The Victoria Oxshott Restaurant Review

The Victoria Oxshott Restaurant Review

The Victoria Oxshott Takes The Gastro Pub To A Whole New Level!

Victoria Oxshott Victoria Sponge

Victoria Oxshott Victoria Sponge

One of our favourite stops during our Polestar 2 electric car tour was the Victoria Oxshott gastro pub.

This new gastro pub is set on a country road in a tiny village in Surrey. As you walk in there is a comfortable long bar to the right and assorted dining rooms off to the left, furnished in oak, green wood panelling and light brown chesterfield sofas and chairs. Plenty of stoves and open fires add colour and ambience.

There is a spacious and quaint back garden surrounded by trees with various separate areas so you can choose to dine with others or pick a more scudded spit with friends. The atmosphere is relaxed but the diners take food seriously.

The menu is surprisingly compact but exquisitely considered. An unusual mix of vegetarian, fish and sublime meat dishes that will appeal to a wide audience. A roasted cauliflower steak with torches corn in a coriander salsa, seabream with peppers, squid and tomato salad. There’s even a Salt chamber-aged tomahawk steak, with bone marrow and triple-cooked chips for two that will set you back £125.

They also offer a delicious selection of snacks, one of which caught my eye so I ordered it immediately. And oh my god, what a great way to start a four-course lunch. The beer-battered oysters with seaweed mayonnaise had me from the get-go. They were utterly scrumptious, a subtle taste of the sea with a superb contrast texture of crunchy batter with soft cooked oysters.

I then moved on to the raw hand-dived scallops with oyster mayonnaise and sea herbs which were light and succulent. My partner had the salt-baked beetroot salad with goats cheese, walnuts and olives. Jokes aside, that was the best beetroot I have ever tasted.

This was accompanied by a glass of fine Gusbourne Champagne, which is dry with a lovely hint of oak and fine, lasting bubbles.

For the main course, I plumped (plump being the appropriate word here) for the Trenchmore Farm Sussex Wagyu bavette steak (rare) with baked potato mash, charred Hispi cabbage and kale pesto. The meat dishes at The Victoria Oxshott are probably the best you can find in the country. I’m normally pescatarian, but this was superb. Plus the mash was unctuous and the cabbage crispy, a perfect counterpoint to the steak.

The fish and triple-cooked chips with crushed peas with tartare sauce were yummy. The fish was light and flavoursome, whilst the chips resembled Jenga pieces and mixed perfect exterior crunch with a fluffy inside.

The chocolate and mint ice cream sandwich finished me off, a chocolate ball filled with zinging mint and a sumptuous chocolate sponge fondant. The Victoria sponge was an architectural wonder, a half cup of white chocolate supporting a half ball of light unctuous mousse over a light sponge.

My foray into the wine list revealed a few marvels too. Created in partnership with Master Sommelier Michael Engelmann it presents some spectacular and collectable wines.

For reds, my choices would be the Burgundy Le Haut Colombier or pick the exceptional Clos de la Roche Grand Cru 2014  if you’re celebrating something important. They have a 2004 Taittinger which is a fabulous year and a Lucien Le Moine Cordon Grand Cru Chardonnay 2018 which I would heartily recommend. If it’s a hot summer day, which it was, try the Rock Angel Chateau d’Esclans Cotes de Provence 2020 rosé.

If your mouth is not watering and your liver not quivering by now, you have no soul. They also have a rare wine list, presented on request. Think Chateau d’Yquem 2007 and Screaming Eagle, Napa Valley 1997.

There is a lot of experience behind this team’s new venture, chef director Matt Larcombe was head chef of The Crown at Bray and Simon King of Igniting Hospitality was operations director at the Gordon Ramsay Group. Both met working for Heston Blumenthal. They have clearly set their sights on providing the finest food at almost pub prices. A worthy and admirable venture.

In conclusion, Victoria Oxshott is exceptional. The menu is clever with superb dishes for all tastes, the service is attentive and fast, with a magnificent wine list. It’s not inexpensive, but it is great value, this should be on everyone's list of the finest restaurants in Surrey. It’s all about the food, so one for the gastronomes. The Victoria Oxshott takes the gastro pub to a whole new level offering the finest cuisine, in a relaxed, but stylish environment. They do a mean cocktail too.

https://thevictoriaoxshott.com