Marney's Village Inn — Restaurant in Elmbridge

I just had a Sunday dinner with a good friend at Marney's Village Restaurant and must say that the food was out of this World. By far the best food I have eaten out in the last few Years.

But much more importantly, the approach they have taken to making the establishment COVID secure.

Upon arrival and Not having pre-booked I enquired if they had a table for us. There was a polite and friendly lady at the main entrance checking bookings and arranging for us.

Wearing a mask correctly and with a supply of hand sanitiser should we wish, we were asked if we had the NHS App. I promptly replied no we did not and were told that it was the Law we had to provide a name and telephone number for each member of the party. I pushed back somewhat as that is NOT the law, indeed it is an internal process adopted by the Pub.

A lesser individual would have been intimidated and relaxed her position, but this very polite and lovely young lady stood her ground and insisted very politely we need to provide a name and number of each customer.

This was my first encouragement that finally we have come to an establishment that is taking this seriously. My apologise to the lady if I appeared rude, I wanted to test the pub process and it passed with flying colours well done to you.

We were then led to a beautiful table in the stunning garden. multiple tables all very well socially distanced. Again they could probably get more tables outside if they wished, but its clear to me they are running the Pub in a very responsible way and well done for making such great efforts.

Food menus were disposable, tables and chairs cleaned before we sat down and drinks orders taken immediately. Told how to call a server when we were ready to order so not rushed at all, we promptly did and the servers all wearing correctly fitted masks stood back and took our order in a very well planned and unobtrusive way.

Food was timely, stunningly presented and tasted like it was cooked by a Michelin Chef (may well have been). Great service, condiments and cutlery delivered to us at the table and even people asking if everything as all right Just like before the pandemic.

Every server was so polite, well dressed, courteous and professional, and when any table left, the seats, tables, sanitizer bottles (on the tables) were all cleaned and washed before the next customer.

Just to be crystal clear our experiences was like the good old days, where you hardly noticed any of the COVID measures that were in place, I do not want to give the impression this was like dining in an operating theatre. It was NOT it was like pre-pandemic. But anyone who is seeking confidence with COVID out there should go visit this venue.

Having been to a number of venues over the last 5 weeks, I had drawn a conclusion that Hospitality venues, are unfit to self police themselves and the poor levels of COVID prevention were decreasing on a daily basis. I believed until today that every venue was likely adopting stupid processes, poor standards or blaming poor service on COVID and I was going to be at the front of the Ques saying they should be closed again if numbers continue to rise.

After my visit to Marney's Village today, my opinion has changed. This venue is a shining example of how life can be now, every hospitality venue should pay a visit and learn from a great team how you can be COVID safe and entertain paying customers.

My massive thank you to the staff, the servers and the management here, what a stunning Venue and I will be back very soon. I also intend to encourage everyone in the area to visit this venue and lets support a great local business who are doing such a phenomenal job.

Well done again guys, Perfection in my eyes 10...

Good food, but extremely poor service. We had made a Reservation for 10 people including 4 children for 12.30 pm and had also pre-chosen from the Sunday Menu to ensure that the Meal was served swiftly particularly for the children. On arrival the Waitress in Charge did not appear to know that we had a Reservation or had pre-chosen from the Sunday Menu. We were then told that the Starters we had chosen were unavailable as they had run out the previous day and that one of the Main Courses we had chosen, Roast Pork, was also unavailable. We were not charged for the alternative Starters offered but it was some time before they were served and although we asked for the children's meals to be served as they were becoming hungary it took some time and several reminders before they arrived at about 1.30 pm. It also appeared that other customers who had arrived after us were being served before us despite the fact we had made a reservation and pre-chosen our food from the Sunday Menu. The Staff in general were inattentive and disorganised and did not appear to be particularly experienced or knowledgeable.The Waiter who brought the wine we had chosed just placed the open bottle on the table and had to be asked to clear away the dirty glasses and bring wine glasses. He did not offer a sample tasting of the wine before serving it and it subsequently appeared that the cork had not been removed properly as there was foil along the top of the neck of the bottle. One positive aspect was that the Waitress in Charge served the Birthday Cake very well. Generally I would not recommend this Pub for having a Sunday Lunch particularly if you are bringing children as part of a large party. The availibility of meals is limited by the size of the kitchen and whether the Pub has ordered enough food.The Staff employed clearly need further Training to bring them up to even an adequate standard or better as the Pub has a good reputation in general. However, on this occasion it fell well short of...

Went on a sunny Sunday for lunch in the beer garden. The location is lovely, with views over a little pond and green fields. On this occaision the menu was limited to their BBQ: burger, pulled pork, chicken, mushroom & goats cheese or smoked mackeral. If done well (homemade burgers, nice salads, etc) that small selection would be great. Given the location and look of the place, you would not expect food that would get rejected by McDonalds. Untoasted, stale, cheap buns with economy, multi-pack burgers and processed cheese. Served with a few bits of lettuce and tomato and coleslaw, again straight from a catering pack and drowning in cheap mayonnaise. The burgers were supposed to come with a Cumberland sausage, but when our (cardboard) plates arrived they were missing and we had to ask for them to be brought. At £10 a pop I feel completely ripped off. Lovely location - go for a drink but don't bother...