Dorking, Pizza Restaurant Guide

“No flowery, fine-dining pretensions: just a warm, dog-friendly place with a short, but always interesting, menu” – such are the recommendations for this brilliantly run 1830s pub on the edge of Wimbledon Common, which does a roaring year-round trade, and makes particularly good use of its front terrace and lawn in the summer. Casks of guest beers and ciders are on display behind the bar (long-serving landlord Andrew Ford is a real ale enthusiast). Top Menu Tip – “the pies are worth the 20-minute wait!”

This modern Italian in Wimbledon Village wins consistent – if consistently middling – ratings and is, say fans, the “ideal local”, with home-made pasta and thin-crust pizza topping the bill.

“I felt transported to Italy as I ate this pizza!” – Luca & Paulo Malavasi’s “top notch Neapolitan pizza” continues to win fans for this 50-cover venue, with open kitchen, which they progressed to in 2019 having started out in a food truck two years earlier at Redihill Market – “a little stark, but love it”. There are now three in the chain, including Horsham and Farnham.