Inn on the Green — Restaurant in Reigate and Banstead

I've driven past the pubs on this road since I was a baby, I'd never stopped to try one. Decided on the grumpy mole simply because of its position away from the road on a small village green. I did no research, I had no expectations.

I was met with warm and professional hospitality, a table found quickly for us 2 guys, us not really meeting the dress code. No problem it seems. Nice.

The menu was correctly sized. It represents England perfectly. Fresh fish, meat, pies, offal. As a rule when I'm somewhere that looks and behaves like it knows what it's doing, I'll order the offal dishes. That's the test.

Between the two of us, we had two starters, three mains, and two desserts.

Pâté and a scallop bake for starters. The pâté was home made, rich and silky, very luxurious. The scallop bake however was the star. Every part of it was perfectly cooked, and it tasted great. I was very surprised how they managed to not overcook them, but ensure the puff pastry was perfect.

For mains, sea bass, steak and kidney pudding, and calves liver and bacon. The sea bass was competently prepared, and tasted good. I disagreed with my partner in that I thought it didn't taste fresh. But, I live in fish country so maybe I'm just used to it being pulled out of the sea only hours before eating. It was good. That much is for sure.

The steak and kidney pudding was delicious, perfect suet, perfect cook on the meats. The winner however was the liver and bacon. To cook liver that well, keeping the moisture in, elevating it's natural flavour - it's not easy to find. It was, to me, a clear sign that this place isn't messing around.

The ginger pudding and custard, a favourite of mine since childhood, was as sticky and sumptuous as I had wished it would be. My friend was extremely satisfied with the chocolate brownie.

The staff were at all times demonstrating class and etiquette, while being friendly and welcoming.

This is a must visit, especially if you are foreign, in the area and want to taste proper English food instead of the frozen convenience food many pubs put out. It's the food we ate around the family table growing up, but elevated far beyond.

Thank you to the staff for a fantastic experience, and somewhere to recommend that I know won't...

Visit here about 5/6 times a year and until today have always found it excellent. Today was a little disappointing. We had booked for four with the Christmas menu for lunch.. Upon arrival shown to table where our two guests had already been seated. They had already had 4 menus given to them and had told staff that we were booked for Christmas menu. Waitress had replied. "I don't think so." When we were told this I went to the bar and explained that we were booked for this and the barman said he would check with staff.A short while later a waitress removed the general menu and replaced them with the correct menu. No apology . Having ordered I had potato skins as starter. Not very warm the cheese topping had started to congeal. They were flavourless. The rest of the meal was great . Beef and Guinness pie was the best I have ever had for a very long time. Having got towards the end of the meal we were asked if we required coffee. This along with mince pies was included in the meal so I found it strange to be asked if we wanted coffee. At no time were the Christmas crackers offered to us which were also included in the fixed price. Waitress was not particularly friendly and not really paying attention when we ordered. I have always recommended this establishment as without fault but will reserve judgement until after Christmas when we are booked for my birthday family meal. I hope the standard of attention to detail will be back to merit a 5 star rating by...

First time visiting this restaurant, and was warmly welcomed once we found staff members, was sat at a lovely table (with white table cloth, always a good sign) ordered food and drinks and waited a little while. Our drinks arrived which were fine, then two meals from our order arrived and then mine arrived but was wrong. I had to wait for a good 10-15 minutes for my food to arrive by which time the others in my party were half way through their food. Once it arrived I got stuck in as I was ready for it, and was enjoying it, only to pull a long hair from my mouth! That was the end of that I couldn't eat any more.

The manager was very apologetic and rectified the disappointing meal and service immediately. It was clear that the restaurant had staffing problems and I feel sure this was not "the norm" my friends meals were lovely and they enjoyed them. I, on the other hand was very disappointed, but I hope that was just a one off, and will give the restaurant another try in the future. How the manager dealt with the whole situation was encouraging and affirming. The restaurant decor is lovely, there is plenty of parking, and good access. Despite my experience I would recommend in the hope that what I experienced was...