The Wotton Hatch — Restaurant in Mole Valley

Christmas Day Lunch was a disgrace. When my partner and I arrived we were taken to our table and, shortly after ordering drinks, our first course - as per the menu, an amuse-bouche, - was plonked down unceremoniously and without explanation. It was a tiny flat dish of (mainly) cold, grey, soggy mushrooms which looked as though they had just been defrosted. They were chewy and tasteless.

Turkey main consisted of badly carved slabs of meat dumped on the plate, glutinous fat attached, and underneath the meat I found as a bonus an extra stringy, greasy piece of fat all on its own. Also on the plate were greasy, soggy, cold roast potatoes which looked as though they’d been sitting around for some time.

The side vegetables were Brussels sprouts as per the menu: one small one for each of us, rock hard thus inedible, and definitely not sautéed. There were two greasy roast carrots and two similarly greasy parsnips. There were also some unidentifiable, tasteless shredded “greens”. That was it.

My partner’s lamb was almost impossible to cut into - even with a steak knife and it was sitting on a block of glutinous, tasteless and cold mashed potato which was described as ‘dauphinois’.

The food was cold to lukewarm, the dishes they were in - and our plates - were cold. Everything was tinged with grease.

Puddings: pavlova was a mound of bought-in meringue, a handful of berries and juice and a lot of bought-in squirty spray cream. It was tasteless and not restaurant-worthy.

Christmas pudding was a cold, rectangular slab surrounded by a sea of lukewarm custard - reminiscent of school dinners. It had no indulgent luxury about it whatsoever. And little taste.

I could continue….service, crackers with a Charades game to play (at the table?), frozen, rock hard truffles, greasy, off-white, fatty pigs in blankets, gravy poured over food, an extra charge for coffee..…..

It was very upsetting, especially since this was my partner’s Christmas treat for me.

I don’t eat out that often. But I have been eating at the Wotton Hatch - by choice - ever since I arrived in Dorking around eight years ago. I had recommended the Hatch to my partner who doesn’t know the area or the pubs as well as me. I was ashamed and upset that we had the experience we had.

I have excellent memories of the place and its food. But I cannot ever see myself wanting to go back based on this Christmas Day experience. And will not be recommending others to give it a go. What a shame and what a waste of its wonderful setting which...

We returned to the Wotton Hatch last week and were happy to see the place looking clean and tidy and attended by attentive staff. There are new parasols in the garden and not a dirty glass in site. We ate again and the food was spot on as it was before. Could not fault the place or it's staff. Keep up the good work. You've got a great pub there.

Great setting for a pub. There are not many pubs at all where you can sit and watch the sun set in such a beautiful setting. 5 of us and 2 dogs had lunch which was very good. Fair pricing and a nice interior. A little disappointing to see so many tables were covered in dirty dishes and glasses. I actually started clearing the table that we sat at before the staff on duty at the time was inspired to put down their phone and start helping. Odd when you consider that there were so tables that clearly needed to be cleared. Outside was the same as inside, lots of dirty glasses and a blown over broken parasol making the place look untidy. It was a sunny day on a Saturday afternoon. A pub like this should be staffed accordingly so that it is presented in its best light by staff that see mess and when it should be cleared. Although the food was very good and fairly priced the draught drinks were a little odd. Lagers mostly all very similar meaning the one that was different sold out. Fine if you like your dry pale Japanese or Italian pee. Strangely it's the only place where my favourite cider is sold in a lower alcohol, taste form. Not sure why a pub of this size and style in such an incredibly beautiful place has to serve sub standards drinks at all. Who ever buys the drinks or makes decisions on what draught drinks to sell has got it wrong and seemingly has little Interest in alcoholic beverages. Thank heavens the fridges had a good selection of alternative...

The Wotton Hatch is set in an absolutely gorgeous part of Surrey. It's on the doorstep of Wotton House as well which I would highly recommend having a wonder around the grounds of (if you can find a day without a wedding!) The food at the Hatch was delicious, with every dish being just the right balance. My only minor criticism with the food would be the plate the trio of roasts is served on - it's on a long thin plate which looks good for serving but makes enjoying each of the very well cooked components quite challenging; as a result you end up just eating what you can see, rather than appreciating the meats and veg independently.

The bar staff were very friendly, but unfortunately our waitress was not. She was very abrupt and regularly walked off before the group finished ordering. She got visibly angry when we wanted to split the bill onto multiple cards and did not thank us or ask if we wanted anything else.

On the plus side though it seemed that the other staff were all very friendly and helpful so hopefully she was just a one off.

The Hatch is quite pricey for its drink, with some 330ml bottles of beer being almost £5 and the food was £23.95 for 3 courses (plus up-charges for dishes such as the trio of roasts). I can't complain about the price of food though as this was clearly the set menu for the day on their website when I booked, and to be fair the quality was well worth the price, in my opinion.

Overall I would definitely recommend a visit if you are looking for somewhere a bit special, between Guildford and Dorking and love the feel of a country pub (just don't go looking for a...