The Swan in Guildford

Great staff, always happy to help. Cait, so friendly and polite and always has a smile

After walking with girlfriend and her trusty Beagle through woods and a military firing range in full swing, we crossed over the canal and stopped at her local The Swan in Ash Vale. Only planning on a quick half and glass of wine, with the genuine warmth of Tony, the chap behind the bar, this super welcoming encounter lead to our ordering a couple of rare rumps and a pair of organic wines to follow a tasty winter Ale from Green King. The wines were an English still White from Chapel Down made with Bacchus variety grapes and a rich, smooth Aussie Shiraz. Fitting us in without booking at a high table and stools, he asked if he could bring dog treats and water. On return he suggested a more comfortable table in the restaurant in view of the healthily burning oak wood fire and we were lost in that feeling of being in a country pub but in a Surrey town. Having in a former life run a CAMRA winning independent pub, I felt it worth writing something that I’ve always believed in, that a good pub is all about its people. A warm and professional attitude can elevate a pub to a proper local to feel at home in. We will be back and thanks to Tony for his seemingly effortless hospitality that goes far. Richard

Tony was superb. Great with my dog

Was an amazing, Tony delivered great service

Service from Tony was exemplary and food excellent. We had breakfast and had to wait for the fourth member of our group which wasn’t a problem and we had coffee. Tony checked for allergies and ensured food was to our liking. Many thanks

Great pub love the atmosphere just been served by Caitlyn absolutely lovely with a great sense of honour will definitely be back soon

Tony and Kerry were very friendly, helpful, honestly the food portions were good and tasty , hot too!

Burgers are amazing, thanks chef. Service was great thanks Tony.

Great night fabulous food amazing company

Visited this evening with my partner. We both ordered the mixed grill, absolutely sublime! Steak was perfect (ordered it rare). One of us had chips, excellent! The other had a jacket potato, very nice indeed! Our waiter Jack was lovely and very efficient. FOH Tony was exceptional too. Can’t wait to come back. Ben and Vicky! 😊

Great evening - nicely paced service, good food, good atmosphere.

Excellent pork belly and well kept Abbot Ale - will be back.

A lovely pub with great staff and wonderful food. great price good atmosphere food was delicious cant wait to go back soon

Excellent food and excellent service. Thank you

We had the Burns night menu. Delicious food at fantastic value. They were short staffed for the number of people in the pub, but still gave great service. Always enjoy coming here.

We had the Burns night menu. Delicious food at fantastic value. They were short staffed for the number of people in the pub, but still gave great service. Always enjoy coming here.

Myself, my other half and our young son have been regular visitors to the swan for the last 6 years and I can honestly say we’ve never had a bad meal, the food is always spot on and the staff are always really friendly and attentive. Very happy and proud to call it our local! ♥️ Came in again today for a family lunch as a treat as we all had the day off. Again, food was great and service was brilliant. There’s a lovely lady that works there, don’t know her name, a blonde young lady, she’s always super attentive and friendly. Always a smile on her face and happy to help.

Have been lunching here with friends every Friday for many years. Always great food and service

Came for a few drinks, great atmosphere and service was good, great tasing, quick pints

I have been coming here pretty much every week for years and it's always been very good service and food.

Well where to begin, what a lovely and well enjoyed lunch we had, we were welcomed on arrival by I think if I can remember Keri & Paris both happy young ladies, the food was hot and delicious whilst the staff were very busy the waiting time was well with in a respected time from ordering to being on the table in front of me. All round very happy and will be sure to come back cheers Josh and Team

Nice atmosphere, friendly staff and excellent food. We had booked Sunday lunch for six people, but brought an extra person. The staff went out of their way to accomodate us. Our waitress, Chloe was friendly and efficient and looked after us well.

Great lunch venue. Friendly service and a surprisingly good roast dinner! I wouldn’t normally choose a roast, but it was recommended and looked good d so I happily broke with tradition.

A lovely place to have a meal, whilst surrounded in a room full of character, giving off a warm ambience. The service is very good with a friendly smile. The food comes out hot and nicely presented. Will be going back again soon.

Would recommend for all of the above...a most enjoyable and relaxing experience...in a very appealing English pub ♥️ 👍

Visited the Swan today for a Sunday lunch and I must say it was delicious. Food was quick, tasty and hot. Staff were attentive and looked after us throughout the whole visit. I will definitely be returning.

We have in the past had great experiences but a couple of trips made us stop coming due to short staffing and poor communication but we wanted to visit because of the Santa breakfast for our son. We are so glad we did, it was a fantastic experience, well organised and a perfect way to kick start our Christmas break.

I came in a little over 2 weeks ago for dinner, the pub wasn’t rammed but was clearly at its peak hour, the atmosphere was really nice and the aesthetic of the pub was really nice. I was served by chloe, who when asked what she would recommend she said the duo of chicken which was excellent, I will definitely be coming in again and recommending to family and friends for them to try the Swan

After a long Christmas break visiting family today we decided to go on a long dog walk and ended up at The Swan. Loved the fact we could take our dog in and she was fussed too by a lovely young lady called Chloe. We stayed for a light brunch and enjoyed not having to cook, the food was fresh came out hot. Would recommend the pub especially for the friendliness to not just us but our Labrador too 🐾🐾

Came in for lunch today was impressed not only with wide range of dishes on the main menu and specials but also the wonderful service by chloe. She went above and beyond for us to make us feel welcome. Will definitely be coming back to see chloe again.

Went to the Swan for a post Christmas brunch. Food was good with great service provided by Chloe! Was also pleased to see that they are a dog friendly pub.

Paid a premium price for Christmas lunch for all the family. We were 6 adults and 2 children. Food was great. Service quite slow even though we had the late afternoon slot and restaurant only half full. Just a shame about the toilets! There are only 2 cubicles in the ladies and one was blocked! I appreciate staff were busy however, it should be part of the hygiene standards to check on the facilities throughout opening hours. Very surprised that the door to the blocked one hadn't been locked!! At the very least which would have preventing a very unwelcome surprise!!

Our family Christmas gathering was a complete success thanks to the inviting ambience of The Swan. Staff were friendly and helpful, from the initial visit to 'check out' the establishment, to helping with email address to pre-order (as expected for the numbers booked) All the guests loved the food, and said exceptional value

My daughter booked us in for a Boxing day lunch. Service was very slow. Food was very disappointing. We were so looking forward to a lovely meal but sadly it was delayed. To be told the kitchen was busy. The eating areas were half empty! Drinks were slow. When the meals came out I noticed my plate was cold. The whole meal was covered by 1 slab of Yorkshire pudding. I lifted it off to find 1 cold carrot. 1 cold parsnip. 2 hot roast potatoes and a slab of luke warm turkey. Then realised it must of been microwaved. Such a disappointment. My daughters partner did complain whilst paying the bill. The young waitress was kind and said the relevant apologies. She did cancel 1 meal off the bill. But it wasn't about the money. It was a family get together after a while apart. Spoilt by the lack of attention at the Swan.

Very average food, you could buy just as good in the supermarket… bar service friendly but a bit slow to get served from your table…. Weve been a few times in recent months but i dont think we will rush back… just very very average….

Went on Boxing Day, Dissapointed very. Turkey roast was very dry like it had been under a heat lamp, Brussels were overcooked & bitter & no care taken on presentation. Xmas pudding, was a slice? 4m thick again massively overcooked, either by microwave or left under heat lamp, it was inedible I had to send it back. Such a shame, as we have always felt The Swan had improved, appreciate busy time of the year but it’s the small details that let them down. Not worth the money!

We decided to go there for a change

Eaten here a few times over the years and it's always been nice. Most recently popped in for Sunday roast. It was excellent. Highly recommended

Nice pub, but run out of Guinness when we were there, which was the reason we went there as was told they do a nice Guinness there . Shame

Food was good Daniel was helpful, very quick and cheap

Terrible food, don't waste your money going here

I was welcomed when I entered the premises and showed to my table that I had pre-booked. Pre-booking, I had no issues and plenty of availability at the time. When shown to my table I was asked if I would like to order a drink. Great selection of food, and I didn't have to wait for long for food to be served. Great food and great service, would be coming back here again in the future.

A lovely evening spent here. Great value food, Excellent service and a lovely atmosphere

Can’t fault the service we had but the food was shocking. My wife ordered the beef and ale pie with roasted carrots and seasonal veg. The pie had 5 small bits of meat in it and three were gristle. There was a small piece of overcooked carrot, three small leftover bits of overcooked broccoli and some peas. I opted for the gammon, egg and chips. I’m pleased I asked for a steak knife as I had to use it to get through the gammon. We don’t expect 5 star from a chefs brewer but this was a joke.

A good choice of beers that are kept ready. The staff are lovely especially Paris and Josh who are the best staff we’ve had in a long time. The Swan is a great place to meet friends and family. The Swan is the best local pub.

My wife, two friends and I had a really good lunchtime experience. Our waitress, Paris, was a large part of that. Funny, intelligent and very attentive. The food was very good value, too.

Came in with a group of friends on Saturday, staff were attentive to the fact my 2 children had a gluten allergy. Chloe made sure that all our worries and questions were answered through the allergy tablet and communicating with kitchen. Will definitely be coming back and hope to be served by her again.

Had a nice night out catching up with friends helped by the friendly staff in the swan especially a young lady called Chloe. The restaurant was busy however she made time to wait whilst my fussy friend decided what she wanted to eat and checked that we were happy with everything. The food was nice and we didn't have to wait long. We would all happily go back so a big thank you to all of the team especially Chloe.

Well booked table for 7 plus a dog drove to pub not just round the corner was turned away so our friends had to stay absolutely gutted 😢 yet its a dog friendly pub the bar man was unhelpful did not even try to juggle table I understand you cannot have them in the restaurant but he could have tried won't he going thete ever again we loved it there too no dinner today for us thanks The Swan

Although it was very busy when I visited they still managed to deliver Good food, which was complimented by great service from Chloe.

Not been for a couple of years but just been for lunch and what used to be bog-standard pub grub has become much improved. Really decent quality and our waitress was really friendly and helpful too.

This was an awful experience today. We came in they already looked pissed off we were there (was not busy at the time) they had a 7/8 year old cleaning tables. It took 1 hour and 40 minutes to get food which was dry and cold. I had to get up several times for basic, napkins , sauce, cutlery etc. 7 tables who ordered after us had their food before us. Tables around asking if everything was ok, we were ignored. We were not rowdy just 4 of us and a baby who was asleep the whole time. I was very polite throughout and they did not charge us for some of the food which we were grateful for. Just so disappointed when going out for food is a treat for us. (I’m a social worker and work a lot of hours )

Came here for my brothers 30th birthday celebration on a Wednesday evening. Considering the food was all preordered, the kitchen team still managed not to have some items on the menu available. This was for the gluten free options so I’m amazed that this was not properly adhered to. Preorders not being properly evaluated meaning some people got the wrong item on the menu. I had the fish and chips and the peas were still frozen, batter not crispy or batter like at all. Other complaints were that the food was cold and plain and lacking in flavour. Although the food was sub par, the waitress we had was great and tried to rectify every situation she was put in. Doing ever so well to keep calm and cool and still remain a positive liked member of staff. Thank you to Kate. Overall an underwhelming experience

I went three friends, atmosphere was good as was the service and as for the food, if you don't have the shepherd's pie then you're missing out.

We just popped in for a drink and asked for a bowl of "cheesy chips " I have to say they were the best ever. Thank you Swan. Great service too. Happy customer

The perfect place for a relaxed weekend breakfast 😊 ☕️ 🥓 🍳 🎼

Not much atmosphere for a Saturday night. It's a shame the Swan is a lovely historic pub. With so many pubs offering music on a Saturday, maybe it's time for the swan to do the same. Food was good apart from the apple pie that was anialated by being microwaved .

Came in for Sunday roasts. The veg was very sloppy and uninspiring, the meat was decent and the gravy lacking in quality and quantity. The blonde waitress was an absolute star, being run ragged on her own, but the speed of food was very very slow. Overall the food was okay, but just lacked real care and attention.

Great little lunch and a decent ale

Staff very friendly and polite, unfortunately the food under par, plenty of it.cabbage leek mix over cooked, the carrot Sweden mix, and roast potatoes barely warm, also the meat, the gravy hot! Seems everything was plated up in advance, just microwaved,must have picked a bad day for kitchen ? Need to pay bit more attention about temperature checks ,before serving .

My first time at the Swan and will definitely be going back again.

Excellent food and Excellent service

Booked for a Sunday Dinner . The poor server rushed off her feet no help , dealing excellently with the issues we and other people had . The Yorkshire not fully cooked . Yes the wait was long . Where is the managerment Surely customers come first Not this pub

Wow such kind staff , in particular Reece who went out his way to return a lost item and was super lovely serving us! Deserves a raise !!

£4.35 for a large diet coke?? Outrageous, will never come back here again!

Food was lovely and amazing service. Asked after the kitchen staff to give my thanks. Thanks to Tony for a lovely meal.

Had a fantastic dining experience at the swan. Irron cooked all our food to perfection. We’ll definitely be back again.

Great place to stop off before or after a canal walk. Very friendly staff, perfect location and nice garden area 😊

Excellent food & service. Cooked by Irron Really glad we chose here for dinner. The staff created a great experience and the food was so good we had to get desert. Will have to make this our new local.

Came in for brunch on Saturday, Dan and Mike made sure we were well and helped us with all our orders. Thanks to Reece on the bar as well. See you next time!

Read great reviews and was not disappointed! Had the most amazing roast dinner today at the wonderful swan, thank you to the kitchen team Josh Tony and Rowan 👍

First time I have ever been to the swan and I was very impressed by the service. One member of staff stood out more than anyone and that would be Chloe. She made sure all of our needs were met and just went above and beyond, Happy smiley girl will definitely be coming back

Had an excellent meal at the Swan today. The beef was cooked perfectly and so moist. I asked who made it and was told by Emily who was also a great server that it was Tony and Josh in the kitchen. The service and quality were great and I cannot wait to return. Highly recommend the Swan.

Beautiful pub,staff very friendly, but food a big disappointment.

This was my 2nd time to the Swan, and I wasn't disappointed either times. The food, service, and atmosphere were perfect. I highly recommend the Swan, but because if it's popularity, you will need to book a table.

A lovely canal side pub with excellent food and ale.

We’re new to the area but been here a few times and always seems to be very nice and has a lovely garden going onto the canal.

A lovely evening meal in pleasant surroundings. They did forget our puddings but they came after a reminder and were delicious.

Booked a 2pm lunch with friends. No table was even ready for us. We were an afterthought. Spent ages queuing at bar to order NO TABLE SERVICE. Kids (I mean 18 to 20 year olds) running the bar and front of house (... one of them told me most of the staff were sent home...) this was stupid as the pub could not even cope with our pre booked table. Queued to order some meals. Half the stuff not available. Not one special meal. Queued again and something else not available. 40+ mins to food (which was at least hot). Ordered deserts but 45 mins later I had to tell them not to bother ss we couldn't hang about all day getting more and more frustrated. They took over 100 quid from us for the worst service I have ever had. All 4 of us agreed the place was a shambles and we would never go back. Not even an apology. Shockingly poor service and a total shambles of a business. Also major safety issue... one of our group is strictly gluten free. There was no attempt to provide the gluten free menu despite asking. It should have been on a tablet... was pretty shocked about this too. Avoid this place if you want service...

Appalling service. Staff are friendly, food is fairly decent. On our first visit we waited and hour for our food. Today the main came out reasonably quickly, but the puddings took over 30 minutes and the coffee was served wrong. Two of the four drinks were incorrect. These were supposedly changed, but came back and one guest had asked three times for a decaf latte as they are unable to drink caffeine and were served caffeine and are now in bed with a migraine. Please avoid this shambolic service at all costs.

Everything is average except the price. Very overpriced.

Very charming pub, variety of drafts, plus the place looks clean and appealing. Food is good.

Love this spot for a casual drink with friemds, Amalie is an extremely attentive waitress and knows my ordet immidately! Lovd this spot and will recomeend to all !!!

Excellent staff food atmosphere and ale. I attend regularly and have done so for some 27 years and will continue to do so.

Great place lovely staff and fantastic service from amalie. Would definitely visit again as it's a picturesque setting

Popped in the Swan for a couple of drinks and dinner on a Thursday evening. Really amazing atmosphere with superbly attentive staff in Amalie and Madison who could not do enough to make the evening as enjoyable as possible. The burger was also off the scale in terms of taste and presentation. Definitely coming back again!

So... I've been here a few times before and the food has been serviceable. Not great, but fine... just good enough. However, we went on a Sunday, for a change, to try the Sunday roast. The main courses took a looooong time to come. Not blaming the staff for this, as I'm guessing they were under-resourced and stretched. When the food arrived... not good.... not good at all. Wife had the Mushroom Wellington... which looked like the cheapest, lowest quality, frozen garbage (and apparently didn't taste great). Both our meals had very unappetising looking carrots and broccoli that we both attempted to eat and quickly gave up. Both our roast potatoes felt... weird. Can't describe, but something wasn't right in flavour and texture (probably cooked from frozen?). My Yorkshire pud also looked odd and didn't feel fully cooked. I had the aged rib of beef... which was SO fatty (the waitress had mentioned it might be a bit fatty, so I was warned... I guess they've had complaints about this before). Onto dessert... maybe that'll save the day? Nope! Wife fancied the crumble, but then was told not available. So, we both went for the chocolate fondant. This comes with ice cream inside... again, it had a weird taste and texture. Seemed like it had thawed and then been re-frozen. Waitress asked afterwards how everything was... I just paused and said "fine". Didn't want to give her a hard time about it, as the crappy experience was largely out of her control. But it was not good and we probably won't be going back.

Good breakfast yesterday but please bring sauces and cutlery before our meal so it isn't going cold whilst we wait another five minutes. Dog friendly. Drinks prices on the high side (esp soft drinks) but we enjoyed the garden and canalside views.

Great service, friendly people and good beer!

Staff are always friendly and very helpful.

Fantastic location next to the canal and great service.

Great place along the canal to have a drink and good food.

Good food, nice atmosphere. OK service

Very nice place, our usual go to when the sun is out! Parking can be a little tricky, but lovely place overall!!

Food was Very good but service was a bit slow.

I guess it's not a bad mark against the pub but messed up the visit for me anyway although staff were very welcoming of my dog whilst I was correcting him another guest tried to tell me I was wrong in the way I train him and it just pit a downer on what was supposed to be a peaceful relaxing catch up and conversation with a friend. Might go back but the argument ruind everything for me on that occasion. Edit: dear swan team I had left service unawncerd as my friend went to do all the orders ect not me but changed to 4 * as I think it's slightly underhand to ask someone to remove their comment simply because you dissagree. I gave 5 * for the food as the food was the best part but ultimately not why I was their. My mum ran pubs and pub restaurants and we would not have tolarrated this and would have suggested they move to another part of the pub or leave as we had been there for some time before they arrived and started. I asked several times for the person to mind their own buisness and they continued. It's at that point we would have stepped in. The 1* was for the atmosphere as like I stated before it Spoiled the visit and instead of talking about the things we were ment to the conversation was over as I clearly couldn't say anything without the person taking some objection so was very awkward after this and I couldn't wait to leave. I probably would have changed this if I came back but I won't be back now after the comment as I really don't think my review was unfair as it was how my experience with the place was sorry you feel it's unfair.

Lovely canalside pub. Food served in reasonable time and very tasty. Good selection of beers. Nice beer garden with sheltered area if it rains

Went here for lunch. Ordered the soup of the day which sadly wasn't hot like warm The main was a toasted sandwich with chips much warmer. A big sized garden to sit in during the hot summer days

Great place. Open wide space kids can play.

We spent a very pleasant few hours at the Swan, sitting out in the garden by the canal enjoying the sunshine and friendly atmosphere, served by welcoming attentive staff. Would more than happily visit again.