The Dozen at The White Horse

The two Sunday lunch roasts were well presented but not hot and the portion size was not overly-generous. The superfood salad main course was missing two key ingredients of quinoa and avocado. The ordered second bottle of sparkling water never arrived. On the plus side, our waitress was friendly, the surroundings were stylish and we had plenty of room at the table. It was surprisingly quiet for a Sunday lunch time.

Disappointing. The menu selection is limited and on the day we went several items on the lunchtime menu were "off". We asked for bread, olives and oil in place of any other starter. The bread was rock hard - literally unchewable. We went on a Monday and I seriously wondered if the bread was left from Sunday or even Saturday. Our comments / complaints were received with little more than indifference. The food was OK but not exciting. A glass of wine was spilt over us. We finished with coffee but wondered if we should have gone to Costa instead. Disappointing.

A very strange evening. We were originally shown into the back canteen like restaurant which was very noisy. The front restaurant which we asked to be moved to had one occupied table in it although it was clear the couple there were having problems. Neither of the staff members seemed to be equipped to be doing their jobs. Limited menu where everything was an extra. In today's world of readily available on-line reviews, it is surprising that this restaurant is able to attract any customers. It is a shame that such an old established venue in the middle of such an attractive market town has been expensively refurbished to produce such a poor quality dining experience.

Pleasant meal, service was friendly and young staff very nice but they were not well organised and we had to wait a while for one of our party o be served with their main course plus had to wait for a second glass of wine and at one point were also given a red wine when had ordered white.

Food excellent. Service was pretty good, but excellent by our young friend from Poland(?), who used to be at Café Rouge, and also exceptional by the american girl, Anniston(?). She was extremely kind and good with our two grandsons (who I'm afraid were not always on their best behaviour). These young ladies made it a very enjoyable occasion for us. Thank you.

Richard Gilbert

Pleasant staff but had to ask 3 times for bread, otherwise very attentive. Reasonable menu selection with some interesting options. Good wine selection. Will definitely eat there again.

We parked the car in the courtyard and entered the building from the back. There was nobody at the Reception desk and we wandered around trying to find the way into the Dozen restaurant with nobody to ask (we have known the White Horse for 50 years and we knew where the dining room was). The place seemed completely deserted, and not even any guests. Eventually we rounded a corner and found the new bar area and so to a table.

Starters were good, but the pork loin was overcooked, dry and tasteless. Then there was no dessert suitable for my lactose-intolerant husband - no fruit salad or poached fruit.

The service was quite good, but over-enthusiastic and rather juvenile for our elderly taste.

We had been prepared to give the new place a go, but were disappointed.

Souless, cold restaurant. A shame as the pub/bar area looked charming. Lamb dish ruined by strong mustard sauce. Pork tough with undercooked roasted vegetables.
Won’t be going back

Food was good the service was a little slow and disorganised. Menu had a good selection of traditional and new.

It was not very clear that for Sunday lunch that you had to have all 3 courses and pay the full price when we only wanted 2 courses. Also my main course came with potato but no other vegetables which seemed rather mean. Otherwise service was friendly and efficient.

Very tasty meal! Four of us enjoyed our different meals and we all said they were delicious.
The service was excellent.
Only downside is that most of the veg/potato etc were extra to the main, which made it more expensive than other places.
We would go back.

We booked a table for two, our Wedding Anniversary. Initial drinks were fine and the staff attentive. However the menu was so restricted that my Wife said we could get a Salad anywhere. To be fair when I first saw the Menu I thought there must be a Specials board somewhere, but no. Ther was no Chicken Dish, or Pasta, or special pie, or something of the day even, ( and all this nothing was going to cost a bob or two!) I noticed another couple in the restaraunt and by their demenour I guessed their disappointment was mutual. They left. After a momment of angst we we both agreed that we would leave also. Paid our Bill and left a small gratuity..... enjoyed our Anniversary else where. But I really wanted to try it here... maybe next time?

Service was a bit slow. Wrong starter was prepared. Coffee took a while to arrive but overall food and portions were good.

Service is very very poor.
My partner is gluten and dairy free, spent 10 minutes in discussion with a waitor about his menu options (which wasn’t that much of an option) for his main meal to show up covered in cheese. Took a further 15-20 minute wait for his meal to arrive. They did take this meal off the bill (when i requested it to be) and got a free drink. Food was mediocre too on this occasion although the lamb i have on a previous trip was very nice. They need more work on the waiting staff as they seem very inexperienced.

My fish was delicious and our main waitress was delightful, friendly and charming. However, the bulk of the staff need urgent training:
-No one to greet us/take us to table,
-Tried to take bread away half eaten when meal arrived
-Tried to clear table whilst still eating
-Celeriac was cold with no refund offered
-Asked for Johnny Walker Blue in the bar and was asked by bar staff if it was a cocktail
-Ran out of requested wine but still charged for this on the bill

I went with my daughter and grand-daughter for lunch. Very smiley and friendly staff, Comfortable seating. Good selection of food on menu, although the Daily Special did not contain anything we wanted. On the whole we enjoyed our lunch.

Three of us (school mums) decided to try the food at The White Horse after reading favourable reviews in the paper. We really enjoyed the evening; The service was friendly, if a little slow at times. The restaurant seemed full and was buzzing with conversation. We were thoroughly impressed with our choices of food; Carpaccio of heritage beetroot, white crab salad followed by roast squash and sage risotto, pork belly, apple and amazing crackling and a sea bass special for the evening. We all had puddings which were equally delicious! The white wine was crisp and chilled to perfection.
We retired after dinner to sit in comfy chairs in the main hotel. Feeling relaxed after our digestifs, we were shocked to realise how late it was and reluctantly headed home!
I will definitely be back soon with my husband in tow

Had a great Mother’s Day lunch! Perfect for families!
Not sure I loved where we sat but would next time book the front with the comfy leather chairs!
The buffet was not what I expected! Too many cold meats and not enough seafood but we will def be back with a younger crowd and are hoping all to come on a Friday evening and stay the night in the hotel! Will be looking out for offers’

We visited The White Horse/The Dozen restaurant for a Mothers Day breakfast. On arrival i have to say i was impressed, the transformation and recent refurbishment is great, really looks the part. The staff where friendly and all dressed well and in keeping with the decor.

That unfortunately is when it all starts going wrong...

I had booked a table for 6 and there where only two menus on the table, when we asked for more apparently they were still being printed! We then ordered our breakfast and coffees, the coffee came promptly and was lovely but the breakfasts took over 30 mins to arrive. then when it finally arrived it looked lovely and well presented however it was all cold from the Eggs Benedict to the Full English, not good. When we informed the waiter he said OK what would we like him to do about it...? Heat it up maybe...! He then took it away and we ordered more coffees while we waited. When the food came back it was warmer but not hot, we couldn't be bothered to wait any longer so just ate it! Then about 10 mins after we had finished and asking 2/3 times our coffee arrived!

In summary i think this place could be great and if they read all the reviews and take on board peoples comments about the service then they will get there. I wont be going back in a hurry though.

The Restaurant setting is really good for sleepy Dorking - a much needed addition.
Our experience wasn't very good and went from bad to worse throughout from drinks through to main course. We spoke to Peter, the manager, who profusely apologised saying he had only started a week before, had very inexperienced weekend staff and was battling with bad communication between waiting staff and kitchen. This was apparent at other tables as well. Peter promised that things would improve and we promised that we would return.
The food was delicious, beautifully presented and very imaginative. The kitchen deserves better waiting staff!
Sort it out 'The Dozen'.
Dorking is in desperate need of this kind of middle of the road restaurant - they serve all the way through from breakfast through to dinner. Brilliant place to go to pre -theatre or for afternoon tea.
It would be a shame to lose such a value addition to Dorking's food scene.
But I will certainly be back and give them another chance.

On arrival staff were excellent found us a nice table and brought drinks and menus promptly. We were told about the fixed Sunday lunch menu but as none of us wanted this we were advised by a very nice waitress to choose from the a la carte menu, two chose the chateaubriand, two the chicken and one the fish and chips. We were then informed by a second waiter that only the fish and chips were available from the a la carte menu (begs the question of why we were give the a la carte menu). I think there were possibly other items that could be ordered but by this time we had had lost interest and left . Such a great pity that being newly opened you failed to follow the golden rule TALK TO YOUR STAFF, make sure that chefs, waiting staff and all other people involved know what they are talking about if they dont know how on earth are your customers supposed to know. Perhaps when you have sorted all this out, we might try again!. Incidentally it would have been nice of the original waitress that was trying to be so helpful at the start of this had apologised ( I think she was hiding!) I would be.

Superb food to celebrate a birthday. Service was excellent and the restaurant and bar have been renovated to a high standard. Highly recommended.

The food was a bit disappointing as what had lovely flavours was undercooked. It is a great place though and I think will improve in time (it has newly opened). They had no specials on that evening which I would have expected on a Saturday night.

Great food, great service, great drink variety. Highly recommended for any time of day. The decor is welcoming.

We booked breakfast for 11 am on Saturday - I had been previously and very much enjoyed the food. By 11.20 I questioned whether the food was coming to be told its on the way. As we were theonly people in the restaurant it was taking a surprising amount of time. After several more requests we were asked at 11.55 if we still wanted breakfast as he order hadn’t gone though. It finally arrived at 12.05!!
The food was delicious and as a Dorking resident I am willing this restaurant and hotel to do well as it is a great focus in the town. But something is very badly wrong with staff training (not numbers as there were loads of staff around). Please sort it before this becomes something that fails in our lovely town...

Service was very slow with waiters who didnt seem very experienced. Food was good. Drinks overpriced. Beautiful restaurant.

Another fantastic visit - really good food and service make The Dozen a well needed restaurant venue in Dorking. Every visit has been excellent. The Dozen menu is pretty much perfect - lots of choice in meat, fish and vegetarian/vegan. They clearly have a great chef in the kitchen - I just hope he stays there and is not one of those 'start up' chefs who move on to the next restaurant once the feels everything is up and running.

This new restaurant in Dorking has not been open long but their Valentines night menu and service were excellent , all the courses suited us perfectly and was very good value for money will be going again soon

My wife and I had a lovely meal and were very impressed with the wonderful staff!

Had breakfast here and it was a total disappointment, the menu looks so promising but sadly didn't deliver. Firstly, there were 5 of us dining and they only had 3 menus, which seeing as we were the only people there was quite ridiculous, do they only have 3 menus for an entire restaurant?! When the waiter finally took our order we then had to wait nearly 15 minutes for our coffee and tea. When the breakfast arrived 50 minutes after arriving at the restaurant it was barely warm and dried out with several items missing, including the toast to go with scrambled egg, smoked salmon and toast! When the toast arrived the egg was cold and they failed to supply any butter so we had to ask again. The eggs benedict were served with only half of a muffin and 2 eggs so one egg was just sadly sitting on the plate next to the muffin and baring in mind this breakfast costs £10.50 I think it's a bit mean to only give you half a muffin!!
The service was also lacking, despite the restaurant being empty and 4 different people serving us, not one of them checked on us throughout our meal which resulted in us having to get up to order extra coffee and to pay the bill.
Overall the experience was pretty bad which is a real shame as I had high hopes for this place.
I would however recommend visiting one evening for they're version of an espresso martini, they are delicious.

Had a very nice meal here for our anniversary. We were looking forward to experiencing the recently re-opened restaurant at the re-furbished White Horse in our home town. The ambience is very good with soft lighting and background music and a nice, cosy bar with a good range of cocktails.
The staff were most attentive and even decorated our desert plate with "Happy Anniversary" which was a nice touch.
Many of the dishes use locally sourced ingredients, which appealed to us.
I started with the crab salad, and my husband had the smoked salmon - both dishes were tasty and nicely presented.
For main course I had the mussels in white wine, which were a generous portion and the sauce was lovely. My husband had steak and salad which he enjoyed.
We shared the desert of white chocolate mousse with raspberries and a coconut tuille, which was delicious.
The wine list is not extensive, although the wines that are there are quite decent and we had a nice bottle of Pinor Noir.
We will definitely return!

Really delicious food! The ambience is lovely and decor very modern although the tiles on the wall make the room quite cold and we kept having to ask them to turn the heating up. Definitely one of the nicer spots in Dorking and a lovely cocktail bar attached!

Food was amazing. Good selection on the menu.

Excellent food and staff were very friendly! Really enjoyed our meal here and for a special occasion, reasonably priced. A little noisy but wouldn't put me off returning or recommending to a friend.

First attendance and booking was simple, service was nervous from young inexperienced waiting staff, (good maître'd? needed) food okay but have eaten better at local pubs - The Grumpy Mole, Tadworth or Betchworth for example, and I think quite expensive. Table and chair area we were in felt 'echoey'. Great toilets (female) but hate the vulgar gender symbols on external door - not in keeping with the décor inside.

Four of us ate here on a Saturday evening. We were welcomed by staff at the door who showed us to our table. It seemed that it was their first night for most of the staff and there only appeared to be two experienced members on the team, which was fine, however we had to open the bottle of wine we ordered ourselves as the waiter admitted he had not used a corkscrew before and it proved too difficult for him to do at our table (not experienced that before in a restaurant).

The food was good and we all enjoyed it - mains and pudding.

Despite the inexperience of the staff they were very keen to make sure we enjoyed the evening and it flowed well.

We liked the decor and hope this new restaurant in Dorking becomes a success.

I think the hotel looks great and has had a lot of work and effort put into it. However, it is let down by inexperienced staff. They were very nice but clearly not been given enough training which lets it down. There are other local restaurants who have exceptional staff and that should be what you are also aiming for.

We tried this restaurant for the first time on Friday eve and it was fab. Great buzzy atmosphere, lovely décor and really friendly staff. Will certainly be going back again and have already recommended it to friends.