Surrey Oaks, Dorking

Sat in large grounds in a land that is plagued by cyclists deep in the Surrey countryside near the West Sussex border is the much lauded Surrey Oaks. Up the right is a massive car park and across the rear is a large grass covered area where two large marquee tops reside, as well as a children’s play area. Up the left-hand side of the pub is a large split level beer garden with patio and grass covered areas full of picnic tables and there are some picnic tables along the front of the pub adjacent to the passing road. The long and thin interior has an L-shaped serving counter on the rear wall that serves three different areas. To the left is a long a bright laminate floored seating area that feels like an extension where access can be gained to the previously mentioned left-hand beer garden. On the back bar in this section of the pub are 12 craft keg fonts. The central Soak’s Bar has some seating and a fireplace and to the right rear is low beamed flagstone floored bar area with high tables that are faced by an inglenook with log burner from the right. Premium keg is available up this end of the counter alongside six hand pumps, four of which were in use drawing Surrey Hills Brewery’s Ranmore, Three Peaks and Shere Drop alongside Arbor Ales’ C Bomb. Old clips across the ceiling beams suggest a changing ale range. In the front right of the pub are a couple of laminate floored seating areas that had been populated by some older customers who were all dining during my Tuesday afternoon visit when the pub was relatively busy. I decided to have a panini which was good, but the chips were a bit dry, but I think I can let the chips slide because this is a great pub with great beer and fantastically friendly service, the latter of which pushes this pub up from an eight to a nine.

This multiple room rural pub on the fringes of the village of Newdigate has an excellent reputation for its real ale and attracts a good crowd despite its tricky to reach location. The bar area is a fairly cramped space with the sort of exposed floorboards and nice ceiling beams you’d expect from a proper country pub. A short section of servery with a very handy beer board next to it results in a bit of a pinch point at peak times, but seating here has been kept to a minimum which means there’s enough space in which to patiently await your turn to be served. Over to the left, a wide but shallow room has plenty of tables and chairs which appeared to be set up predominantly for diners and was a little lacking in atmosphere comparted to the rest of the pub. To the right of the bar, there is a nice open space acting as a Public Bar of sorts with its own access to the servery and a roaring fire giving it a comforting warmth and homeliness, despite the relative lack of seating options. The low ceiling here was liberally covered with old pump clips attesting to the pub’s commitment to real ale over the years. Over in the front right part of the building, there are two further rooms, both set up as seating areas but both popular with those wanting to eat. Both rooms are carpeted and have plenty of tables and chairs, a nice balance of traditional and modern artworks on show, display cases full of glass and ceramic works, tonnes of CAMRA awards and certificates and more dark beams crossing the ceilings. There’s a large garden out the back, packed full of picnic tables and a good-sized car park which is most welcome given the difficulties getting here by public transport. The bar was well stocked with cask ale as well as a surprisingly relevant craft keg selection and a few interesting bottles in the fridges. Cask options on this occasion were Surrey Hills Ranmore and Shere Drop, Pig & Porter Blonde, Northern Monk Striding Edge, Dark Star Revelation and Titanic Plum Porter. My pint of the Blonde was in fine shape and served to me by a very friendly barman. Plenty of people were eating throughout the pub, from a menu that had many tempting dishes, yet the pub in no way felt like it was food-led. This is a top-quality pub which is well deserving of its excellent reputation. We found the pub had an excellent atmosphere, a well-kept selection of real ales, very good service and plenty of comfortable spots in which you could easily lose several hours. I’m glad I finally made it out to this place and would suggest it’s well worth the effort trying to get out here.

A wonderful country pub out in the sticks that lives up to its good reputation. It looks a little ramshackle from the outside but once inside you discover an authentically old multi roomed country pub, but one that knows good beer when it see's it. Six handpumps in all with three from local Surrey Hills brewery, Shere Drop, Ranmore and Hammer Mild plus Salopian Gravity Wave, Fyne Ales Avalanche and Twickenham Summer Down Under. In addition to the ales are 8 craft beer taps on the back wall and a choice of 9 Ciders and a Perry. Top pub.

Excellent country pub with a jumble of beams around the bar side and a larger eating room the other, but all in good traditional pub style. Some excellent beers with an emphasis on local breweries; sampled the Surrey Hills Albury Ruby which was excellent. Food also looked good but being a Sunday lunchtime all the tables were booked out.

Well-described by others below, this is a classic semi-isolated country pub. Traditional ambience - low beamed ceiling with a warren of rooms and drinking areas. Inglenook fireplace (stove) and dried hops strung above the bar. Perhaps a little oddly there is a pool room (would have thought bar billiards would be a better bet myself). An extra bonus is the impressive grassed beer garden with pentanque piste and a large BBQ. Seven ales including Surrey Hills Ranmore, Hastings Best, Dark Star APA (very good), Firebird Heritage XX (good), Dark Star Art of Darkness. Also a diverse selection of ciders and perries. For drivers, there are a good selection of Wobblegate softies. I also spotted a curious brew keg from Vineyard in Tenterdon which dispensed a quite enjoyable English lager. As noted elsewhere, there is an Indian restaurant across the road. As is to be expected from such a well-renowned pub, there are CAMRA awards aplenty dotted round. Elsewhere I see that there has been a recent change of ownership after a long period of stewardship so I can’t comment on what/if anything has changed but I was certainly happy with my visit and would love to go again.