The Dabbling Duck in Guildford

Great cafe in the centre of the picturesque Surrey village of Shere

Amazing food and lovely place, but got annoyed by stamp card policy. Dropped £30 for food and two coffees but was only given one stamp on the loyalty card because of a 'one stamp per VISIT policy'. Never come across a cafe that does this. Soured my visit

Tasty food and very friendly people.

Absolutely loved the breakfast here! Everything was cooked to perfection—the scrambled eggs were soft and creamy, the grilled tomato had great char and flavor, and the mushrooms were juicy and rich. The sausage was well-seasoned, and the grilled halloumi added a nice touch. Baked beans were served in a cute copper cup, and the avocado slices were fresh. The thick-cut toast with butter on the side was a great finishing touch. Great presentation and generous portions. Highly recommend for a hearty and delicious start to your day!

What a great find. Delicious food, friendly staff, and good service (even our dog was welcome). Will definitely be returning. Top tip - park in the car park it’s a 2 min walk (if that). Looking forward to my next visit.

We had a rather disappointing experience today at this restaurant. The Manager Christy Childs did not handle our food hygiene situation in the right way. Me and my husband with our little boy ordered 2 burgers and a piece of cake , the lamb burger what I had , had a burnt plastic layer in the middle of the burger and I nearly chocked trying to swallow. I straight away showed it to the staff and she quickly removed it saying I will take it off the bill can I bring another burger freshly made for you to have , I said ok and I said I want to make a complaint. And when we were going to pay the bill , they have not taken out the burger charger out of our bill, have just taken off the price of the piece of cake. Which is not what they said. This is a serious issue with food hygiene and they should be apologising and taking off the amount from the bill. I spoke to the manager Christy Childs and she was not at all bothered what we went through eating a plastic on the burger, she did not care and was very rude to us , she mishandled the whole situation and we had to pay for a burger which had plastic on it . And wasted hours on this issue after travelling from London.

Absolutely loved my visit to The Dabbling Duck. The cakes were divine—especially the chocolate brownie, which was crisp on top and soft in the center. The coffee complemented the treats perfectly. The cozy, rustic decor and friendly staff made it a delightful experience. Can’t wait to return!

Obviously popular spot. Visited twice across two days. First for cake. Oh the choices! So many tempting choices. Mine was very large and tasty. Team face recommendations and advice which was well received and knowledgeable. Also drinks choices I hadn’t seen or tried before which was fun. Second for brunch. Decent menu, price and portions. Outside was a nice space and service was quick and attentive.

Visited for late lunch 25.04.25 and both had the lamb burger. All was well until I was almost finished but then discovered a long brown hair in my burger. I called a waitress over and showed her the offensive item which should not have been there if the kitchen staff were wearing hair covering. The waitress apologised for it but there was no other mention and we were expected to pay the full price and service charge which my husband reluctantly did. Needless to say we will not be returning and I strongly advise anyone to think again before ordering cooked food from this restaurant. Seriously disappointed in their standards.

Visited on the off chance today. Managed to get a table outside and ordered coffee and cakes. Two very tempting looking vegan choices and I plumped for the Avo chocolate cake. Absolutely divine. What amazing flavour.

Sat outside in the sun, cakes were amazing and so were the staff. Cute little place.

Delicious food and kind service!

Stopped here for a light lunch. Lovely day so we were able to sit in the garden. Nice food and fairly decent service. Would certainly recommend for a lunch stop.

Nice cafe with decent overpriced food and good, attentive service.

Such a lovely menu, nice to see lots of fresh vegan, vegetarian and GF options. All home made and delicious. The ladies were very friendly and welcoming especially to our excited little dog 😊

The food is great and is definitely recommended for a stop over. It's very small so when is busy it's very noisy and there is no much "personal" space.

A lovely place on the village high st, just by the river stream - good range of food options, good quality food, nice outdoor seating area and friendly and welcoming staff

Did a delivery here, so I can't rate food or service, but it was packed. Which would indicate the ratings would be favourable. Lovely,pretty and quiet location, so customers must love it too travel here

Waited to be served for 15 minutes (we were given the menu by this time), no one came. But don't worry, they have the audacity to include 10% tips into the bill. Would be nice to have some service too

What a lovely country village coffee/tea room. A very wide range of teas, coffee, cakes, and pastries. Really friendly and helpful staff. I look forward to returning to try something from the main menu because it all looked delicious coming out of the kitchen. There's plenty of seating (at least there was on a week day), nice and warm inside, and an outside garden for the warmer days.

Expensive for what food was served. A egg mayo sandwich with too many crispy onions inside. A little bit of lettuce for £9.50. Id usually expect either crisps or a few fries with the sandwich.

I love this place. Every time we plan to go to Shere, this is where we have breakfast. Every single time! We love the food, the place and the staff - 5 stars to them, they are always so kind! My suggestion, try the banana thing with yogurt. Delicious 😋

Top quality local products from farm, butchers etc. Beautifully English and excellent quality and good coffee too and friendly staff. We visited from 30mins drive and it was worth it and we will go back.

An absolutely perfect breakfast, many thanks

I came here today with my boyfriend after a walk around the area. We were seated in the heated yurt in the garden which was very warm and cosy. We thoroughly enjoyed the burgers and they were well worth the money. Definitely one to add to your list if you’re in Shere!

Shere is a lovely little village. Dabbling Duck is an old school café, I love that style. Excellent coffee, lovely cakes, food. The staff is friendly, don't have to wait long to be served. One if my favourite cafés in Surrey.

We were staying in the area and found this place on Google, I read the amazing reviews and thought we would give it a try . The time we went it was quite, we were greeted as soon as we walked in and we're given full attention, plenty of things to choose from on the menu I ordered the soup which was sweet potato and leek and my husband ordered the same plus a salt beef sandwich. The soup was incredible the taste was amazing full of flavour and I could have eaten a lot more then we had a millionaire shortbread which was huge and very chocolatey absolutely delicious. All the staff were very friendly, I would highly recommend this hidden gem.

Excellent food quality and food cooked just as ordered. Very clean but young staff (females) spoilt it as just so unfriendly, maybe shy but it took the edge off the visit.

Had a lovely breakfast at the dabbling duck. The staff were all very friendly and service and food could not be faulted. There was only one fly in the ointment. We sat inside the cafe as did a lot of dog owners. My friend has allergies and is a bit wary of dogs so it was a bit off putting to her. They were also all a bit over excited and ‘talking’ to each other which made it hard for us to converse. I’ve no objection to well behaved dogs but not everyone feels the same for various reasons and are not necessarily just being intolerant. The Dabbling Duck has a large heated marquee outside as well as covered heated outdoor seating. Would it not be a good compromise to welcome dogs only to these areas and keep the small inside seating area pet free. Other than that small niggle it was a lovely brunch before a bracing walk in beautiful countryside surrounding Shere.

Had a lovely breakfast at the dabbling duck. The staff were all very friendly and service and food could not be faulted. There was only one fly in the ointment. We sat inside the cafe as did a lot of dog owners. My friend has allergies and is a bit wary of dogs so it was a bit off putting to her. They were also all a bit over excited and ‘talking’ to each other which made it hard for us to converse. I’ve no objection to well behaved dogs but not everyone feels the same for various reasons and they are not necessarily just being intolerant. The Dabbling Duck has a large heated marquee outside as well as covered heated outdoor seating. Would it not be a good compromise to welcome dogs only to these areas and keep the small inside seating area pet free. Other than that small niggle it was a lovely brunch before a bracing walk in beautiful countryside surrounding Shere.

Beautiful food. Attentive staff

Nice enough spot for a quick tea or coffee but the food offering is pretty poor. I went for the avocado toast and felt that most could have done a better job making it themselves at home.

The egg royale ordered was inedible, there was so much salt in the hollandaise sauce it ruined all the whole meal - the egg was slightly under cooked too - and despite mentioning to the member of staff at the end nothing was done about it. Extremely disappointing and I would urge caution if you are thinking of eating there.

My local ♥️ me and pooch, breakfast and coffee. Normally Mondays. Hopefully still will be. Xx

Food was fine. Ordered drinks almost straight away, hadn’t arrived when I asked for the bill. Literally a hot chocolate and 2 bottles of juice. Drinks then arrived and we turned them away as they’d taken 20/30mins to arrive. Staff attitude was abrupt, felt a bit unwelcome. Paid for food and left quickly.

Just had breakfast here. Food was unbelievable, Everything was cooked fresh and locally sourced. The scrambled eggs was unreal! Despite it being super busy the staff was friendly and polite. Our waitress Tilly was excellent and a credit to the company. Super dog friendly and just a great experience.

Cafe with quite a large garden area (partially covered - they have a heated yurt!) which is well done up and nice to sit in. Good selection of cakes and drinks with table service. A bit pricey though!

I thought we would have had a section of the area that was dedicated to people having afternoon tea. But there were customers sitting on the table next to us just having snacks. When I rang to book the table I explained what my family could and couldn’t eat. We arrived and were greeted warmly and shown to our table. I was expecting the staff to offer us a choice of sandwiches but I mentioned what we didn't want and was told don't worry we have chosen for you. My sister can't eat sauces/ pickles etc. Most of the sandwiches had onion pickle or pickled gurkins on. No fish or meat at all. cream cheese with gurkins cheddar with caramelised onion and egg. Didn't feel special at all. My sister couldn't eat any of the sandwiches. She had a scone and thatbwas it. £125 For 3 guests was very upset with the experience. Sadly the day was fir my sisters birthday treat. The cakes in the shop looked so much nicer than what we had.

This is my second time in Shere and at The Dabbling Duck. I came last year as well. I travel from New Zealand and love coming to this place with my family here in England. Great food and staff.

Incredible panini and soups. Very good value. Lovely staff. Delicious food and drink. I recommend massively!!

We popped in for lunch on a weekday in November - it was very busy but we were seated quickly. The service was average at best (although beware, they'll add a service charge automatically when you pay the bill, regardless of the quality of the service). We both felt that it was overpriced for very average food. The panini was ok, but nothing to write home about. The cakes are £5 per slice and they looked amazing, but we found that they had a very oily, cloying texture which made us feel a bit sick. We couldn't even finish them, which is saying something for two cake lovers! I'm not entirely certain that the coffee cake had ever come into contact with any coffee - it just had a weirdly bland and slightly strange taste. Overall, at almost £40 for a quick lunch for two, we were disappointed.

Nicest burger I've ever had, seasoning and dressings perfect

cozy place with really good coffee. Scones were warm and lovely 😋

Overpriced and low quality. The avocado sandwich comes on average supermarket bread and costs £11. The layer of avocado was barely a layer. The espresso is made with over roasted coffee and is more like an americano. There was a staff of six for in such a small venue. Paid £32 for two avocado sandwiches, a hot chocolate and an espresso. Joke.

This is a pleasant cafe in the area, their take on a smashed avo on toast was interesting. loved the hot chocolate!

We visited the Dabbling Duck for my Mum's 90th for afternoon tea for 5 of us and it was fabulous! The food was beautifully presented, fresh, light and tasty. Service was top class, we were well looked after. Highly recommended.

What a gem! Lovely local cafe. The food was fresh & delicious, cooked to perfection. The desserts to die for. Excellent, highly recommend.

Lovely spot in Shere. Coffee great but would recommend avoiding the avocado toast option as rather odd, sweet and not spicy at all. Service excellent

The staff were pleasant and efficient and the soup of the day and the bread were nicely presented and tasty.

Great birthday treat. Will return to this lovely place.

A lovely dog friendly cafe in a beautiful quintessentially English village! Lovely food - I had the smashed advocate on toast with poached egg, pine nut pesto and heritage tomatoes which was very tasty and fresh. My husband had the Thai beef toastie which he said was delicious. Felt very welcome, not rushed at all and the dogs were also able to relax and were fussed over!

Thank you for brilliant customer service today - for supporting my friend and I with wheelchair access to eat inside your lovely cafe.

Really cute little cafe and the food was incredible. I don’t normally expect much from cafe food but this was honestly delicious. I had the soup of the day which was sweet potato, chilli and ginger and it was the best soup I’ve ever had, and then we shared a applewood cheddar toasted panini which had a delicious carrot chutney in. 10/10 and would definitely recommend trying this cafe in the beautiful village of Shere!

Delightful tearoom. Does a lovely breakfast. Staff is lovely and the atmosphere is fantastic.

Been to shere a couple of times for walks and mornings out. Firstly where is a lovely little village. My partner and I plus our dog stopped off here initially for a tea and a pastry but ended up having the half a sandwich and soup option which was a great shout. Best of both. The soup of the day was delicious. The pot of tea was lovely and big and the scone afterwards was again delicious. Id recommend this little place to stop off if ever in shere.

Went her for breakfast with my mom. We loved the old town vibes, the sustainable cottage shop next door. The place is quite cozy in a good way and homey, staff are lovely, though service can be a little slow which is understandable because the place is small. Absolutely delicious bang on fresh cakes!! We had the vegetarian breakfast, high quality food, well made. Coffee was great and I'm difficult to impress when it comes to coffee. Will definitely go again just to try more of the cakes 😍. Pro tip: visit the loo, its full of duck, I loved it because I'm cheeky.

Great coffee and cake, worth a visit

Amazing food and excellent service. Well worth a visit.

Stumbled upon this place today - what a lucky find. Lots of great food choices & many gluten free options which was brilliant. Spotlessly clean and lovely staff to top it off. Oh, and superb coffee!

Lovely dog friendly cafe in a beautiful village with lots of outdoor seating. The staff were all very friendly and accommodating. They have a good selection of lunch options. The only critique we would make is that the coffee and walnut cake had little to no coffee in it. But lunch was delicious.

The best EVER eggs benedict we have ever had. The tarragon oil addition was superb. We also had a serving of sausages, which were excellent.

Wonderful teashop in lovely old world village. Friendly staff. Moist Ginger cake and lively pear and elderflower drink.

Superb shabby chic cafe in a hungry pretty Shere in the Surrey Hills. Plenty of room inside, open Bank Holiday Monday, well staffed, polite and attentive staff, amusing ducky loo, well above average generous mug of americano and a stonkingly good granola and greek yoghurt pot. Comes at a price ( £25 for two ) but worth every penny. Thanks guys, we'll be back!

Popped in for a coffee and cake after a walk. Very popular cafe, but still room inside on a busy Sunday. Cake was delicious, and lots of choice. Will definitely use again and recommend.

The lemon drizzle cake was fantastic, friendly staff

An enjoyable visit. There were a lot of staff, all young and somewhat nervous but friendly. We had a slice of cake each which were decent slices and interesting flavours. Deffo recommend

We have eaten here many times before. After a walk in the Surrey Hills it was delightful to be welcomed here for a delicious lunch. As ever, the service was very relaxed and the food delicious.

Interesting menu with delicious sandwiches. We sat outside in the very pleasant rear garden. Nice atmosphere and good service.

Lovely brunch in the shady garden. My daughter had the best vegan breakfast ever, my grandson was amazed by the jammie dodger milkshake and I had the delicious apple and cinnamon loaf with yogurt, fruit etc. Altogether a very tasty experience!

First visit to Shere, this is an excellent cafe, well worth a visit. My daughter had the Granola with fresh fruit and I had Bacon, poached eggs, Mushroom and beans. Yery very yummy!!! We also bought some lovely mugs and a plaque from the shop section. Staff very attentive. We will be back.

First time came and amazing village… we had latte and duck (which is full)breakfast which was very delicious. What amazed me was the breakfast was hot till half way through as I ate slowly… lol. Anyw, that was super tasty for me. The whole experience was lovely and we planned to come back again some time in the near future.

Lovely spot for warm service and great food. Highly recommended.

Didn't go in, had booked elsewhere, but definitely looked inviting, so will probably visit the next time we are near.

Visited at about 1pm on a Friday. We Ordered coffee and fruit scones. A few minutes later the waitress returned to advise us that they had run out of ALL types of scone. I pity anyone expecting an afternoon tea later in the day. When we received our bill they had added a 10% service charge making the cost of our two coffees £8.25. I do not expect to pay a service charge when just having a coffee.

Went during a busy weekend but the staff were really good. The food was so tasty and the coffee delicious! I love their desserts as well, the rocky road is the best!!

Am cycling from London to Portsmouth on our way to Europe and had a fantastic breakfast here this morning. Very tasty, good coffee, and they have cake slices you can take away. Clearly a favourite with cyclists in the region. Very friendly staff and service was quick and very pleasant.

A photo of the BLT sandwich says it all. £11 which is a bit of a (bad) joke

Treated to an afternoon tea and in the comfort of own home … Absolutely delicious added pot of tea and glass of Prosecco … Perfect birthday treat

Met here for an early Father’s Day treat with my son and one of my daughters. What a lovely place. Coffee was excellent. My son and I had smashed avocado on wholewheat toast and my daughter eggs Benedict. Simply the best! We will definitely be back.

Great brunch, cakes and coffee - the perfect way to refuel mid-bike ride. Cosy yurt for cold days, lovely little garden when it's sunny. And amazing service when the heavens suddenly open on your poached eggs: by the time I felt the third drop yesterday lunchtime, the girls were rushing over to put up a parasol. Recommended.

Love it!!!, it is quite with good selection of cakes and the places is full of good things to enjoy. Check the village!!! iit would be a relaxing choice.

We went for afternoon tea to celebrate a birthday, and it was so cute! Very generous with the food and attentive staff who kept us topped up with drinks!

Nice country cafe. Large outdoor space.

Greeted by friendly staff, great choice of drinks and breakfast options (suggestion to the owners:acai smoothie bowl) lovely vibes and architecture. Clean throughout. Only downside is no WiFi inside.

I go here frequently with guests from abroad, but also for lunch or English tea, with my family and friends. The menu has a good variety and good vegan options. It’s a lovely tea shop to go to after a lovely walk around the quaint village of Shere: always take duck food to feed the ducks, and kids wellies in the Spring to Autumn to paddle in the stream ❤️💙🇬🇧

So disappointing when a great little find lets itself down with very poor service. The room was lovely. Dinner was great and in fact the younger lady serving us in the evening was very pleasant. If only the more senior staff could take a leaf out of her book. What a shame! We felt very unwelcome.

Always a great place to visit when cycling Surrey hills. Great service from the staff and always good coffee & cake.

Excellent coffee and pan au chocalate

Only ordered some chips but the food all looked lovely, great service and a lovely little place!

Had a lovely Avocado on toast with bacon. Always add bacon.

With indoor, outdoor in the sun, shade or yurt the variety of seating options is sure to please everyone. The food was great, the Vegan and standard burgers were very nice, highly recommend the beetroot and horseradish relish. Our kids found the cheese on the kids cheese and toast too strong and this is coming from a family that only eats extra mature cheese, for an adult or Mac and cheese it would be outstanding. Interestingly the plain kids cheese sandwich seemed a little calmer and was happily chomped. We sat in the shady garden which was lovely, but there were a lot of dogs around so if you don't like dogs you may wish to sit in the yurt or inside.

Dropped in for brunch while visiting the area after it was recommended to us by a local taxi driver. No complaints at all; service was prompt and good arrived quickly. Food looked lovely and tasted great. Didn’t try the cocktails but what was on the menu looked fab.

Had been wanting to visit for a few years as this cafe and village has been made somewhat famous by a certain film franchise (I do believe?!) and it’s very charming. Understandably busy due to it being a bank holiday Sunday lunchtime but we managed to get a table. Service was very friendly and the decor is super cute. It would’ve been nice to have the heating on as it was quite chilly, but I always feel the cold more than most. Food took a while to come, but again, it was busy. However food was lovely and it was hard to choose what to have as there was really good choice for veggies. Didn’t try the cakes but they looked incredible! Definitely worth a visit.

A very average experience. Took my mum for a birthday lunch. We booked into the Yurt which is pretty but freezing cold if weather is not on your side. We were given some lunch menus but my mum really just wanted tea and cake but we’re not offered any of the ‘traditional’ tea room stuff I was expecting. The food we had was delicious but I’m a real stickler for customer service which I’m afraid is what let this place down as staff were clearly busy but very abrupt and we were certainly made to feel we were a bit of an inconvenience to them. With all this in mind I was very disappointed to find the service charge on the bill was not optional which I strongly disagree with especially with not great service but absolutely will tip for good service.

The most fantastic tea. Everything was beautiful, unusual and delicious. The ladies serving were friendly and cheerful even on a very busy and wet afternoon. Extremly memorable for all the right reasons.

Lovely cafe in a beautiful village. Can't go wrong.

Cozy café in a quaint village. Lovely coffee and cakes.

We booked afternoon tea here and we were not disappointed. The yurt was beautifully decorated, the food arrived promptly and each piece was lovely. Highly recommended!

Lovely cafe in beautiful Shere. Delicious food with good variety to cater for different dietary requirements. Excellent service. Happy to recommend

THE FOOD WAS AMAZING! Everything was just perfect! Their Tomato soup was perfect! And everything thing else we had there!