Abinger Hammer - Restaurant Guide

“The food just gets better and better” at this “delightful beamed restaurant” in a “quaint Surrey village” that is frequently used for film locations. Built as two labourers’ cottages circa 1620, the restaurant is divided into “cosy small rooms, with lovely outside seating in summer”, where Tante Claire-trained chef Mohssine El Fadi presents an “eclectic menu with good choice of dishes”; having joined the kitchen 20 years ago, he bought the business with general manager Jack Forrest Foster in 2019. Top Menu Tip – “the fish cooking is always spot-on”.

2025 Review: “A very well-run and vast pub/restaurant which has managed to balance itself between the two”. Between the “reliable and fresh” British grub, “well-kept beers” and “friendly and efficient team” (plus a lovely garden) it’s “always a delight to visit”.

On the A25, “a lovely old pub in the Surrey Hills” with the accent on the old – the building dates back to the eleventh century (says the Domesday Book) and was a mill as recently as the 1950s. Current owners, New Dawn Pubs, took over and refurbished the joint before re-opening in December 2022. The menu is of affordable pub grub, and there are “lots of outside tables with a small river running through the garden” (the latter equipped with a seasonal bar and grill).