Sorrel

Sorrel sits on South Street in Dorking, in a building the restaurant describes as around 300 years old. It is a Michelin-starred restaurant serving modern British food, and it makes no attempt to be anything else. This is a destination dining room rather than a place you wander into because you happen to be passing.

The four-pound price band is the first thing to take seriously. ££££ in a market town like Dorking signals a bill closer to a London tasting-menu evening than a Sunday lunch out, and Sorrel's Michelin star confirms the level it is working at. That is the bargain on offer: proper fine dining, at fine-dining cost, without the train fare into town. Anyone hoping for a moderately priced neighbourhood restaurant with a good reputation should look elsewhere in Dorking. Anyone who has been meaning to eat somewhere starred, and would rather not spend the evening on a platform at Victoria, has a strong case for booking here.

The kitchen was founded by Steve Drake and is now led by chef-patron Alex Payne. The cooking is described as seasonal, British-sourced and technically complex. What that means in practice is that the menu will move with the year, so do not arrive with a particular dish in mind, and do not take anything you have read elsewhere as current. Check directly before you travel.

Who is it for? Anniversaries, milestone birthdays, the dinner you have been saving up for. It suits couples and small groups who want the evening to be the event rather than the prelude to one. It would also work for a business lunch where the point is to mark the occasion, though the price band means that is a decision someone will notice on an expenses line. It is not a casual weeknight option, and it is not somewhere to take a restless group with somewhere else to be.

Before booking, a few practical points. Restaurants at this level generally take reservations well in advance and often work to a set format rather than à la carte, so confirm what you are committing to when you book, including timing and any deposit. Dietary requirements are best raised at the point of booking rather than on arrival. Dorking's South Street is central, which helps with trains and parking, but parking in the town centre is worth planning rather than assuming.

Dorking is a town with a good spread of pubs, cafés and everyday places to eat. Sorrel is not competing with any of them. It is the town's fine-dining address, and for a certain kind of evening it is the obvious answer.