The Royal Oak Holmbury St Mary in Guildford

Outstanding local pub, with a cozy but sophisticated feel. Top-notch authentic country pub. Highly recommend.

A great evening on Thursday with live music from Willie Austin. The atmosphere was very lively, the service was very good and our snack of chips were perfectly cooked!

Cracking pub with friendly, efficient service and well kept cask ales. Cosy real fireplace, brewery next door. Food looked good value too although we only had enough time for a portion of chips.

Lovely place. Lovely atmosphere. Great food!!!

A wonderful surprise - excellent local food in a perfect setting

Hadn’t realised it had changed hands 2023, I believe, hence now a community rustic type pub, make no mistake we all liked the experience but the food wasn’t quite up there, that is the meat(roast beef) was excellent but the potatoes and other veg, including the Yorkshire pudding was not very good. However the service was good and staff very friendly, and the beer good but the table was a little tacky so overall it was alright but not great so I don’t think I would put this down as a must return place. It was busy, lots of dogs but friendly and we were glad we we went and I wish them well in their business

Easy to get a table, friendly staff, great beers and superb food. The apple crumble was a stand out. Also very dog friendly.

The Royal Oak in Holmbury St. Mary’s is the perfect spot for an afternoon pint and a tasty snack. The cozy pub has a warm, welcoming atmosphere, ideal for relaxing with friends or unwinding after a walk in the countryside. The selection of ales is great, and the snacks, from classic crisps to more substantial bites, are delicious and satisfying. The friendly staff and charming setting make it a delightful place to spend a leisurely afternoon. Highly recommend!

We came for some food before the pub quiz. The vegetable lasagne was off the menu, which was disappointing as the previous time we came it was off then too.We were the first diners of the evening so it couldn't have been because they ran out. Also, there is no veggie burger for the 2for1 burger deal. I had fish and chips which was ok, but not great. The pub itself is nice though with a proper cosy pub feel.

Wonderful place to eat. Selection of food is amazing. Very friendly and very helpful. We went on Holmbury st Mary's bonfire night and the royal oak was very busy, but the service was still amazing. It's also set in a very beautiful village with two lovely gardens for the summer. Plus lovely places to walk after you've had your lunch. Highly recommend it to all ages.

Lovely food and great service,we will definitely be going again

Stopped here for lunch after walking from Peaslake. We each had a sandwich that was fresh, generous and tasty. Cozy inside with a warm and friendly vibe.

Lovely country pub, ideal for walks around to Holmbury Hill. We had a nice sunday roast, veggies were fresh and home cooked, the beef was delish, chicken was OK. Good selection of ales including Shere Drop and their own microbrewery. Staff very pleasant overall.

Four of us had a fantastic Sunday roast lunch in the bar before the annual Schnauzerfest walk. Used the top room on return from our walk for raffle and a load of wet schnauzers. The staff were very welcoming and coped well with a very busy afternoon, service was excellent.

Great atmosphere in this quaint village pub. Let down somewhat by the food,we had a roast beef and 2 nut roasts, whilst the meet and the nut roast were good the vegetables were undercooked and hard.

Kizzie was really welcoming to our large group of 20 for dinner in the beautiful upstairs room. George was a super attentive waiter and the food was delicious. We look forward to coming back again next year!

We had a great night with good food and excellent service from young George and his colleagues.

A proper pub offering a good selection of beers and nice, traditional surroundings. Food was enjoyable - although selection a little limited with just one ‘special’ which had sold out. Some nice photographs of the Hurtwood are displayed on the walls near the fireplace.

Main meals were excellent - thank you. Service was very attentive and polite. However, the base of the two banoffee pies were so thick and solid that it was very difficult to eat with a fork - a chisel may have been better to hack through the hard base layer..

Great pub. Great service and lovely food. Young man behind the bar was brilliant.

Delicious food, friendly staff and lovely location. Only criticism is that we waited a long time for our food on a quiet day, but everything else was spot on.

Lovely meal in a great pub. Staff couldn’t have been more welcoming and polite. Delicious food - burger, fish and chips and ribeye steaks, cooked perfectly. A lovely touch of a ‘birthday brownie’ with a candle on it for my husband. Will definitely be back.

'Busy than usual' a certain website declared: This one! Maybe they can't move on a Sunday lunchtime... But right now there are 6 punters in 4 groups amid seating for 100+ ( I'm being conservative). It's quiz night later this evening. They expect more bodies. I hope so for their sakes. We want venues in such lovely locations - and with such wonderful ales - to flourish. I fear, without local support, the hopes - they are a fading...

A lovely church in a quiet little village nestled in the Surrey Hills.

Lovely country pub with great atmosphere, friendly welcome and smashing food. Very, very hard to beat!

Delightful location, worth trying out.

Really delicious and nicely cooked roast, somewhat let down by the very meagre portions, needed another slice of meat and lots more veg in our opinion, 2 sticks of carrot and 2 thin stick of tenderstem are very mean veg portions - still tasted good though!

A lovely, friendly pub, superb food, staff are very professional and accommodating and provide excellent service and it is dog friendly as well as having wonderful walks on the door step. We can't recommend The Royal Oak enough.

Had some really nice food and wot a spot absolutely beautiful out here

A warm welcome and very attentive staff.

Very good friendly service food excellent

Great evening at the oak,kizzy and her staff did a superb job of looking after us(10) lots of amazing food and drink,will be back soon

The team as always make us welcome, and once again we had a great meal. 👍

Lovely country pub with very friendly staff who were so helpful and accommodating! Food is good pub grub. Service was amazing and so dog friendly. A firm favourite.

Shocked to be told to move tables part way through my meal because someone seemingly more important than me had shown up an hour early for their table. To add insult to injury - they tried to charge me for a dessert I hadn’t received at the time I was told I had to move 😳

Had a great Sunday lunch with the family. Served quickly. Many thanks

I’ve been coming here for 20 years and it has changed hands several times. About 18 months a new manager and kitchen staff has taken over. The service has always been very good but the Sunday roast which I always go there for is quite average now, it used to be very good. I’ll go back but the roast is not good enough to draw me back every other week, there are other places in the area which serves better. Our server Matthew was excellent.

Just what a pub should be - nice, straightforward food and welcoming, friendly service. Worth going a bit out of my way for!

Lovely spot with great staff and a very positive atmosphere. The food didn't really do what it said on the tin, my friend's sandwich was good so that may be the way to go.

Nice venue, great food and good service......

Relaxed and pleasant Sunday dinner ,polite friendly staff and great food ,dog friendly. Definitely one to visit again.

A classic village pub, clearly supported by the locals. Food was well presented, from a limited range.

All round very good Sunday relaxation

7 of us plus dog had Sunday lunch Easter Sunday. Great service at the bar and at the table. The food was very good with the nut roast coming out on top of the table votes. A great place for a walk an then lunch and deserved to be much busier

Thank you to all the staff at the Royal Oak on Easter Saturday for a lovely lunch with our large family of 12 Excellent food service 🐥👌👌

Great food, well presented and very tasty. The staff were very welcoming and conscientious. Great outdoor seating areas, one overlooking the village green, the other a sunny decked area to the back. Definitely need to make a revisit!

Cozy country pub with heart warming menus. The experience decorated our great time in this historic village after a wet but fun mountain bike riding.

Lovely location Tables & toilets were not clean so wouldn't eat here

The staff are very friendly, the food is scrumptious and dogs are allowed.

Great pub! Came for a family lunch on Mother’s Day .. service was great, food was great.. lovely place with brilliant staff. Will be back and highly recommend!

Lovely place, great food and great service. We booked last minute for Mothers Day, very busy but the service was very good. Wait for food was no more than any pub on a Sunday. Will definitely eat here again.

We had a really wonderful visit to the Royal Oak today for Mother’s Day! The setting, service and food (delicious roast dinner with all the trimmings and sticky toffee pudding) were all perfect. All the staff are so friendly, welcoming and attentive. All Mums were given a plant to take home, such a thoughtful touch! We would thoroughly recommend the Royal Oak and we will definitely be back.

Stopped off here during a walk. Lovely lunch, great attentive staff and nice atmosphere. Food was much better than anticipated, well presented, good portions and tasty. Reasonably priced. Nice outdoor area when the weather warms up.

Lovely evening sat by a roaring fire enjoying delicious Pie night!

Had lunch there with friends. Food was very good and the staff were friendly and attentive. Overall a very pleasant experience.

We received a warm friendly welcome after a muddy walk. A relaxed and attentive Matty served us well and the food was delicious, honest, hot good pub food. Almost 5 stars, but the chocolate and coffee creme brûlée, which attracted a few takers, was tasty, although slightly disappointingly more mousse than crunchy topped brûlée.

Lovely traditional pub in beautiful village setting. The menu is limited but what our party of three had was very good. Simple classic pub grub. Service was great. Cheerful, efficient and friendly. There was nobody dining in the upstairs restaurant when we went so there was no atmosphere. Eating in the bar area is definitely better. It was a Thursday early evening and weather was bad so expect there wasn’t the usual amount of people there. Will definitely go again.

Outside it was a cold, rainy, and miserable day. But inside you were warmly welcomed by a roaring fire and the polite, courteous, and friendly attention from Johnny and Matty. Not a big pub. But a big welcome. Oh, and very good food and beer too. If there were one slight crit it is this, hot plates next time please!

As always a great welcome and a fantastic roast following a long walk in the Hills. Despite being busy great service especially from Matty & George! Very accommodating to our son’s slightly quirky meal request 😀

Saturday evening meal. Lovely staff, excellent moules frites and real fire creating a welcoming atmosphere. We will return.

Nice garden, warm and friendly staff and atmosphere. Great food

We visited the Royal Oak for Sunday lunch. It never disappoints. Great food, friendly and attentive service, all in a lovely country pub.

Lovely pub lunch and good service

A great country pub with lots of atmosphere, a lovely wood fire, exception service from Matty and delicious fish and chips!

We, 7 of us, stopped by on a longish walk. Good range of beers, including traditional taste like mine. I had a beef and horseradish sandwich, which was also just right. The interior felt comfortable and hospitable, the staff and locals were helpful. A large garden for warmer weather. Recommended.

Lovely food and service from the team. Great atmosphere in front of the fireplace

Arriving at a busy pub at 1.30pm without a booking on a Sunday wasn't very wise, but we were served promptly and with great grace. Looks like a very well run pub and and a nice mix of locals and walkers etc.

Food was excellent for all of us thank you very much for your hospitality, compliments to the chef keep up the good work see you agin soon.

Three of us had excellent pub meals. The black pudding bon-bons were just great. One small defect, the cheese platter had some brie, but it was just the outer rind in this case, barely any of the soft inner. Fortunately, I have no problem with brie rind.

Lovely country pub with lovely warm welcome and atmosphere. The food was delicious and the service very attentive. Will definitely visit again.

Lovely food and great service. What more can I say…

Just a great pub with decent beer and good, honest food at fair prices. And cheerful staff!

The Royal Oak hosted a very special reunion for my family and friends. The Crosses lived in Holmbury for many years and we returned from Australia with my 90 year old mother for a brief visit. Richard and his team organised a delicious hot buffet for 40 people and created a wonderful atmosphere for an emotional gathering. We will forever be grateful that we were able to reunite and make new memories and connections with our village. Thank you Richard and Kizzie for all your help.

A little quiet but amazing food and service - will def be back

A proper village pub. Great beers - excellent food in a beautiful country setting. Highly recommended.

Very friendly and warm pub vibe. Food was pretty good and table service was great.

We led a walking group there, pre-booking table and menus. Very friendly and welcoming service, excellent food served promptly and all together. Highly recommended traditional pub in the heart of the surrey hills.

Attentive service, good food and dogs welcome…perfect!

My fiance & I had a lovely meal here a few days ago. We felt very welcomed by staff, the fireplace was delightful and the food delicious. We would definitely come back 😊

My fiancé & I had a wonderful dinner her last night! The fireplace was delightful, the food was delicious (especially the steak), the music perfect and there were boardgames - what more do you want? The toilets were also great - clean, well decorated and generous in size. A sign of a great pub!

We went for a family lunch after Xmas, we found the service to be very friendly and attentive. There was no problem with bringing two toddlers, no feeling of annoyance from others when they made a bit of noise and no problem with bringing our dog either and there were lots of other dogs there. All in all it was nice and relaxed and made us feel welcome and comfortable.

We had the most special Christmas lunch with The Royal Oak this year. A lovely welcome and a deliciously slow, long lunch with so many flavours and surprises. Thank you so much, it was a treat. Allie, Paul and Ava-mae

Friendly staff and good service, I would recommend you add more veggie options ie veg sausage and veg burger, as I think these are easy to provide. There were no veg pies available so left me with a risotto which I didn't fancy but my daughter did and said it was very nice. I had the broad bean and artichoke starter which was very nice - so compliments to the chef on that one! We will be back :)

Lovely pub Co-Op owned by the locals. Decent and keenly priced food, good beer, really friendly and welcoming staff and dogs are welcome. With great walking / Trail Running/ MTB / Cycling in the Surrey Hills straight out of the door you can’t really ask for more.

There was a brass quartet playing Christmas carols and a roaring fire.. lovely evening. The food was some of the best pub food we’ve eaten in a very long time and it was reasonably priced too. The staff were all really friendly. They definitely earned 5*’s.

Classic British pub and a classic delicious roast. Cosy atmosphere and great service. Thank you.

All good. Only criticism we all felt a bit cold.

Seem to change manager and management every three months. Food can be good, but also not. Hard to keep track of. I wish them luck with their new manager. They need some consistency.

Lovely pub, great helpful staff.

Very enjoyable sandwich lunch and drink on our cycle trip into The Surrey Hills. Kizzie looked after us very well.

Lovely winter pub with a great selection of beer, fantastic after a walk around holmbury or in the Surrey hills. Would recommend to anybody

Great Sunday lunch and drinks - the pork was great and included nice crackling! Reasonable pricing for four of us with a bottle of wine and 4 beers.

A jolly combination of Halloween fun and rugby World Cup viewing plus a local friend’s 66th birthday made for a lively evening!

Its Sunday, in a country pub, with good old English roast beef, chicken et al, with all the trimmings and a great pint of Firebird Parody. Certainly adds comfort after last nights rugby.

Great food, lovely service and fantastic friendly atmosphere. Genuinely lovely local pub 👌

Good food, good beer, great staff. We'll be back

Delicious flat iron steak with chimichurri sauce. Worth travelling for.

Fantastic food, great service and stunning location for a sunny Sunday afternoon. Highly recommend!

Perfect Sunday Lunch pub with gorgeous garden, great service and delicious food

A decent pub run by the local community, they do a very good burger and serve a decent pint.