Old Woking Restaurant Guide

The “fancy burgers” usually hit the spot this year at TV chef Gordon Ramsay’s growing diffusion chain, with nine sites in the capital as of mid-2023 (and where the frozen chips are provided by another prominent chef now retired from front-line stove action: the venerable Pierre Koffmann). The odd “mixed experience” or “haphazard service” was still reported, but overall ratings were up.

The second link in the growing Brucan Pubs group, set up by James Lyon Shaw and Jamie Dobbin, who met during their days at the famous Ivy. By all accounts the three-year-old venture is “surprisingly good for a somewhat unprepossessing area”, and with “good-value set menus” to boot. Top Menu Tip – “in my experience the best dishes are the slow-cooked ones”.

This smart gastroboozer is “a jolly nice place to go, whether à deux, or as a large group”; its “outstanding” British menu sets the local “benchmark for fish ’n’ chips” and “the fact that it is always busy says it all (even we, as regulars, who always book way in advance, sometimes cannot get our first-choice table!”).

2023 Review: “Good solid food” and a “large outdoor space for eating” makes this country pub a handy refuelling spot for visitors to the RHS gardens at nearby Wisley.

This “reliable and busy Thai” has been a highlight of the local dining scene for over 45 years. The comfortable ‘Khan Tok’ dining room has been revamped, its cushions replaced by lounge seating – and is very popular.

2023 Review: A “stunning location… from a car park rooftop!” provides “amazing views over Guildford and the hills beyond” at this long-established fixture, known for its “wide selection of quality Thai dishes”.

“The view is unbeatable” (and what it overlooks is incorporated into the name) of this highly rated link in Richard Caring’s national chain; as for the rest, you can expect the usual “pretty” decor and a “decent menu selection” (“including healthy choices that don’t feel like a sacrifice”); “it isn’t cheap though, so save it for an occasion”.

2021 Review: FKA ‘The Manor at Foxhills’: this “beautiful” dining room of a top golf course – set in an impressive Victorian manor house – “has been refurbished, with no carpets or window furnishings so it’s noisier than it used to be”. Too little feedback as yet from which to rate this new, more modern guise, but prices are not punishing and there is a menu for ‘Young Adults’. A traditional afternoon tea in the adjoining plush lounge is still an option.

2021 Review: “Upmarket pub” with a dozen bedrooms, handy for Ascot Racecourse, which was taken over by new owners (Barons Pub Company) in late 2018. Not all reporters are happy with the new ownership, but upbeat feedback praises its “well-rounded menu, relaxed style and pleasant service”. Reflecting the up-and-down reports, we’ve left a rating till the next Diners Poll.

Given its attractive setting on Downside Common, this “lovely country pub” (part of Raymond Blanc’s White Brasserie chain) in the heart of plush stockbroker belt would likely be a local destination come what may. But it also goes the extra mile and – though it’s not particularly ‘gastro’ – wins consistently high acclaim for its “cheerful welcoming staff” and high quality of cooking. “It was done up over the winter; and although there is no longer a set menu, the prices are reasonable in the current climate”. Top Menu Tip – “well-prepared steak and very good tartiflette starter”.

From a growing popular chain of ‘no membership’ clubs, this comfortable venue has a bar, lounge, orangery and terrace, along with “fun” all-weather igloos on the roof, in which to graze on a pretty standard all-day menu of Italian-inspired dishes, including pizza and pasta. Not a culinary fave rave, but handy for many occasions.

The Rarebreed Dining Group’s boozer is far from your regular beast: the in-house butchery and smokery turns out “excellent” meaty cuts including chateaubriand, t-bone or sous-vide sirloin; in August they also run an outdoor cinema if you’d like some celluloid after your steak.

A “buzzy, colourful atmosphere” reigns supreme at this Surrey offshoot of The Ivy’s flashy brasserie chain, with a beautiful orangerie the best of the seating options. As for the food, “it is perfectly acceptable” but “this place lives off the name for sure” and is “very expensive for what it is” (not that this necessarily deters repeat visitors, who “return for its lovely ambience”).

“Set in a delightful village” in the Surrey Hills, this 17th-century red-brick cottage now houses a “delightful restaurant” where the “mild Moroccan influence on modern British food makes for a superb dining experience” (“I live in London and go specially”). “The staff cannot do enough to make your meal enjoyable – and that includes the charming owner”, Jack Forrest Foster.

“It’s difficult to get a table” at this top-class gastropub around the corner from Chelsea FC’s training ground – it “really earns its popularity”, so regulars “learn to book ahead”. “We’re so lucky to have our local pub serve great food – and there’s a super garden too”.