get busy with carloads of families who would no doubt see it as an ideal objective for a drive out from the city for lunch in the country. Friendly welcome; service good; drinks fine - but, unlike the food, a bit pricey; loo clean; huge garden with plenty of tables; but spoiled inside by quiet but still intrusive piped music of a nondescript variety - and a general air of inoffensive blandness.
4 Aug 2009 13:16
Gordon Bennnett bar + kitchen, Surbiton
This is not a pub, and does not pretend to be a pub. It does exactly what it says on the can - it is a bar and kitchen, with the emphasis perhaps on the kitchen. And it doesn't try to do what it can't. Food, wine and beer are all familiar things - and the food is real food done pretty well, and at a reasonable price for the area. Not a venue for gourmets or a special night out, but a great place for a late brunch on Sunday. And yes - the Bloody Marys are great to have with it. Lots of regulars, but it's not one of those awful places where only regulars are welcome, so it usually has a nice enough atmosphere for what is essentially an up-market cafe.
31 Jul 2009 18:36
The Swan on the Green, West Peckham
Dropped in to this pub for a quick drink while out walking. Sampled the Trumpter own brew, which was very good, as was the draft cider - and �2 for a bowl of spicy nuts did not seem too unreasonable - until we saw the small size of the bowl! But the location is perfect, and there are even picnic tables out on the village green which customers can use. I don't mind paying a bit extra for that. Sadly, the place was let down by the service. The young woman who served us was pleasant and efficient enough - once she had decided to acknowledge our presence. I guess that no-one had told her that when a customer comes in while you are doing some paperwork at the bar you should greet them, and (if the paperwork really can't wait) say something like "I'll be with you in a minute". Being ignored - even if only briefly - does not encourage a repeat visit.
31 Jul 2009 18:06
A place for middle-aged middle-class ladies (and a few gents) who lunch. Apart from the splendid location on the river everything about it is very ordinary - OK food at slightly high prices; OK beer; a lot of seemingly untrained staff so its pot luck whether you get to be served by someone competent and/or friendly; no atmosphere to speak of.
21 Jul 2009 12:44
The Waggon and Horses, Surbiton
Much improved under relatively new keen and friendly management - and it wasn't bad before. A good range of beers, and plenty of comfortable chairs for a quiet drink - and you can usually find a quietish corner even when the place is full and the volume of conversation rises. Certainly deserves the highest rating of the pubs in Surbiton.
25 Mar 2009 18:39
Visited this pub on a Thursday lunchtime and found it pleasantly busy with a mixed bunch of customers - first good sign. Second good sign was that the pizza oven was fired up. Many places that have wood-burning pizza ovens find it uneconomic to use them at lunch time. Pizzas were every bit as good as previous reviewers have suggested - beautiful thin crispy crust, plenty of tasty toppings and finished off with fresh herbs - and they came surprisingly quickly. Sticky toffee pudding is always an acid test of a pub's desserts - and while theirs was not in the top league it was much better than average. Service friendly, and good at the bar but some members of staff clearly inexperienced. Well placed for walkers right on North Downs Way. Seemed to have a good range of beers, but we're not afficianados.
26 Sep 2008 17:08
The Prince Of Wales, Westcott
Pub has now re-opened after much-needed refurbishment. Rather limited range of beers, but good food and a warm welcome. Also quite a nice garden area, despite being by main road. A useful place for walkers.
27 Aug 2014 23:20