The Volunteer

Over priced, poor food, slow service. Lacking in ambience. Over the top COVID19 warnings and distancing measures destroyed the experience

Lovely Sunday lunch after a walk in the surrey hills. The staff were great -friendly and efficient.

Lovely old pub by a river. Pretty village. Friendly service.

Soggy roast potatoes that were lukewarm. School canteen quality vegetables. Chewy cold crackling that had no crackle. Pork medallion twice as thick as it should have been.
My guest’s lamb shank was “awful”. Won’t be back.

Great location and very pretty pub. On line menu looked ok.

The shared fish starter was good.

However the 4 main courses were very poor. These included the fish and chips, odd taste. The sea bass, not good at all.

Whilst I've known and been going to this pub for many years, I could not recommended the food.

If you wanted a quiet drink on a summer evening, this could be for you.

Nice to be in a pub that serves good food with excellent service, and feel chilled with my family instead of being in a gastro pub where it’s more about image than atmosphere.

great food, very kid friendly, would definitely return

Not the greatest Sunday lunch. Beef a bit overcooked even tho we asked medium rare. Plate awash with gravy - surely you could serve this in the side. Result was soggy roast potatoes. Vegetable a bit over cooked (or gravy soggy). Yorkshire nice thankfully balanced on top away from gravy. Side of cauliflower cheese was not cheese was not crispy and was microscopic. I sense no chef working here - just reheating of lunch parr’s. Could and should be so much better.

Nice cosy pub. Lovely friendly staff. Disappointing menu - very classic pub food choices which isn't a problem, but clearly delivered from a supplier, not a chef in the kitchen. I've never seen an apple crumble delivered in a tough pastry case and packet sprinkle crumbs on top!

We enjoyed our roast beef Sunday lunch and the bottle of 19 Crimes wine accompanying it. Will visit again when in the area.

Nice home-cooked food and charming pub with friendly staff.

A wonderful meal in a lovely place with outstanding service

Lovely meal for Dads 84th Birthday this evening.
Mum and Dad are both fussy eaters but there was plenty of choice from a varied menu, friendly attentive staff in a beautiful location.

Sunday roast was fantastic, so tasty. Good wine selection and great service. Highly recommended.

Hidden away gem of a traditional English pub. There is plenty of parking a nice quiet garden and the interior is comfortable. We were served promptly by helpful friendly staff. the food was excellent.

It’s 30 years since we visited this idyllic pub and although the pub has changed hands it’s as lovely as we remembered it - very friendly staff, delicious food, honest pub grub and reasonable prices in a gorgeous rural setting- we will be back!

My friend and I were thrilled that the Volunteer is once again 'on the map' after great food and service. We loved the look of the various areas to eat - its been made very homely.

Noise level was very low as we were the only people there and I guess ambience would have been better if there had been more people.

Our meal was very good....best chips we’ve had anywhere!!! Slightly disappointed in that the wine I chose had run out and the dish my husband was going to choose wasn’t available but we were warned on arrival. Otherwise an enjoyable evening and lovely sitting outside in the evening sunshine with a drink!

We had in fact been recommended to try the Volunteer out. Had been there years ago but not under the new management. We arrived half an hour after our booking. The owner Danielle was chilled and greeted us with a smile and a don't worry. What would you like to drink. Including bringing them to the table rather than the attitude of come & get it Pubs with bar staff more interested in bottling up than serving the customer.

The evening progressed from there. The food was extremely good. Home cooking rather than reheats of the so called Gastro Pub chains. Broad menu & I had the special Steak & Ale pie. All good in every respect. Including the very good quality reasonably priced French Merlot.

I wish them well....... My chum whom had recommended them remarked to me it was like going to a pub when your on holiday. I couldn't have agreed more on this comment. He was exactly right.

We have been there about 5 times before and it's always a treat as can take dogs and end up having a lovely walk after. Every time we struggle with the menu as there appears to be more fish and veggie dishes than meat. This time there were vegetairan burger's, vegetarian salads (?) , and another veg dish. Only roast beef and pork belly which was same as the previously Sunday visits..
The service was , just not very good and the main courses quite frankly for roast beef and pork belly were quite frankly disgusting. . The beef was tough, pork belly more fat than meat and gravey may as well have been brown water and there was more mashed potato on my plate than anything else with the fish..
The service was hit and miss and surprisingly the pub was half empty. We questioned why on a 27degrees day they couldn't do a nice salad or a normal home made burger but that was their Sunday menu apparently. I said maybe if they changed it they would have more cutom and quite honestly it was the worst pub food we have had there and anywhere and we won't be returning ..it was the worst food we havery had for ages.

A return to a favourite in the Surrey Hills which once again met our expectations.

Very quiet when we visited, food was good but nothing outstanding, service was very swift and attentive but as stated it was very very q.

Really enjoyed our time and meal at The Volunteer, it is a very homely pub with a great log fire burning away. The service was excellent and the food good. The only comment we have is that it would be good to have been offered another complement other than chips or plain mash for the sea bream, which was excellent. For a party of four we felt our meal was good value.

Lovely 'proper' country pub with real log fire and accepts dogs. A dying breed of establishments!

Food on the whole was good and quick to come out.

Service was good and polite, however I don't think its good to start clearing a table when some people are still eating. A minor thing but an easy one to fix!

Absolutley lovely place for dinner or sunday lunch. Have been many times before and never disspointed.

All the staff were so friendly, warm and kind. They couldn't do enough for us. We really enjoyed the mothers' day lunch. Food was great and the wine. We weren't rushed at all. And the goodie bag was a real bonus. But the staff and their attentiveness made the real difference. Would definitely recommend - its hard to find something genuine like this. And will definitely go again. Location and surroundings are great.

We arrived early for lunch and had a lovely coffee from very friendly staff. Food interolerances were patiently dealt with and the food, when it came, was fresh and tasty with really lovely ingredients. Overall a really calm, friendly and welcoming experience. Thanks!

We come here regularly and were recommended to do so by a friend. I always have the lamb shank would you so tender and beautifully cooked.

I have special dietary requirements at the moment as I am on a low-carb diet, but they always accommodate and make changes and substitutions for me.

My only comment is that I would like to see healthy desserts such as fruit made available on the menu... the deserts they have are fantastic but have a few too many calories for me.

Our first visit to the Volunteer and we were impressed by the quality of the food and the friendliness of the staff. A good selection of real ales too. We will definitely go again when staying in the area.

We went here for a Sunday lunch before a walk having had good memories of the pub from 6 years ago.
Arrived, had drinks and went to order. The website shows a comprehensive Sunday menu but we were handed a paper menu with very limited options on it and told that that was all there was. We ordered from it. Starters came in middling time and were good.
Mains took an age to come and then not all at once. The overdone roast beefs x 2 came later. No condiments were available. We had to ask. It was getting dark when we’d finished the meal and so we asked for the bill.
They were nice to the dog and gave her a snack.
The new online bill system went through at the same time as another customer who was fortunately astute enough to realise and so they had to spend even longer untangling the amounts.
We came away exhausted. Really nice people but please get it together.

Good food, lovely pub

Great food/ service
Chilly however ... wish the fire had been lit.

A warm welcome with an open fire and excellent service. Menu was varied and the food arrived promptly. Will be back again soon.

We had a great meal and service was really good. I am lactose and gluten intolerant and this wasn’t a problem, they were very happy to adapt the menu for me. We will be back.

This was our second visit to the Volunteer. The first was really good and both the service and food excellent. This visit was on New Year's Day. We had booked a table but it took three people ands time to sort this out on arrival. The table given was nicely laid out with extras of crackers and decorations. We had to ask how to order food which was not a good start, as the menu could easily have explained this. It became clear that whilst enthusiastic and polite the staff on duty that day were inexperienced and pretty disorganised. It actually took 53 minutes for our food to be served after ordering. When it came one ,meal was not properly cooked (for which we were offered 50% discount on that dish), whilst it was clear the breads for the two curries had been standing for a long time and just gone hard. It was disappointing as we had booked based on our previous experience. One lesson is never to go on a holiday. The other is to check that the pub really does look at the bookings made on Open Table as even with the email evidence they seemed not to know we had booked.

Lovely place to meet for Sunday. Excellent service, very attentive and charming. Beautiful position in Surrey Hill.

Lovely pub tucked away in rural Abinger Hammer. Its 3rd visit and went sunday lunch and a limited menu compared to other days, but the food is lovely when ever we have visited. Always take dogs, as very dog friendly.

The food was excellent but it was about an hour before it arrived! The staff were pleasant but not well organised. They did apologize profusely for the delay and gave us complimentary deserts as compensation. They promised the deserts would arrive quickly. They didn't. And one came with cream instead of custard!

Fab service, delicious food, cozy pub. An error with the bill which was rapidly corrected. Made a real effort for my friends bday, thanks so much