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The Wotton Hatch is an old coaching inn, which has been transformed into a spacious country pub and restaurant, with large open areas and numerous alcoves. The interiors have been tastefully done up using generous amounts of copper, suede, raw wood and leather, to create a thoroughly pleasant whole. The dining area can seat eighty-five with another forty on the patio in fine weather.

There is a lovely garden in which to enjoy summer. Knick knacks all around give the place a casual and relaxed feel. The food altar - an imposing central fireplace - is decorated with cured meats, cheeses and jars of olives. To set the right note of fashionable sociability there are sharing plates, Mediterranean mezze of hummus, roasted vegetables, fregola, tzatziki, feta, spinach and ricotta pâté with warm flatbreads, a box baked camembert with stiratta romagna and home made tomato jam, or garlic pizzette with caramelised onion and rocket.

Amongst the starters, there is freshly made soup; sardines on bruschetta with red onion, plum tomato and gremolata or gambas with rocket, garlic, aioli and rustic bread. Look, too, for scallops of the day.

The salads - sorry, that should read 'leaves' - offer crispy duck with mouli, hoisin, carrots, spring onions and plum sauce, for the seafood fiends some prawn, avocado, pecan, mango, watercress, bacon with orange and pomegranate vinaigrette.

These days no self-respecting gastropub can afford to be without its pizza range; expect to find a classic margherita of tomato, mozzarella, oregano and basil; piccante with pepperoni, chorizo, tomato and jalapeños or rustica with roasted Mediterranean vegetables, goats' cheese, cherry tomatoes and rocket.

Pastas include linguini with tiger prawns, crab, chorizo, chilli, tomato and white wine, or tagliatelle with slow cooked Bolognaise and parmesan. For the big event there is Indian spiced salmon fillet with wilted spinach and sweet potato with aubergine and mango chutney.

The calves liver with tray baked potatoes, red onion, bacon and sage panagrattato is popular, a sign of the times and improving taste in eating. The spit chicken with lemon, garlic, thyme and frites is worth trying too. For hearty eaters there is a good rib-eye steak with smoked paprika and tomato, butter, watercress and frites.

A wide range of supporting dishes includes Belgian frites and mayo, and cabbage, leeks and peas. For desserts choose between Eton mess or apple, blackcurrant crumble and vanilla custard. There is also a selection of cheeses to set the buffs alight.

The Wotton Hatch stocks a range of beers, champagne, award winning ales and offer a choice of continental pilsners. At the bar thirty or so people can comfortably seat themselves and service is cheerful, brisk and totally in keeping with the friendly nature of a good English gastropub. The Wotton Hatch is quite central to a lot of walks in the area and a great place for a mid walk pit stop.

More information, including full menus, is available on their Website . Please note that the E-Mail Contact is for enquiries only, not for bookings. 

The Inn on the Green and the Green Rooms present a pretty picture, an ancient inn, on the old Roman road from the coast to Dorking, offering well-presented classic English food in surroundings that are forever England, with menus that keep pace with the seasons. It perpetuate 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 talented chefs, creating what Paul refers to as 'a really fantastic team in the kitchen', heralded changes in the menus. However the modern trend towards simpler, more recognisable homemade 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 soup of the day, minted lamb kofta kebab, and deep fried breaded brie served with cranberry compote and mixed leaf garnish.

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. No British menu is complete without traditional fish and chips, served here battered and with traditional chips, peas and homemade tartare sauce.

Should you be feeling a touch fragile and undernourished go without hesitation for the New Zealand shoulder of lamb, or sesame seed crusted tuna steak served with crispy noodles, bok choi, soy sauce and wasabi.

Amongst the attractive and well presented desserts is the pear frangipane tart, not forgetting the traditional Eton mess meringue with strawberries, cream and strawberry coulis. A choice of some 17 wines offers sensible options and a heart-warming mark-up that makes contemplation of a second bottle virtually unavoidable.

The Green Rooms is perfect for parties of up to 76 people seated or buffets for 100 and everything can be tailored for your needs.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.

Café Rouge has over one hundred branches throughout Britain all offering a wide range of dishes drawn from the French cuisine. Slightly less than half their branches are in or close to London. Almost inevitably the décor and design of each restaurant differs from the others, but there is a general curtsy towards La France.

Many restaurants do an excellent breakfast, or shall we say petit dejeuner, at which such delights as scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on toasted brioche, croque Madame, croissants and pain au chocolat make welcome appearances, and to their credit the English traditional gets top billing.

An array of small dishes takes in pulled pork pâté with French bread, and spicy beef and lamb sausage with harissa mayonnaise. Salads and pasta feature largely, as do baguettes and croques. Quick dishes, ideal for lunch, include slices of saucisson and cured pork loin with French bread.

Moving on to more serious stuff we find steaks, an 8oz bavette and thin cut rib eye, with a choice of béarnaise or peppercorn sauce. No French menu would be complete without the poulet jaune grille, pan-roasted breast of corn-fed chicken served on a warm taboulé of bulgar wheat and a medley of roasted vegetables with minted crème fraîche, or a steak frites before moving on to the crème brûlée, or the tart tatin. Almost invariably the coffee tastes like coffee should, something that sadly can all too often still not be said of our English restaurants, who depend too much upon technology and too little on the acquisition of a certain flair for this important conclusion to a meal.

By now we all know that the French, despite their distinctive habits when it comes to matters of satisfying the inner man, maintain a miraculous longevity of life. This is generally attributed to a number of causes, of which a measured consumption of decent wine is foremost. Café Rouge, you may be pleased to hear, encourages this with a well-chosen selection of French wines. Their prix fixe lunch and meals for children, both at a very reasonable figure, also offer excellent value.

Their Website will keep you updated on menu changes, news and other competitions and offers from the Café Society.

The Red Chilli offers guests authentic flavours of India in a comfortable, contemporary setting. The well experienced chefs weave their magic to create fine dishes from the sub-continent as well as fish and duck dishes from neighbouring Bangladesh. A range of vegetarian selections are also available.

A chicken tikka, marinated chicken pieces cooked in a tandoori oven with special spices and fish kebab, minced fish, fried in garlic paste, coriander and other light spices make for a good start to an exciting meal. Main course could follow with bhatak raja nagha sahi, hot flavour boneless breast of duck cooked Bengali style with naga chilli of Sylhet and navratan paneer kurma, cottage cheese in a creamy sauce finished with flaked almond. As a last indulgence before you polish your plate you can order akbari pulao, lamb with onions and nuts, cooked with aromatic basmati rice, butter and light spices and served with an omelette on top.

Drakes on the Pond was awarded the Home Counties Newcomer of the Year Award in 2002 but then capped that by gaining a Michelin Star in 2003. It is another cottage restaurant with London connections and this charmingly presented place has all the signs of success. Former Chef Steve Drake has now left to open his own place nearby and Brian Attridge, a local lad, who worked for the Fat Duck Brasserie for eighteen months, has returned to his roots

An emphasis on well-sourced materials, including fresh fish from Devon, produces such delights as salted cod fishcake, salt cod brandade, lighly curried Jerusalem artichoke velouté with seaweed tartare; pigeon and foie gras sausage with lentils, ratatouille, leeks and garlic foam or sea bream with little gem lettuce, salsify and baby onions.

The wine list is sympathetic to the table with house wines from £16.00. Lunch presents especially good value with a 2 course menu at £18.50, very reasonable for great quality. No children under 10 years.

Sometimes it is difficult to believe how much natural beauty can thrive not all that far from the urban distraction of London. One of the prime examples is a parcel of countryside of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the heart of the Surrey Hills where a large private estate and an even larger National Trust interest have combined their 5,000 acres to preserve and enhance the best.

It is in these surroundings that The Stephan Langton Inn thrives on a diet of sightseers, walkers, tourists and cyclists, as well as the regulars, who come to relax and enjoy the historic, wild and natural habitat. The present inn was tastefully built in the 1930s and still carries the name of the reforming Archbishop who brought King John to heel, resulting eventually in the signing of Magna Carta at Runnymede in June 1215.

Eating here is a fun business with not too much in the way of formality, but proper attention paid to the two main menus, one of which is the daily blackboard that cheerfully blurs the cut off point between starters and more substantial dishes. A toasted panini with a mug of fresh home made soup can look - and taste - like nectar after a strenuous day's walking in the surrounding hills.

Originally established in 1965 - New Curry Garden rapidly became popular, especially as it was one of very few restaurants serving genuine Indian/Bangladeshi Cuisine in the Surrey region.

The restaurant has attracted a vast number of people - from the local residents of Dorking and the neighbouring towns/villages to well known politicians and film stars; among their famous customers have been the late Oliver Reed, one of Britain's all time great film actor who used to be regular diner (and drinker we assume) and the Sultan of Oman, who still has his take-out for the family.

Today, the newly refurbished restaurant projects a contemporary and stylish image, one of which is rarely found in a town such as Dorking. The Concept was simplicity with a vibrant and dynamic atmosphere; the key feature being to simulate the effects of a typical village in Bangladesh using colour, thus traditional yet still contemporary.

Their quality levels are as high as ever, a fact that has been recognised by their inclusion in the Cobra Good Curry Guide every year since 2001, including being nominated for the Best in Britain Award in 2001 and 2002.