White Horse

I recently visited 'The White Horse' as part of my love for the film 'The Holiday' and after reading the comments left on here I was a bit sceptical. Never the less my family and I arrived just as the pub was opening and managed to find a seat very easily. The bar staff were friendly and the place looked clean and tidy. We ordered starters and mains from a very wide choice of meals that weren't too expensive and a childrens meal. The starters arrived without having to wait too long and the waitress was extremely friendly and helpful. Our starters were cleared and with just enough time to let our starters settle our main courses arrived. Very well presented, hot and the meat we felt was to a fairly high standard. There was a good atmosphere in the pub too. The last comment left on here dated back to April 2011 and since then I think the pub must of up their game and sorted themselves out. We will as a family of four be returning to this lively, lovely picturesque village of Shere, Surrey very soon and will be happily heading to 'The White Horse' for we thought was a lovely meal.

Shere is one of our favourite spots, particularly for Sunday lunch and an afternoon walk. But what has happened to the White Horse? After our visit today, we won't ever go back. Our first impression was the duty manager's trousers - filthy! There was also a lingering stale smell around the bar area. And as for the new summer menu - a tender steak burger was actually more like a supermarket frozen burger thrown in a bun with melted cheese & cheap burger sauce. The accompanying vegetables to a heavy pastry pie (limited chicken) were practically anaemic and tasteless. We couldn't wait to leave and felt thoroughly ripped off. Clearly the White Horse are relying on their beautiful location to bring in the customers - one thing is for sure, we won't be returning or recommending it to our friends.

27 walkers visited The White Horse in Shere, Surrey yesterday, 17 March 2011

Despite being St Patrick's Day, there was no draft beer on offer, if you exclude lager beers. The row of pumps had their labels facing inwards and were empty. How can this be on Thursday lunchtime?? What sort of organisation would let this happen? It just beggars belief that not even one of the many brands on offer was available!! If it were the day after St Patrick's Day it would be understandable when the Irish might either have drunk or the beer or,more likely, blown the place up!

Of course this was a bad start to our visit and I had a nasty feeling from the manager's unapolagetic attitude that worse was to come! At about 10.00am that morning before we started walking, 27 lunches were pre-ordered from your menu by telephone. We arrived around 12 noon to what appeared to be an empty pub and were directed to our seats which had been prepared for us. Drinks were ordered directly from the bar and paid for at the time. In the interests of efficiency with a large group it would have been much easier to take payment for the meals ordered at the same time as the drinks and would have been usefulbut this was not possible for some reason.

We waited an age before the meals started to come through despite having been pre-ordered about 2 hours before and despite being mostly of the snack variety - baguettes, sandwiches, jacket potatoes etc. My "curry of the day" finally arrived well over an hour later and was very mediocre without popadums or chutney. My wife's jacket potato came at the same time and was cold with a small filling which was hard to identify.Perhaps they were running out of ingredients? Many other members of our group were similarly unimpressed. Apologies from the staff were minimal. The building looked very inviting from outside with flowers all around. The interior was looking a bit tired though with some delapidated furniture. I imagine the kitchen could do with a cash injection too! All the pictures were screwed to the walls with two aluminium screws through the frames. Is this really necessary in Shere of all places?? It looked horrible!

Shere is one of the best known villages in West Surrey. People flock there from all over the county and further. Is Chef and Brewer, a huge organisation, so obsessed with profits and the stockmarket to not recognise the basic requirement of top quality and customer satisfaction? Could it be that the local pub management is not really to blame but becomes the scapegoat for the huge disjointed hierachy above them disappearing into the clouds with Mr Dyson at the top somewhere in the stratosphere?? God help the White Horse on a busy sunny weekend! Shere deserves better!

This dreadful pub now only serves food in the restaurant - there are no bar snacks of any description. Yet another pub that has gone over to being a restaurant rather than a pub that serves food.

The staff were surly.

I'll never visit again and recommend steering well clear.

What an absolutely miserable place! This time last year, it was full, bustling and served reasonable food outside on a sunny Sunday. This year I walk in and the bar's dead. The staff were surly, unhelpful and unsmiling. Was it possible to order some lunch to eat outside? No: we don't serve lunch outside any more. Well, could I have something to eat inside? Only if I went into the restaurant. What? Not even a sandwich? According to the unsmiling manager, apparently not. I can't understand why they keep the place open at all if that is their attitude. It's such a lovely village and such a pity that such a beautiful pub should be so joyless and depressing. I went round the corner to the very nice Lucky Duck tearoom instead where the staff were friendly and helpful, and the food delicious.

Lovely building but bar service slow, and too many items on the menu not available

As described. But it is a bit tatty and the fixtures are not very very clean.

It is holding on to it's olde-worldy charm - just, but the time will come when a refurbishment is due. It does sit nicely in a lovely village and is worth the lucky dip but not more