The Dozen in Mole Valley

Awful in every respect. Service, atmosphere, menu, all bad. Food was swimming in grease. Staff didn’t care. They just didn’t want to be there. Never going back.

On entering The Dozen for a Saturday morning brunch, we were surprised how quiet it was for such a lovely looking place ... however, after a 50 minute wait for 2 tasteless sandwiches at a cost of £35 (inc 2 coffees!) we understood why ... !!! Crispy chicken ciabatta was tasteless and not crispy, Oozy grilled cheese was not oozing and far too salty! When asked why there was such a delay we were told the Chef was "struggling as he was on his own!" ... yet we were the ONLY customers in there!!! Offered no discount for the wait or even a second coffee - the waitress was far too busy lounging around staring at her phone We will not be back Note - this is no reflection on the hotel itself as we were not staying there

I first visited this place when it first opened and sadly things haven’t improved in the slightest since my initial negative experience. Food and service well below average and ambience not great either. You’d think the management would act on the reviews and get this place to at least a standard where people would want to return but sadly this does not appear to be happening. Could be SO much better! ☹️

I'm giving 2 as the pizza was fine. But my pork loin was terrible for £20. Just a thick piece of poorly cooked bacon. I said I was coeliac and as a result they seemingly decided not to even season my food let alone give me a gluten free alternative sauce. They didn't even butter my new potatoes. Taking the family out for dinner is a treat nowadays with all the cost of living pressures so gutted that this was so disappointing.

We were booked for afternoon tea on a Saturday and there was so much wrong with this place. It looks really nice from the outside. Firstly, there were several tables that just remained dirty the entire time we were there. 3 staff members were there for a mostly dead restaurant, yet it took 20 minutes before I had to get up to order our tea from the bar. 30 minutes after we sat down for our pre-ordered afternoon tea, everything arrived. Sandwiches were tasty, although not all crusts were removed. We got three finger sandwiches each, and they refused us anymore. The scones were okay, first time I’ve eaten a crunchy scone. Desserts were the worst part. The brownies were inedible because they tasted so dense and practically raw. The Eton Mess was awful because the cream had been whipped into butter. The carrot cake was ok. Overall, wouldn’t go back or recommend. Furthermore, it was eerily quiet and could do with some music.

Don’t go her. The food wasn’t good and totally over priced, the service was annoyingly slow and when we tried to pay the bill the server rolled her eyes and literally yelled at us when we questioned the price. She was so rude and confrontational. We will never go back!

Just terrible food (service ok) and I am now regretting not taking pictures of it. Honestly the worst burger I have ever had. The bun was cold, the burger was heavily burnt, the bacon was a dead pink slice of ‘meat’, and the cheese was (and tasted like) a spit of yellow melted plastic. Raw chips. And this wasn’t just me. Also my parents ordered these ‘beef burgers’ and ended up with this masterpieces. The bill was even more hilarious: 3 terrible ‘burgers’, 3 beers, and one pizza (didn’t tasted it but was told Domino’s is gourmet in comparison) almost £90.

A pleasant evening at the Dozen. Nice atmosphere, pleasant service, good beer, wine and first course. Puddings a bit disappointing. Profiteroles probably bought, not home made, meant to be hot chocolate sauce - but cold and very little of it. For £7.50 had expected a little bit more.

But for the service from our waiter this would have no stars whatsoever. Every piece of food, bar the pate, (which was already cut to size), was virtually inedible. After the service charge the bill should have been well over £100 for just three people who had stater and main. The food. Pate as above - toast dry and hard ( must have been toasted in the early morning). No butter offered, had to ask. Smoked mackerel - about 4 slithers of mackerel, the rest was greenery and dripping wet. No bread, had to ask. Two ham hook croquettes. Must have deep fried for 30 seconds. Hot on the outside, cold in the middle. Tasted like they had been out all day. Small bunch of rocket which was as limp as a soggy rich tea biscuit dipped in tea. Now the mains. Burger so hard you could have mistaken it for a brick. Terrible. Chips (supposedly triple cooked were barely warm and soggy. Nothing like TCC should be. Dover sole. One would expect a whole side of sole. None of that. it was small strips, probably from umpteen fish, cold (sent back - came back zapped, hot on the outside, still cold in the middle. Winter green veg, probably from the previous day, limp and very wet. Fish and chips. I asked for ordinary peas instead of mushy peas. The meal arrived on a wooden board. Peas were in a small metal cup, (there a challenge - you can’t turn them onto your piece of wood or everyone gets some), they were cold anyway. Chips the same as above. The fish was old. As soon as it arrived I could smell it. I doubt it had been freshly cooked. Batter soggy underneath. Skin on bottom not cooked, very slimy. The waiter said “I would offer you the desert menu but that would probably be taking the mick. How this place gets any good reviews is beyond me. And it’s a hotel so god help the guests if they get fed this rubbish as well. I have never reviewed bad food before because it’s never been this bad. This is the worst experience relating to food I have ever encountered.

Have eaten at the Dozen few times before and food has always been good. This time no exception we opted to share a prawn linguine for starters which was delicious followed by a fillet steak and a pork chop with sides. Everything was cooked perfectly, the steak requested rare melted in the mouth, pork tender and tasty. Best onion rings ever, the Chef can definitely cook. Would happily eat here again when visiting area.

Nothing much to say other than step up your game. The food was underwhelming and the service invisible! It wasn’t the case last year when I visited for breakfast. Everything came correct and left me with a smile. I got charge £15 for a slice of toast and “salsa”. A couple of cut up tomatoes with a chive topping, not salsa! Mega disappointing

Called in on the of chance of a tea and scone. Got both. Lovely decor inside. Tea and scones were beautiful. Quiet but it was a Monday afternoon

The most horrendous food ever…… dreadful service……. Rubbish at rectifying the problems….. I’d rather go hungry than eat here again.

No staff to welcome us, had to go to the bar to request a table. Still took 15 minutes to talk to a waitress. Ordered 2 beers which never arrived and then told beer we ordered was not available. Many potential customers came in and back out again. Lots of staff just standing around. Very poor on every level.

Very nice posh sandwich and cup of coffee. Hope to return for a stay!

The food was good, enjoyable and the portion sizes were fine. I would return for the food. However the service was very variable, depending on the waitress. Eventually the 3 waitresses decided to make themselves all a coffee and completely ignore the customers! On 2 tables occupied so it wasn’t particularly onerous for them. A disappointing experience, they need more training on being attentive and customer service. No service charge on this occasion!

We only had drinks. The drinks were incredibly expensive (24 for 4 drinks) and not that good. The men toilets were really gross.

We visited the venue for their afternoon tea, which in itself was very nice. Finger sandwiches and tasty warm scones. However it was let down by the terrible service, we literally had to hunt down someone to order drinks, or pay the bill. Also the person in charge could be heard yelling at her staff, and they literally all started arguing in front of us. So unprofessional and made the experience quite uncomfortable. It’s a shame as the venue itself is nicely done up, and the food was good.

Popped in for lunch. It was quite empty which was surprising as the food was delicious and the staff were very friendly. I had hot smoked salmon and triple cooked chips.

Sadly I cannot leave a good review. The price of pizza was so expensive and for what you get dominos would be a better option and at least you get it cut for you! The staff seem untrained or maybe just lazy?! I am unsure! It’s not a busy restaurant as there is only a few tables. The drinks so pricey, the service not with a friendly nature. My friend and I shared a pizza which came with no pizza cutter no side plates. Literally just a pizza. It was the ‘real deal’ well to be honest it was cheese and abit of ham. I had to ask for cutlery, then I walked round the corner to ask for a pizza cutter and was given a steak knife. Not much better! Ordered a drink each and the bill came to £25! Food was hit and miss in general and extremely overpriced for the quality. Waiting times for service were slow considering how few people were there. Having waited 15 minutes Shame as it really could take off as it’s decor is very trendy and current.

Came here for a last minute lunch as hadn’t been before! We weren’t impressed! Both ordered sandwiches, fries and triple cooked chips! Staff forgot our drink order and came back, triple cooked chips were tasteless greasy and not crispy at all! We had to ask for cutlery as well and weren’t offered any sauces! Then when it came to getting the bill we had to go find someone who when found was chatting round the corner!

We are in The Dozen as part of a stay at the hotel. Things started very well, with an excellent salmon and beetroot salad which would not have been out of place in a high end restaurant. We then had either the lamb chop or the chicken and tarragon pie. My pie was perhaps al bit small, but packed with meat and well flavoured with herbs. The lamb was a little disappointing as it was on the tough side. The highlight was the desserts. the posset was creamy and full of lemon zest and the choux buns disappeared in the blink of an eye. The dining room was quite full and service just about timely. The side plates and butter knives promised bread that never appeared, but that is a minor quibble. Overall it seemed a good choice.

Chose this for lunch on the spur of the moment. Had already decided on the burger from looking at the menu outside but unfortunately it had sold out. Had bland, hard, over cooked I suspect frozen bread- crumbed squid with no garnish or pizzazz and boring mayonnaise and a bucket of nice sweet potato fries. The place was very low on atmosphere, crying baby, a plus point for no piped music though. Quick service but had to wait for the bill, had to put my coat on before I got it. Definitely won't ever go back.

The food was superb, very fresh and very tasty! The service was lovely and the restaurant it’s self was lovely decorated, modern and clean. Will definitely be returning and would recommend! Although slightly on the pricey side.

We stayed at the hotel 2 nights, so had lunch here once and dinner twice. We had the swede carbonara, pepperoni pizza, steak, and cauliflower steak. Cauliflower fennel soup and muffins with bacon and poached eggs for lunch. Everything very well cooked and super tasty....

Shame warmed up food over cooked and dry lovely staff good service screaming children in the back ground made the dining experience stressful will never return

Tasty food re heated and dry onions rings so greasy had to send my friends fish back so over cooked No fuss and was replaced lovely staff good service just not a great dining experience very noisy screaming children in the background which was stressful...

Great service and friendly staff!!

Stopped for lunch and ordered fish goujon sandwich and cheese and pickle sandwich. The bread was stale and the fish goujons were totally overcooked. We sent them back and the 2nd one came back with stale bread so that was also sent back. They knocked...

Went with a friend last week and had a fabulous meal at The Dozen. The food was well cooked and nicely presented. and the staff were also very attentive. Will definitely be returning.

I’m currently touring the restaurants of Dorking with my mum - this is the best we’ve had of the 6 or 7 we’ve visited so far in terms of quality of food. The restaurant is a bit too brightly lit (more hotel vibes than restaurant)...

We dined her last night taking advantage of their pizza offer. We didn't expect too much based on previous reviews of the restaurant. However, i was pleasantly surprised! The service was warm and welcoming. The decor of the restaurant is modern and chic. The pizza...

I don't understand all the really terrible reviews on here. Granted it wasn't the perfect experience, but if I had read these reviews before coming here I wouldn't have given it a chance. Luckily, we did. We were greeted by very friendly staff, and had...

went into this restaurant for lunch. Very disappointed, after waiting almost an hour for our meals to come out ( us and one other small family in there) my beetroot and roasted chicken pea on rustic bread came out in what appeared to be sainsburys...

Went for dinner and drinks. On arrival we were asked to do the nhs track and trace and the staff member asked to see this. She took my phone and dropped it cracking the screen... I don’t think they should handle your belongings as defeats...

Called late Sunday afternoon for tea and coffee with the hope of cake or a biscuit. Not a thing left to eat at all. Tea was lukewarm, and despite complaining as we left, still charged £10.73 for two coffers and the tea. Amazing that so...

Nice decor. Friendly staff. No atmosphere. Bland overpriced food. To much competition. Burger was poor to average but certainly not mouth watering or recommendable. Shame. Will struggle now.

The restaurant looked nice from the street so decided to try it for a treat lunch out. This was a mistake. We did think £6.50 was steep for a sandwich, but assumed it would be a big portion of highly quality - sadly it was...

Popped in here the other day for a drink and was greeted slightly aggressively by a lady at the front desk who seemed to be simultaneously doing what sounded like a job interview. Once passed her I was greeted by a lovely member of the...

After we failed to park at Box Hill for a family walk we pressed on to Dorkimg for lunch, it wasn’t looking too promising until we found The Dozen. What a lovely place. Very, very friendly and welcoming staff and in a well appointed set...

I came to the dozen when it first opened and it was disappointing- I put it down to being newly opened and teething probs. Went today for breakfast and sadly nothing had changed. It was worse in fact ! Worse breakfast experience ever. Service appalling. What a shame for Dorking and am amazed the place is still going !

The most expensive, yet poorest quality breakfast I've ever had. My father had recommended as he hadnice dinner and pressumed the breakfast would be as good quality. The service was slow, it took forever to come once ordered (we considered leaving) . Once the breakfast arrived it was extremely underwhelming, very small, which would of been excusable if the quality made up for it. However not only being small it was of poor quality, the toast wasn't even toasted, more like stale bread, the bacon was over done and the sausages very anemic looking with no color on them. The only food on the plate done well was the tomato. The only saving grace was the coffee was very good. The worst thing was the value for money, by far the most expensive breakfast I've eaten, yet would of had a better quality breakfast at the cheapest of greasy spoons.

£14.50 for a burger and it was rare. Chef apologised apparently. Left half of it (hadn't realised it was rare until my son said so). Now wait to see the outcome to see if I get ill. Suggest everyone checks their burger before consuming. On the plus side, my son enjoyed his fish finger sandwich.

Took the mrs out for a nice lunch and by god i was not happy at all. throughout the whole meal no one checked in been served by Joana, because if they did, they would found out how bad the fish was. Frozen and fried no where near fresh, we ate half a fish each leaving majority of it out, chips were undercooked, so we left a whole meal. What did we get as an apology? 20% off. Will not be returning again.

Nice menus but salads were over dressed. The pork cracklings were stale. 2nd weeks into Eat Out Help Out, still did the discount wrong. That reflected really badly about the management and staff. Very polite and courteous staff, but masks are to be worn covering the nose, not below. Might give it another chance if we're in the area again.

We have tried many times eating at The Dozen and each time hoping it has improved, sadly not the case. Again today the food was poor, I ordered a sandwich and the bread was stale. 2nd attempt the sandwich came out and my sandwich was not as per the menu, part of the filling was missing this time. They offered to make it for the 3rd time but I declined, as making a sandwich is very basic and should be right the first time. My fiancés food was pretty dry and lacking gravy. He asked me for gravy to be told they didn’t have any more made up by a waitress. The more competent friendly waitress, asked him about his meal, he said he asked for more gravy and there wasn’t any. She went off to check and came back and said it will take too long to make up, as it comes with the meal and he has had the last portion. The waitress was very pleasant, she always is. The dozen has the decor right, the service is very hit and miss very much dependant on the staff working on the day. The food sadly Is pretty poor.

Delicious food and very friendly staff and kind, perfect atmosphere for a delicious affordable breakfast! Thank you!

Thoroughly enjoyed our meal, good portions and fresh well cooked food. Will definitely visit again. Attentive service and good atmosphere.

I’m not sure why this place has such bad reviews. OK, it’s not amazing, the service is a little off, but the food was fine, if really overpriced. But fix the front door, for pity’s sake.

I was left underwhelmed by a very forgettable meal. No atmosphere, when you enter off the street you almost feel as though you’re behind the counter as the area is utilitarian with cheap looking floor tiles and a work top cluttered with all kinds of paraphernalia and the industrial coffee machine. This area is open onto the restaurant which has reasonable decor but the entrance door doesn’t close properly so we were in a draught for the entire meal.

Tasty food and great service would recommend.

Avoid this place, possibly the worst dining experience ever. T ordered the chicken roast dinner, which came out cold with a few bland vegetables and virtually no chicken on the plate. The smallest portion of food for £16.00. I ordered the fish and chips £14.00, the fries were cold and cooked in old oil. I spent the rest of the night feeling ill with acid reflux. To add salt to injury I ordered a glass of the house white, £11 a glass and it tasted like rocket fuel. We should have known better, the place was empty. Give this place a big miss, we left feeling cheated, it’s over priced and food quality poor and miserable.

Awful. I have never experienced service this bad - ever. Worse than that is the fact that they just don’t care either. The food is average at best as well. Just don’t go - you will regret it.

Disinterested staff. Seated us in the lobby - *on coffee tables*, had to be asked to be moved to dining area, which they did easily as there was plenty of room and over two hours till the next booking. Bar didn’t have beers listed on drinks menu. Food very slow - I think they failed to tell the kitchen about our order. Food was good, but overpriced. Disgustingly there was a dog in the restaurant. Did I mention expensive.

Where do I start, it was Xmas day with family for a dinner, the food had to be pre-ordered, so what could go wrong. We sat down, starters arrived and they were wrong, one of the guests had no starter due to them making anything else, when asked. Main meal- meal came out, two guests had wrong meals so had to go back and be changed, one guest had to wait 5 mins due to them having to cook it, time there food came out everyone at the table had finished. The vegetables was raw, the turkey looked like a cheap turkey roll. Desserts- one guest was given the wrong pudding and had to take something of the main menu as they have what he ordered left. Throughout the table service they kept bringing us the wrong drinks, took 20 mins for our drinks to arrive, it was that bad the bar man had to bring them as they was sitting at the bar for too long. This was meant to be a nice Christmas Day meal instead upset one guest, and for £80 per person was not even worth £40 per person. Never again will we be going back there

Untrained and disinterested, unprofessional staff - and a venue that cost a fortune to renovate! Mediocre food, expensive drink - with all personnel having had recent successful surgery. For personality bypasses.

Simply awfulThey were incapable of serving a table of four a mid-week, mid-morning coffee and cake when there was only one other customer in the restaurant, so I dread to imagine how they deal with a lunchtime service ... although I doubt that they often have many customers as this is not a venue you would want to return toService was comically inept, cakes featured on the menu had "all sold out this morning", wrong dish served ...To add to the general shambolic management, the ladies cubicle i used had run out of soap and had overflowing bins ... so pretty certain it had not been serviced that morning ... yuck!

Popped into the pub for a pre match drink, 2 of the 4 beers on tap were off so had to have a bottled option. The barman said I'll bring them over, now bearing inind it was about 5 steps from the bar to the table, we get charged a £1.50 service charge! Also after a few minutes I started getting dripped on, the ceiling had started leaking. It was at that point we noticed buckets on the floor in the restaurant and there was a huge leak in there as a well! All in all not a great experience and will not be returning

We had a disastrous meal here. It look 45 minutes for our garlic bread starter to appear (the place was in no way busy) and when it did arrive they brought the wrong thing - cue another 15 minutes waiting. Once it finally arrived, the garlic bread was nice, if not a little undercooked, but by this point we were just thrilled to be eating something! Our mains then arrived... the steak and ale pie was delicious if not a bit small (but for £17 you’d expect it to be amazing given it comes on its own with just 3 stalks of broccoli as it’s side). The salad we also ordered was nice too. However, the triple cooked chips and skinny fries we’d ordered as side dishes were both cold and raw. The triple cooked chips hadn’t been cooked once, let alone three times... yet remarkably some of them appeared to be burned - quite a feat! They also tasted of old oil. The skinny fries were also raw and cold and we didn’t eat much of either. In the end the staff were very kind and removed the side dishes and starter from our bill, along with the round of drinks we’d ordered when our meals arrived but never came.... yes really. It was a great shame as it seems like it could be a nice place and the staff were nice but the food was a disaster.

Just had a great time at The Dozen, atmosphere in the restaurant was great, food was lovely and the staff were really friendly and professional. I couldn't fault it. Will definitely go back!

A nice addition to Dorking.After the fairly recent White Horse refurbishment I hadn’t been to The Dozen - until now. Being a late lunch & midweek, it wasn’t busy and despite a private XMAS party in the rear restaurant, our service was both prompt & efficient.We had a mixture of starters (pic) and shared a steak for main which was excellently cooked. Wine choices weren’t huge (perhaps there’s another, longer menu?) but definitely adequate and fairly reasonably priced. Overall, I enjoyed the whole experience. It was clean, a calm place to dine or drink at the bar, friendly & polite staff but reliably Surrey prices. It made a nice change & I’d go back.

Great service, staff were lovely. Would recommend.

Having not been back for over a year after (after finding three bone fragments in my burger) we decided to return to see whether things had improved. Unfortunately not. I ordered the chicken and my wife the hake. My chicken arrived but honestly it was nothing more than an appetiser- not a main course. It was tiny. The hake was also small but covered in tin tomatoes. The wine was forgotten although it did arrive after further requests. Not worth the money. We left and went to KFC. Such a shame.

Amazing food and great service!

Met friends here for coffee today (Sunday). Frustratingly, the waiter avoided eye contact for fifteen minutes. After our order was eventually taken, we waited over half an hour for three coffees. When they arrived one of our coffees was wrong and they were all lukewarm in any event.

My wife and I decided to use the voucher we had won for dinner at the Dozen to celebrate our anniversary. We were a little nervous after reading some pretty negative reviews.

Nice place friendly staff but not matched by the food. Tempura Vegetables starter was mostly batter which was definitely not tempura. The chips with the main course were over cooked dry and tasteless. Didn’t say anything at the time as friends had booked and did not want to embarrass them.

Tempura vegetables were awful. Thick stodgy batter which tasted like fish batter, not light tempura batter. Couldn’t even taste some of the veggies because of the overpowering greasy batter. Salad huge but tasteless. Only lettuce, tomato and cucumber- what about onion, mushroom, grapes etc? Couldn’t even taste blue cheese sauce . Ice cream came with huge shortbread biscuit, which I didn’t request and don’t eat.

Arrived for lunch. Chose avocado with chilli with poached eggs on sour bread toast It was delicious!! Delightful staff who were attentive without being intrusive.

Imagine Gents your Penelope Cruz, Ladies your David Gandy, u get your date and then you find at the date that the picture is so so much better than the substance. We booked a month ago to with friends and showed up at 7.30 the surroundings and style are super and so promising. We sat down at 8 8pm and got our starters some 45mins later then after a further hour and a quarter our mains showed up dry as a bone ! That’s all mains , the chicken the beef and the fish ! They were understaffed badly such a shame and the chap serving us was surprised ! But gave us 50 % off the food ! Could be good wish it was ! But.... won’t be going back !

If they say first impressions count, the management of this establishment need to take note.

The decor is fun and the whole restaurant has a warm feeling. The food portions are huge and of good quality.

Service was poor, risotto tepid and overcooked, steak incorrectly cooked and dishes missing. Obviously won't be returning.

I really want to like this place as it’s nicely decorated and the staff were friendly and attentive, however the food was very disappointing. Whilst the presentation was good, it was either tasteless or had strange tang. I can only put this down poor quality ingredients. The Sirloin steak for example was a generous portion, well seasoned and perfectly cooked but the favour was insipid, dull and lifeless. Not what I’d expect for £23 a portion. I think the meat must have been frozen and transported a long distance. Even the garlic flat bread starter and asparagus with poached egg weren’t as appetising as you’d normally expect. Whilst the asparagus and poached egg were fresh and attractively presented, it was as if someone had drained all the flavour out. At over £35 a head we felt the meal was very poor value for money. Final word to Management: if your restaurant is struggling please don’t cut back on ingredients, as that’s the core of your business and fresh, locally sourced produce will promote itself. Find other ways to save money or throw in the towel.

I had the half chicken dinner which was absolutely delicious and most likely the best meal I've had in London. I would have given The Dozen a 5 rating but after I finished my meal I went to the toilet and there were two guys in there doing cocaine.

I really wanted to like this place as it was nicely decorated and the staff were friendly and attentive, but the food was very disappointing. Whilst the presentation was good, it was either tasteless or had a strange tang. I can only put this down to poor quality ingredients. The Sirloin streak for example was a generous portion, nicely served, well seasoned and perfectly cooked but the flavour was insipid - dull and lifeless. Not what I’d expect for £23 cut. I think it must have been frozen and transported a long distance. Even the garlic flat bread starter and the asparagus with poached egg just weren’t as appetising as you’d usually expect. Whilst the asparagus and poached egg were fresh and attractively presented, it was like someone had drained all the flavour out. Overall, at over £35 a head we felt the meal was very poor value for money. Final word to Management: if your restaurant is struggling please don’t cut back on the ingredients - that’s the core of your business and good, well cooked, locally sourced produce will promote itself. Find other ways to save money or throw in the towel.

Double vodka and coke was £9.75 yesterday; perhaps a record even for Surrey! Served by a seemingly bored young lady - with no please or thank you. Will avoid in future, as the same drink is available nearby for over £3 less.

The Dozen bills itself as a "Deli" serving local produce, so when I order the brunch breakfast I had certain expectations. The breakfast menu says "your choice of eggs on Sourdough toast then you can add to this whatever items your require". To then receive one slice of cheap white sliced bread that tasted like cardboard was disappointing. I had opted for "The Dozen Sausage" thinking something nice from a locally sourced butcher etc but what arrived was a one sided blow torched cheap sausage that tasted disgusting. I would not recommend the Dozen to anybody.

Despite the off-putting headline, this is actually a lovely place...spacious, newly refurbished, good service. The Sunday roast (17.50 for beef, £15.50 for chicken) was plentiful, with well-cooked vegetables and light and enormous Yorkshire pudding. And so it should be at that price, of course. But - and it's a big but...the roast beef was seriously underdone. Not just pink but much of it nearly raw. Shame because the rest was lovely. Bill: £35 for two roast beefs, a fiver for pint of Dorking bitter, I've forgotten how much for a small bottle of mineral water. No puddings. Total (including 10% service charge): £46.75. Quite hefty you may agree....but it would have been worth it if the beef had been cooked to how most British people like it. The place was virtually empty at peak time on a lovely Sunday in May, which does not bode well. Rating would have been Good or even Excellent if it hadn't been for this....

Good food tasty not too expensive

I cannot understand the poor reviews about this venue, we went for dinner on Sat evening and I had the best steak I have ever tested!! All four of us commented that the food was exquisite. Couldnt fault the venue and the staff were extremely friendly and prompt. I would definitely go again and wouldnt hesitate recommending it to all my friends. 10/10!!!

Fabulous venue for us to meet friends - we all had a 3 course meal and it was exquisite. Service was quick but overly pushy. We sat in the front bar due to a party in the back. A good choice of gin and wine

Average food and service, but some of it was stone cold and raw.

Found this to be the only place after 4.30pm (other than Dorking Halls) I could get coffee and cakes in Dorking (it's professionally run). Lovely experience; excellent coffee and cakes, friendly service and pleasant atmosphere. Cocktail list looks great as well.

We have visited The Dozen many times since it opened as we like the ambience and want it to be popular and successful. However most visits haven't been problem free. The problems have been mixed - issues with quality of the food but mostly with inconsistent and poor waiting (one or two waitresses are really good) and this appears to be down to poor management. Timing can be poor, attention to the customer random. When there are enough staff, seldom the case, no-one appears responsible for a table and waiting is done by a variety of them. On our last visit we were told, when we went to find someone to pay, that they were sort staffed.

Shame about this place! Looks great but fails to deliver on service.....food is OK...could be better. Sadly by the time the staff have finished disappearing, chatting amongst themselves or simply ignoring you, they could deliver a plate of perfect food and it really wouldn’t matter anymore as in my experience you have a) gone past it or b) waited that long your car park ticket is running out so you can’t enjoy it. This has been my experience three times with my little gd who was so excited to go to a hotel for tea (with cakes). Tip to the hotel: if you don’t want to provide a service to people who are not residents, don’t. It’s got to be easier all round if expectations are managed.

We had looked forward to trying this newly re-opened restaurant and were hoping it would be a new favourite for the family to visit. Sadly this will not be the case... Our experience was as follows... the table was booked for 1.30pm. After being initially greeted and seated I ordered a bottle of house Champagne (as we were celebrating) and this arrived after about 5 minutes as a “rosé”. Not what I’d ordered, but I thought, OK, that will make a nice change, so didn't mention it. Next we came to order and asked of waiter about the “specials”, as it says to do on the menu. He said he thought it was calves liver and that it was very good, but would need to check to confirm it was available. So we waited patiently to hear back... we waited over 5 minutes before the waiter returned to take our order. We explained that we were waiting to hear if the calves liver was available? So off he went again to check, only to return and tell us that the dish was not available. So we placed our alternative orders and also ordered a bottle of red wine. A young barman brought the bottle to the table and said that he needed to change our wine glasses for a different type, so returned to the bar to fetch them. He then replaced all our glasses with larger wine glasses, but only removed 4 of the 6 original glasses, leaving 2 unwanted glasses on the table. He then proceeded to pour the wine. When it came to my glass the wine shot over the glass and all over the table. The barman made a poor attempt at an apology before fetching a cloth and moping up most of the spillage. He then left the bottle on the table, with my glass still empty and returned to the bar. This seemed very odd that there was no offer of compensation for the spilt wine (about half a glass). So we waited for, who we assumed was a manager to appear and explained what happened and he promptly brought me a glass of wine to replace what had been spilt, for which we were grateful. We then waited for our food to arrive... and we waited... and waited.. in total about 45 minutes passed before our food eventually arrived! At this point I’d like to point out that the restaurant was almost empty, with only two tables visibly occupied. We also counted 3 waiting staff, 2 managers & a barman on shift, so no excuses for being short staffed could be given. The food was ok, but nothing like what we’d expected from a restaurant in this well known and historic hotel. While eating we noticed a decided lack of attention by all staff. They seemed to disappear for great lengths of time and when they reappeared they were not attentive to the (few) customers they should have been paying attention to. So much so that, in the time it took us to finish our meal, several new customers arrived and due to a lack of staff presence, eventually walked out or wandered in search of staff around the restaurant. This lack of presence from staff also meant that we waited for over 30 minutes for anyone to notice that we’d finished our food and then offer to clear our plates. We then had to wait again for a further 10 minutes before desserts were offered and thereafter we waited about 20 minutes for them to arrive!! We abandoned any thoughts of ordering coffee, as we didn't think we’d make it out before dark!! As it was, we had put 3 hours on our parking ticket and one of us had to return to put more money on it before we eventually received our bill. Before paying, my wife called over the manager and explained that we’d had a less than satisfactory experience... only to be met with a lukewarm “oh, was service a bit slow?... I’ll take 20% off your bill”, and no real apology forthcoming. What a shame that this newly refurbished establishment did not put as much time and effort into its staff training and customer awareness that it did into its decor. Needless to say that we will not be returning in the future. I do hope this honest review of our experience brings to the management’s attention the importance of good staff training and they take steps to remedy these short comings.

We had looked forward to trying this newly re-opened restaurant and we’re hoping it would be a new favourite for the family to visit. Sadly this will not be the case...

We had booked for a family Sunday lunch. On arrival we were given menus but were then told no Sunday roasts were available because the butcher hadnt come that morning. If we had been told in advance we could have booked elsewhere. There was nothing else on the menu we wanted so we left. Very disappointing.

The front part of the hotel has retained it's "old world" ambiance but the inner dining area is quite bland with a plethora of white tiles with a design piece of an old carpenters bench with three large pots, two of which contained very sad looking dying plants.Food was good though with excellent local beers on tap and charming staff. Toilets were presumably designed by the same "designer" with what appeared to be dirty knickers/underpants nailed to the door of the gents and a bra on the other, how quaint and original! ... ugh...

We had an excellent meal here the night before our wedding with a number of the wedding party. We were well looked after. Food good and reasonably priced. Atmosphere was nice and I'm somewhat surprised by the poor reviews. Breakfast was very good too.....

What an awful experience!!! We popped in for a morning cuppa and slice of cake, to be met by disinterested staff with a casual attitude towards their clientele! We are still waiting for the cakes we ordered and left with a bitter taste in our mouths! Never again! Dorking needs places like this but how unfortunate that it did not deliver!!!!

Terrible service. Won't be back.

I've been here twice for drinks since it opened and it is fast growing to be my favourite bar to visit. The bar manager was extremely helpful to us, hounoring the 2-4-1 cocktail deal and recommended his latest creations. It's clean, comfortable and just feels a bit more classy than the other bars in Dorking. I would recommend this place to a couple of friends to go out and have a catch up over a drink or two. I'm not sure this is the right place for a group out 'on the lash' however.

This is a review of the hotel bar, having visited for pre-dinner drinks on 3 occasions.

We stayed at the White horse hotel on Valentines night on our way back to Dorset .As it was too much effort to go out and encounter the romantic bunch we ate at the hotel .The service was very good,the restaurant has nice atmosphere and the decor is very pleasant.The meal was enjoyable and nicely presented . And it was very pleasant to sit in the lounge and finish our bottle of wine after dinner.

A friend asked if we would join them at a pop up vegan night at The White Hotel in their restaurant - The Dozen; we leapt at the chance to eat here again, I have had breakfast & lunch here, as we had never eaten vegan before. Boy were we impressed. We started with a few drinks at the bar, which was buzzing all night, and then went to sit at our table and then came the food. I was a bit apprehensive and assumed it would all be dull & tasteless, how wrong was I. it was irrelevant that it was vegan, there was so much flavour and the presentation was stunning. We enjoyed a few glasses of wine and then finished on a cocktail, why not. This hotel and restaurant has been the subject of a recent makeover and is really worth a visit, again & again. The staff were all friendly, attentive and efficient, a credit to this iconic hotel. Thank you

Just had drinks here so can't comment on food. It was nicely done out and had a pleasant couple of hours.

Went there to try a new restaurant with our friends. Had seen the set meal on line & thought it would do us nicely. It was a bonus being able to park at the hotel as it was a quiet day for them. Freezing outside & fires in the lounge yet to be lit so a bit chilly there while we waited. Restaurant was warm and our reservation was in place. Had to ask for the set menu and then one of the main dishes was not available and no substitute dish was offered either. When I suggested a substitution I was told no it was too expensive but I thought a pie for a pie was logical! A friend commented very little salmon in her fishcake. The men had large portions of sausage & mash. My salad was a bit over dressed & lacking i interest. We'd downloaded a coupon so paid a reasonable £15 per head including service. Service was relaxed and we were left to chat for ages as the place was very quiet.

A delayed but well deserved review of our family meal on Christmas Eve. It really was wonderful from start to finish!! The menu was varied and well suited to the children. I wondered if they would be able to prepare such a lengthy menu to a high standard but it would appear so. Our party of 5 thoroughly enjoyed each course and the service was without fault. A perfect antidote after having a really poor dining experience locally the week before.