Green Rooms at The Inn on the Green, The

An ancient inn, on the old Roman road from the coast to Dorking, offering well-presented food in surroundings that are forever England, with menus that keep pace with the seasons. The Inn on the Green and the Green Rooms perpetuates all that is good about the village inn, without in any way inhibiting its reaction to change, where clam chowder could replace brown Windsor soup but the villagers' dogs are still welcome, and stories of local ghosts are regarded with interest rather than disdain.

Accommodation in the form of six comfortably furnished en suite rooms, the design and fitting out of which has obviously been carefully thought through from the customer's point of view, enables weekend breaks against a background of excellent food, and a welcoming base for business clients after a hard day in the area. The full English breakfast makes a challenging start to any day, and less demanding options are also available.

There is of course a knack to all this, and it's called good management, linked with the vision thing, and it starts in the car park from whence it pervades the whole place. The result is an inn that claims loyalties and affections in great quantity. Owners Paul and Gwyneth preside over this well run piece of human theatre, ensuring that good friendly service is always to hand, that fresh local produce gets priority in the kitchens, and the menu is always up to scratch.

The advent of new chefs, creating what Paul refers to as "a really fantastic team in the kitchen", is heralding changes in the menus. However the modern trend towards simpler, more recognisable home made food, made to order where possible, has not been forgotten, and a certain well-known TV chef would feel at home here. There is a strong emphasis on local produce and suppliers.

Starters are likely to be offering a home prepared soup of the day, a Hoisin marinated lamb fillet with mixed peppers, spring onion and lemon grass, and that ultimate piece of culinary sacrifice for two to share, which presumes to subject a whole Camembert to a state of oven melt before serving it whole with homemade breadsticks.

Main courses are built round a chicken/fish/meat/vegetarian plan, starting with chicken fajitas that could have just dropped in from an upmarket cantina in El Paso. Hot Jalfrezi curries offer an alternative to the milder Vietnamese wok-fried variety. No British menu is complete without traditional fish and chips, served here battered and with traditional chips and peas.

Should you be feeling a touch fragile and undernourished go without hesitation for the mixed grill consisting of an Aberdeen Angus minute steak, Scottish lamb chop, two rashers of back bacon, two Cumberland sausages, black pudding, egg, tomato, onion rings and chips. All their meat comes from Rawlings of Cranleigh with full traceability.

Amongst the attractive and well presented desserts my eye fell on their take on banoffee pudding, not forgetting the traditional apple and rhubarb crumble, with custard - of course. A choice of some 20 wines offers sensible options, with most by the glass, and a heart-warming mark-up that makes contemplation of a second bottle virtually unavoidable.

Their attractive and colourful Website offers details of events at the inn, corporate bookings, attractions and accommodation and takes only a brief time to check out.