The Rubbing House in Epsom and Ewell

Took my mum here for a belated Mother’s Day meal. She said it was the best lamb shank she’s ever had and hasn’t stopped talking about the place since! I had the chicken curry which was authentic and sizeable enough that I couldn’t finish it all! 10/10, servers are polite, food is excellent, I highly recommend

Stopped here for desserts which were great. But massive THANK YOU to the team who was so kind to come out with a candle and sing happy birthday to my mum. The manager/owner also brought a lovely glass of bubbles for her! Hospitality skills like these are rare to find these days. Thank you all!

In respect to the pricing and the menu, this place has a prime location, but doesn't give prime location vibes. The service wasn't good, the table staff were quite abrupt and not very personable. The food was nothing I haven't seen in a good bar/pub setting before, I wouldn't call this a restaurant as such, the detail was missing.. As the images show, chicken was undercooked, mussels were musselless, empty shells, although they did bring out a second serving that was exactly the same. It was excused by saying it happens when they are cooking, as if I've never cooked them myself before and for the record they never fall out of the shells fortunately, and they are usually much larger in size too The fish and chips didn't come with Tartar sauce, I had to ask for it, it's Fish N Chips, I asked for vegetables instead of mushy peas, I was told I would have to order a side of vegetables at £5 for the privilege. A few frozen peas had to be my greens for the day instead. The Bangers and Mash dish was delicious. The Sausage was very good, the gravy was delicious, seasonal vegetables were good, would have loved broccoli in there too but overall a very nice meal We ate our evening meal here three evenings concurrently as it's the closest establishment to the hotel I was staying in, so I feel this review is worth it. I wasn't offended by the place at all and it was ok overall as to why it gets 3 stars. The service/table staff really let it down for me. Although the front of house team seemed welcoming, it wasn't reflective of the service/table team. Because we had questions regarding some of the food it was like they had an issue with us being there again, I work away all over the country, so after work I don't really want to be searching for places to eat and travelling all over to find places, I go for what is close and convenient to the hotel. This way I can decompress after work with a meal and a drink with colleagues. I can see a lot of hard work goes into keeping everything running as a business, but maybe the detail has been lost due to the fact they just need to get as much out of you as possible while you're here, this was especially clear throughout the time given how many times we were asked if we would like more drinks. A farewell was offered also, I thought was nice 😀

Called them twice today to book a table for 7 people this weekend. Not only did they not answer their phone, but I was shocked to be greeted by a message that effectively just said ‘we’re busy, go away’ ! No option to leave a message or offer receive a call back, just an arrogant message telling me to phone another time. Could a restaurant be more conceited or less inviting? They clearly feel they are doing you a favour by even talking to you and thought that I should jump through hoops to spend £300 with them. No chance! I’ve now booked at The Derby Arms across the road which is lovely anyway and were warm, welcoming and appreciative of the booking. Something is seriously wrong with a ny hospitality business that allows this to happen

Visited twice this past week due to our first time being amazing with work colleagues group of 25 of us and the food was absolutely beautiful and all came out the same time and was hot and very delicious and presented excellently. The service and ambient is brilliant, welcomed by all the staff and made to feel special. The view of the race ground is brilliant, wasn’t a race event on but excellent location for the racers. Thank you for making us so welcome!!!

Very wet and dark night and FIRST time I had been to this pub. Parked very close to entrance and ran into pub in the rain. Had a nice meal. A little bit pricey, but it is Epsom race course. Drove home (Northampton). 2 weeks later £100 fine!! For parking. Photos sent by Countrywide Parking Management of signs in bright sunlight and of my car at night, hardley visible. No mention at the table by the staff that you have to register your car for parking. I appealed and as a good will gesture they reduced it to £10. I.e. they agree that my appeal was good but just wanted something for nothing. I can understand this on race days but otherwise it's a con. I'll not go to this pub ever again.

Have been here several times and always loved the food. However we ate there today and was very disappointed. I ordered fish and chips (after a very long wait). When it arrived the fish was small but delicious and the chips were solid and cold. We were unable to get the waitress attention and so I ended up eating the fish and d”some of my husband and sons meal. When the waitress eventually did come over and I told her I was unable to eat any of the chips she informed us that they had accidentally given me the chips that had been partially cooked earlier in the day and not cooked through again as they should have been. She was very polite and apologetic then offered me more chips. I told her I’d eaten some of my husbands and sons and didn’t want any more as at this point everyone had finished eating and we had to be somewhere. Despite acknowledging they accidentally served me with uncooked food they still charged me full price. I didn’t want to cause a fuss and paid. However it has left a bad taste and we won’t be returning.

Terrible service and attitude. We went at a quiet time between the lunch and dinner phase. Restaurant was at about 30% capacity. The outside dining area is ideal for dining as it catches the sun perfectly, but there are 'rules' on where you can drink, eat starters, and then mains, all a bit bizarre and unnecessary We paid and left after waiting 50 mins for the main course. The starters were prompt, although I would add that they were not value for money given that the portion size is small. The tzatziki was a generous tablespoon size with one pitta bread, and the calamari was only four rings. We enquired three times during our wait after finishing starters as to where our mains were, ordering the moussaka and soulvaki, the time waiting did not seem proportional to the complexity of the order (a batch cooked dish needing heating and crisping with grilled chicken dish). Staff do not approach the table when waiting and had to find someone to enquire, inconsistently being told the food was on it's way now or it was going to be collected now by the person I spoke with. Quite keen at each interaction to sell more drinks but not explain the delay, it felt arrogant and pushy. After waiting 50 mins and a consideration for how busy the restaurant was, we deemed this unacceptable, and the apathetic nature of the staff did not help to placate the matter. Payed for the starters and left. Staff were apologetic, and the decision to leave was not met with any resistance.

Terrible service and attitude. We went at a quiet time between the lunch and dinner phase. Restaurant was at about 30% capacity. The outside dining area is ideal for dining as catches the sun perfectly, but, there are 'rules' on where you can drink, eat starters and then mains, all a bit bizarre and unnecessary. We payed and left after waiting 50 mins for main course. The starters were prompt, although, I would add that they were not value for money given the portion size is small. The tzatziki was a generous tablespoon size with one pitta bread and the calamari was only four rings. We enquired three times during our wait after finishing starters as to where our mains were, ordering the moussaka and soulvaki, the time waiting did not seem proportional to the complexity of the order (a batch cooked dish needing heating and crisping with grilled chicken dish). Staff do not approach the table when waiting and had to find someone to enquire, inconsistently being told the food was on it's way now or it was going to be collected now by the person I spoke with. Quite keen at each interaction to sell more drinks but not explain the delay felt arrogant and pushy. After waiting 50 mins and a consideration for how busy the restaurant was, deemed this unacceptable and the apathetic nature of the staff did not help to placate the matter. Payed for the starters and left. Staff were apologetic and the decision to leave was not met with any resistance.

Absolutely beautiful, food was lovely, lovely friendly staff, views across the downs was amazing, and a good price 💗

Quite simply the worse sunday roast I have eaten in a long time. Cheap vegetables. Peas. Old cabbage and mashed swede. Awful tasteless beef. Reminded me of school dinners..

We stopped by here for lunch. It was a busy, sunny day but the team kindly found a table for my mum and me. Nice vegetarian choices. We had good service despite it being busy and were well looked after.

Dinned here tonight to find that the older gentleman who was assisting with food was disgusting. We witnessed him walking out the way and putting his hand down his pants and scratching himself. Shocking behaviour and to finish he went on to continue serving customers.

Visited here midweek in February. It was my second visit and I had exactly the same as the first time since I’d enjoyed it so much. I had the fried halloumi and a regular sized portion of the Fillets of Sea Bass. The food is good here and the service excellent. There was no atmosphere on the night we visited but I put that down to it being midweek. I’m sure on a race day it would be pretty lively! It’s a great setting on the edge of the racecourse and only a very short walk from the nearby Epsom Downs Holiday Inn Express which has a VERY limited food menu so I’d highly recommend a walk out to the Rubbing House. Relatively well priced considering the location and setting although it was quite a large bill for a weekday night work meal … maybe the bottle of wine didn’t help. I did have a fly in my first drink but it was swiftly replaced and the staff were very attentive. I’ll certainly be back again soon.

Went for family birthday celebration excellent service great food .

Came here on Sunday with the Mrs and her friends. We thoroughly enjoyed our time. The food was absolutely delicious. The service was first class and very professional. I've not been here for years so to find it was just as good as 15 years ago was great. Deffo recommend it but as it can get very busy on a Sunday I would highly recommend pre-booking.

Came here on Sunday with the Mrs and her friends. We thoroughly enjoyed our time. The food was absolutely delicious. The service was first class and very professional. I've not been here for years so to find it was just as good as 15 years ago was great. Deffo recommend it but as it can get very busy on a Sunday I would highly recommend pre-booking.

Linda is the star of the show , she was great and the meal was good. MENU NEEDS A REDESIGN - it looks plain and tasteless and terrible font + unprofessional. THEY DON’T TAKE AMEX!? In an establishment such as this!? Crazy town.

Lovely visit weekly thing for the family..very enjoyable 😉

Lovely pub Great location Great food friendly staff

Slow, and the restaurant is ice cold. we where the first to be seated and that was the end of it.

Simply put: spectacular, service super attentive and the food to die for. It was nighttime so no had the chance to experience the fabulous views to the race courses but we will coming back for lunch soon.

We were a party of 5 and this was our first visit. The service was without fault. The waiter was charming, welcoming, and attentive without being intrusive. The food was delicious and hot. It's obviously a very popular venue and was therefore very busy with a lot of tooing and frowing and at times quite noisy. I would definitely recommend it though and it's position on the edge.of.the race course provides great views.

Reasonably priced with some great dishes. However not all were superb and some were inedible, some of our party were unable to eat their desserts and when asked for alternative or to not be charged we were met with mumbling excuses. Service from most staff was great, but our waiter had clearly woken up on the wrong side of the bed that morning.

£6.50 for a pint of Landlord is way too much and £1.50 for a packet of crisps is a total joke. No wonder there aren’t many people in here. The Derby Arms and Tattenham Corner are packed, maybe they have all been here first.

Good selection of vegetarian and vegan meals

Always very good food. Lovely staff.

Booked a table for 5 to celebrate my mum's 93rd birthday and we were not disappointed. The food and service were excellent. Because some in our party had hearing loss issues, I had requested a table in a quieter corner of the restaurant. That is exactly what we were given. Very pleased

This is our first visit to this restaurant and we will definitely return if we are in the area. Our friend had booked the table and we would suggest this is a good idea - the restaurant was busy at lunchtime. The service was excellent, professional but friendly. We all had a main course which were delicious, the portion size was substantial leaving no room for dessert. The Beef Bourguignon, Pork Medallions and Calves Liver were all excellent.

Only 3 stars as last orders were called at 10. 20 pm on a Friday.

Food probably 3.5 out of 5. Gave the extra .5 for the service which was good with very friendly wait staff. We had Artisan bread for the table which was nice but I would not call artisan - 3 small slices of white and 3 of brown. No butter although we could have asked for that I suppose just oil and balsamic vinegar. I had Moussaka which was okay not amazingly tasty and a few frozen chips and salad. Salad was nice but disappointed that the olives on the salad had stones in them! Husband has chicken and mash which he enjoyed. Overall a pleasant lunch but nothing amazing.

Over charged for drinks, staff not on the ball as previously visited.

Absolutely shocked to find that I have received a parking ticket for parking in the pub's own car park. The car park is not well lit at night and signs were not visible. Would not recommend going back again.

Best Christmas dinner ever had, food was so delicious, staff were amazing and a lovely atmosphere. Definitely highly recommend and will be back very soon.

As we were staying at the hotel opposite,we walked over for our evening meal. Very prompt service. Was busy with Christmas get togethers,yet we still had a quiet table. Main meals were very tasty. One of the steak and mushroom pie,other spaghetti Bolognese. Very very nice. Puddings,one of cheesecake,other chocolate brownie. A little disappointed with the brownie,as for me personally,a bit bland. Lovely waitress,good customer service. Overall a nice meal

Had our big family Xmas meal here yesterday and we were so impressed. We’ve been coming to your Rubbing House for many years with varying degrees of success but this year was brilliant. Jo was our server and she was fantastic - especially when faced with our table of 20! Nothing was too much trouble and really added to our overall experience! Thanks Jo!

Pricy, but very good quality. Lovely place.

A really good place, lovely food and staff great.carnt wait to go back

Very lovely lunch with my sister

A group of us meets up around Christmas time and we generally choose the Rubbing House as our preferred venue. It's conveniently located for us, with a decent sized car park, and pleasant alcoves and semi-private areas where we can sit and chat. The food is good, the prices acceptable, and the service fairly prompt, even at busy times. They have a decent selection of vegetarian and vegan options.

Very disappointed, I went with five members of my family on Sunday evening, the Resteraunt wasn’t busy, food was not great and service awful, the bill was £380, not value for money. Will not be visiting again.

Great location, views across green open spaces. Warm atmosphere, good food with varied menu, and excellent service. Our waitress Gabby was very attentive, friendly and efficient. Altogether a memorable experience.

Busy on a Friday lunchtime, good choice of beer's very nice 4 pints 25 quid.

Enjoyed another lovely meal at this establishment, was served by Mario, so friendly, always smiling and happy to have a quick chat when time allowed. Food was excellent and you get what you pay for.

Rubbin House is a must-visit for anyone in Epsom looking for delicious food in a welcoming setting. I can’t wait to go back and try more of their fantastic offerings!

Always popular and busy. Would advise booking prior to arriving. Food is OK and the service usually friendly.

Great food, atmosphere and service. Stopping in nearby hotel on my own so a single diner. This was considered with the table I was shown to and service was spot on - thanks Ayse. Food was great too. Would recommend

The calves liver is great, it was worth the wait, a mix up on the ordering? Will go again.

We had a wonderful lunch with friends. The food was excellent, as was the service and table position. We were never hurried and the whole experience was relaxed and enjoyable.

Great, food always good and very friendly staff.

Relax atmosphere. Good for a drink

Arrived on a perfect sunny October day, was greeted by front of house and shown straight to a window table with an amazing view over the racecourse. People were sitting outside and there was a continuous feed of people coming through the door and seated, by about 1:30 all tables in and out were full but the service never slipped. Garlic Cheesy mushrooms were ordered by two of us and were fantastic. Mains consisted of Roast Beef, roast pork and traditional fish and chips. Not huge portions but perfect in size as way too many places are giving a HUGE plate where half is left. Puddings were the caramelised biscuit cheesecake and chocolate ice cream which once again were amazing. I have lived around the area for over 40 years, first visit and will so be going back regularly now.

Set in a Beautiful setting of Epsom downs, found service to be slow on this occasion. Food was good as expected. Really nice to be back for the views

Extremely rude manager, told us as we had a child with us (one well behaved 11 year old) we could only sit in the cold empty room in the back with views of the road, rather than with the rest of the customers overlooking the racecourse. Tried to tell us this was for licensing reasons but then admitted it was just his own rule. Ruined our afternoon to be treated like second class citizens, as if other customers would be put off if there was a child in their presence. Like something from Victorian times. Do not recommend.

Avoid. Extremely rude manager, told us as we had a child with us (one well behaved 11 year old) we could only sit in the cold empty room in the back with views of the road, rather than with the rest of the customers overlooking the racecourse. Tried to tell us this was for licensing reasons but then admitted it was just his own rule. Ruined our afternoon to be treated like second class citizens and upset my son too.. Very child and family unfriendly, avoid. Much nicer pubs in the area that welcome families.

For the 2nd time in 4 weeks I have visited this marvelous restaurant with wife and a different couple. Both times all members of party had different meals, and without exception all meals were perfectly cooked and so tasty. Puddings are also excellent. All staff are very friendly, but professional, and I have been lucky to have Gabby as my waitress on both visits. She is very attentive and professional. Highly recommend, because of the quality of the establishment I have no objections to paying slightly more than maybe an average restaurant.

Great service , great food and very friendly staff.

Lovely place lovely staff food is lovely as well been quite few times an never disappointed

Great service and friendly staff

Phenominal cuisine, great prices. I highly recommend

My family took me to the Rubbing House on Thursday 17th October for a birthday celebration. The food was fantastic, hot and all meals served together, all the staff were lovely and welcoming. We were made so welcome and we look forward to our next visit. Well done.

Food and service was excellent. It's a bit pricey but great for special occasions.

What a wonderful evening we had at the Rubbing House. The service was excellent, the food fantastic lovely and hot. The four of us had a main meal and dessert. Wonderful location, great view. A little bit pricey but well worth it. We will definitely be back.

Free parking (but you MUST enter your registration on the tablet at the bar), good service, superb food, but very pricey.

Great food and service, I always like to reward this with my gratuity, I briefly checked my bill which appeared in order, however on reflection I re checked the menu the following day and noticed in very small print that a 10% charge had been added I therefore ended up paying over £35 tip be aware this charge is already included. If these charges are to be added they should be in bold print, a little underhand I believe.

It's a Spoons, always busy, but nice pub.

Food is great and a lot on the menu ! The Rubbing House is at a great location, I like sitting outside if the weather permits! Only negative is that service has been a bit slow on several occasions for me.

Being at the end of the race track. Nice views across the downs. Staff are very friendly, and nothing is too much trouble. Seating inside as well as out. (Dogs not allowed in the eating area outside) Nice choices on the menu. Nicely presented. A wide variety of drinks. If out walking your dogs in the afternoon ,nice place to stop for a coffee.Highly recommend.

Great menu selection, excellent service and great beers

4 of us great food lovely people great time had by all

Great food & great service, worth a visit

I was well impressed with their food

A wide and varied selection menu, which was surprising, but more surprising was how tasty and delicious the food was! The service was also very attentive and with a smile. The Venue is also very nice. Will visit again.

We have been here before and enjoyed it during the summer with friends outside. This time we were sat indoors which was incredibly noisy and uncomfortable to even hear the person opposite. Service was a little slow to start with. Food was cooked well. Very generous portion sizes for roast pork.

Quick birthday celebration popped in for lunch great meal and service

Outstanding food and service in a great setting. Parking is a challenge for disabled persons as pub allows anyone to use the spaces not a single blue badge in every disabled space. Owner should advocate for all guests and not just protect the bottom lines.

This restaurant has been consistently excellent since it first opened, I have had some wonderful family meals there.

Usually good but tonight we waited almost an hour for our main course having sat down at 6.40. My moussaka was tasteless and wishy washy. My wife had the tenderloin of pork with apple and cider sauce. The sauce tasted very odd, fatty but acidic. The pork was dry. I'll give this place a miss from now on.

We were hungry the service was quick, food was fantastic. Waitress and waiter were really friendly attentive

1st time at the Rubbing house.. Eat outside.... Bit windy... But what a nice setting.. Overlooking the racecourse and downs.. Food very nice... Staff was on the ball.. And we will be definitely going back there...

5 of us had lunch table booked for 1.30pm Saturday 24th August. Was greeted by our waiter Mario great friendly helpful guy. All of the courses we had were superb but for my Pork Belly was just superb which I remarked to Mario. A great lunch time made even better by Mario well done from all five of us.

Unfortunately, the calves liver meal wasn't good. It's the 2nd time ,I've tried this dish.

The food of this fine establishment was so extraordinarily delicious, I could have 1,000,000 more chicken burgers. Our waitress was absolutely terrific, serving our drinks, asking how/ what we did in our day, it’s safe to say she deserves a pay rise.

Fab-ul-ous food service 1st class. X

I had a not so slay time at this pub. The drinks and the food was fairly decent. However, the staff were unwelcoming and rude. There was a bartender called Jack. He was the only member of staff there that didn’t make me feel like a total inconvenience. Big up Jackypoo.

Rude staff member old guy, refused me from buying a drink because of an Irish accent.

Overpriced and relying too much on their location. Not much of a welcome by staff. Seating inside by the bar is uncomfortable and staff need to have better training in customer care. A big disappointment overall. The food was only just ok but not very tasty. I would not come back. I also noticed the management don't reply to any of the reviews on here which I feel is rather arrogant.

Always very good service and food

Visited here for lunch on a sunny August day, large doors open to outdoor seating area, very pleasant. Good selection on the menu & good sized portions of good food. I don't think you'd get anywhere near it on a race day, maybe if you book, you might be lucky. Certainly worth a visit.

I have used the Rubbing House on numerous occasions over the last 10 years. I have especially enjoyed the food, a credit to the kitchen team! However on my last visit on the 19th of July, even though the food lived up to expectations, l was very upset to receive a fine around two weeks later for £60 for a parking infringement that l was completely unaware of. I had no idea that there had been a change in their parking policy, after all it is a pub not a public car park.. I should also add that not one member of staff mentioned this to me. I am an 86 years dyslexic pensioner who has suffered the indignity of this condition since childhood, to receive this fine in the post, made me feel humiliated. Sadly l will not be using this pub again as even after explaining the situation l was told to contact the parking enforcement company.

We visited while staying at a local hotel, and found the ambience inside the place to be quite good. They serve reasonable portions of food at acceptable prices for the area. Food, although not spectacular, certainly hits the spot after a long day on the road. Waiters were all attentive, amicable and pleasant to deal with, which makes a remarkable change in this day and age. The venue is located in a scenic spot directly adjacent to the Epsom race course. All in all, everything was entirely pleasant, and we would definitely return when next in the area.

Had a lovely lunch here everything was good plus the weather worth visiting

Food is top notch. Great service.

Arrived at 12.15pm. Only 2 outside tables occupied. We were discussing where we would like to sit when a male (assume he was the manager) came out and said ‘it says wait to be seated’ in a tone that implied we couldn’t read. I had telephoned the previous evening to ask is we needed to book an outside table and was told they didn’t take outside bookings so had assumed that the sign applied to indoor restaurant bookings. He then asked if we had registered our car inside.I hadn’t been for quite a while and wasn’t aware that this was a requirement. I was in a disabled bay displaying a blue badge but snapped it was still necessary or get £100 fine. We were finally taken to a table and were then told we had 1.5hrs and then would have to move. The food was ok - apart from the chewy bits in the pork belly - and waiting staff efficient. We had barely finished eating before we were asked if we wanted anything else or the bill. I did not feel particularly welcome and would suggest that the manager needs to improve his people skills! occupied

We went to a wake lovely food and service looking forward to coming back on the 7th august

Amazing food, great location right on the side of the racecourse, cant wait to go back

Super position overlooking the racecourse and a pleasant gastropub experience.

The food was reasonable for pub grub. Staff were excellent , friendly and helpful. Went for lunch and ended having dinner as well, when we discovered there was an evening meet at Epson, horses pass literally about 10m away good day out

Beware of the parking fine! We entered the car registration into the machine yet still received a £60 fine! We spoke to the manager on several occasions regarding the fine and he said on multiple occasions he had contacted the company to attempt to cancel the fine yet we heard nothing back nor did we receive any confirmation in writing. We ended up having to pay the fine before it increased in value. In the middle of a cost living crisis, this is daylight robbery especially since we actually registered the car! We will not be returning!

This place used to be great. Old manager was such a helpful and nice guy. What's happened!! There are No options for people with Allergies. Parking charge even though typed in my registration. Had to pay the fine. Manger said there was nothing he could do even though they pay the company and he remembered me being there. Loads of reviews on here and trip advisor saying the same in regards to the parking. Am currently in talks with parking ombudsman POPLA about this. If anyone has had issues please message me.