The Harrow Inn

Had Lunch at this pub today close to our home on the stanstead rd Caterham
Great food, ambiance, service, certainly worth a trip

An old childhood haunt which I returned to for the first time in years on Saturday. Its a friendly and well decorated standard country pub, which is unfortunately completely inaccessible by public transport

This was a very welcome pit stop on our ramble today. On this lovely mild winters Saturday we were doing a round walk from Farthing Downs which took in the wonderful, and aptly named, Happy Valley and the very picturesque village of Chaldon.
The Harrow Inn is situated just off the famous and well used Pilgrims Way at the far end of Chaldon so it’s a popular choice with both locals and the walking fraternity. It’s an old pub from the 16^th century which still has plenty of character, with a real fire, a nice large wooden bar and tiles on the floor (which is probably a very good floor covering with all the muddy walking boots tramping about). There is plenty of seating, including a good set of stools at the bar, and a separate restaurant area out the back. Staff are young, welcoming and quick off the mark which is just what you want when you are walking and do not have the option of watching the afternoon drift away over a few lazy pints.
The pub carries the Cask Marque which normally means that you can expect a decent pint of well-​kept real ale. There were 4 cask ales on today but it was a pretty standard selection so we went for the Tribute from the St Austell Brewery in Cornwall. After a good tramp through Happy Valley and a fairly muddy section of North Downs Way this went down very well; cool and clear, bronze of colour with plenty of flavour. We soon ordered up another to go with our lunch which was not long in arriving.
My haddock, chips and peas were a good choice and at £8.25 it’s a reasonable price for this part of the country. The fish was the size of a whale, fresh and came encased in a crisp beer batter. Chips were ok but I would be very surprised if they had been peeled and cut in the kitchen. B’s choice of sausage and mash with braised red cabbage was much less successful. The two sausages were fine; well-​cooked with a nice colouring and a good meaty taste. What let this dish down was cabbage that had far too much crunch for this kind of comfort food and the ultimate crime — iffy mash. Lumpy, undercooked and badly seasoned. What a shame!
However, I would hope that this was just a one off from the kitchen and this is a pub I would still recommend if you are walking in the area or just passing through. The many locals in the bar with their very well behaved kids, watching the rugby, certainly seemed to like the place.
3 stars because it’s a crime to make a hash of the English pub classic of sausage and mash but I’m sure this will be amended on a future visit.

An atmospheric country pub.
This is a good size pub, with a lovely garden and plenty of parking.
A good selection of drinks and reasonable and filling food.
A good place to finish off a brisk wall in the north downs.

Good atmosphere, real ale pub. Great food at reasonable prices, home made. Dogs welcome