The Running Mare

The Running Mare sits on Tilt Road in Cobham, away from the main run of the high street, and it works as a country pub rather than a town-centre bar. It has been renovated, and the garden is the main draw: large enough to matter, which in Surrey is not a given. The pull here is a drink outside on a decent afternoon, with a menu of seasonal British food behind it and a craft beer list rather than a single row of the usual taps.

The price band is ££. In practice that signals a pub charging pub prices with some ambition behind the food — not a chain carvery, not a destination restaurant with a tasting menu. You should expect to spend more than you would at a basic local and less than you would at somewhere that trades on white tablecloths. For a family of four eating properly, budget accordingly rather than assuming a bargain.

Who is it for? Families, first. It is listed as a family pub and the garden does most of the work there — children and a long summer lunch are a better combination outdoors than in. Dog walkers too: the surrounding area is walkable countryside, and a pub at the end of a walk is a specific kind of useful. It would suit a weekend lunch that runs on, or a weekday evening drink that does not need to be an occasion. If you are looking for somewhere quiet and formal for a business lunch, this is probably not the first call.

A few things worth knowing before you go. The menu is described as seasonal, which means it changes — check what is on before travelling if you are coming with a particular meal in mind, or if anyone in the party has requirements that narrow the options. The garden is the reason many people come, so on the first properly warm weekend of the year it will be busy, and a table outside is not something to assume. Tilt Road is not the town centre, so factor in the walk or the drive. And while the pub is described as popular with dog walkers, confirm the dog policy indoors rather than turning up hopeful with a wet spaniel.

Cobham has a reasonable spread of places to eat and drink, and the competition for a family Sunday is real. What The Running Mare offers is a specific combination: a country pub setting with a garden that can take a crowd, a beer list with some thought in it, and food that aims higher than standard pub fare without pricing itself out of a casual visit. That is a clear position, and a genuinely useful one if you want the countryside version of a Cobham afternoon rather than the high-street version.