Secret gem for Sunday roast in Surrey
Surrey has some of Britain's finest pubs and most beautiful countryside, but how often do you successfully combine the two? In a new review series, Richard Davies sets out on a quest to find the perfect Sunday walk and lunch.
The White Horse, Hascombe, is that precious thing, a real pub serving great food in one of the prettiest villages in the Surrey Hills. It is also situated in prime walking country on the Greensand Way, nestled below Hascombe Hill with its Iron Age fort and close to a local attraction, Winkworth Arboretum.
Eighteen months ago, the pub was bought by Youngs and the current manager, Ed Kenny and his deputy, Tom Burton, arrived last August. Ed is proud to run a classic village pub with a dedicated bar area, as well as several dining spaces and a large garden that is a perfect place to while away a summer’s afternoon. “We see ourselves as an accessible village pub and get fantastic support from the locals.”
Our verdict
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Food 4
- Atmosphere 5
- Value for money 5
- Beer 5
- Dog Friendly 4
- Local walks 5
First impressions
Head Chef Ben Danks has been building the kitchen team to offer classic pub grub that delights foodies. The team has a real sense of enterprise and ambition, with plans to introduce their own dry-aged meat. Recently, they held a ‘10 mile menu’ in which all the food was sourced locally, including trout freshly caught by the chef from a nearby Tillingbourne fishery, venison from a local gamekeeper, and locally-made quince preserves and honey.
I was happy to compliment Ed on a very fine pint of Youngs ‘ordinary’, (probably the best pint of Youngs I’ve tasted in a long time.) The Hogsback T.E.A. was also very drinkable and I was encouraged to hear Ed talk about the importance of getting the beer right: “Beer is our bread and butter, no one will come back if it’s a rubbish pint.” I couldn’t agree more.
Our walk up Hascombe Hill had given us a good appetite for a Sunday roast. We were clearly in good company – Ed told us that out of 220 covers on the previous Sunday, only 5 were not roast dinners!
The food
We started by sharing a crispy whitebait with a bowl of olives and artichokes. The whitebait was meaty, more like ‘topped and tailed’ sardines than the usual small herring fry, served with a very light batter and a good homemade tartare sauce.
For the main course, my wife chose the cider-braised pork belly while I opted for the special lamb shank. The whole roasted pheasant was another tempting ‘special’, but somehow, the potential added dental cost from biting on a piece of shot always puts me off. For vegetarians, there was a choice of Beetroot Wellington or a salad.
Both the lamb and the pork were perfectly cooked and well presented, with a tasty gravy, and the Yorkshires were also spot on. A mark was lost because the roast potatoes were a bit chewy on the outside and lacked taste inside, while the delightfully fresh vegetables were too finely chopped and shredded for our tastes, like nursery food.
Our shared pudding - Bakewell tart with orange ice cream - was also slightly disappointing; the combination of tastes didn’t really work, while the warm tart was slightly dry and over-baked.
What we ordered
- Marinated olives and artichoke - £4
- Crispy Whitebait - £7
- Cider braised pork belly, apple sauce, crackling - £19.50
- Special Slow Braised Lamb Shank - £28 (both served with roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, veggies & gravy)
- Cauliflower cheese gratin - £5.50
- Warm Bakewell tart with orange ice cream - £6.50
Total £70.50
Final thoughts
On balance, however, we really enjoyed our lunch. Ed responded to our feedback very professionally, and I do not doubt that he will soon fix our minor quibbles. He is clearly building a strong team, which is down to setting standards and creating the right habits. Indeed, I was particularly impressed to see a busy waitress wiping a few drops of water from the floor to remove a potential customer hazard. These little things all add up to create the overall experience and why The White Horse deserves to be successful.
