We love a day trip to a country village pub – especially if that village happens to be called Little London
Catching one of those early spring March days recently, we hopped on the train out to the Surrey Hills to check out William IV, which was refurbished and reopened at the end of 2024. It’s a very pretty classic village pub, with plenty of outdoor seating and a cosy dining room.
*Top tip if you want to factor some walking into your visit: Get the train from Waterloo to Guildford, and then instead of getting an Uber directly to the pub, go to the nearby village of Albury. You can then take a nice walk down to William IV in about 45 minutes. Then after lunch, you can walk the other direction to Gomshall, via Shere (where The Holiday was filmed!) and then get a little shuttle train back to Guildford, before changing on to the Waterloo train. Works a treat.
Eat This
Luke Spier is the new chef in charge at William IV and he brings with him experience at Simon Rogan’s Roganic and the Michelin-starred Clock House. Londoners might also remember his Brixton residency Fir a few years back. The locals must be thrilled to have this on their doorstep now, as the food is really excellent.
To start, order the treacle soda bread, and fried potato with beef tartare snacks. The Josper grill is a huge feature, and for one of our starters we loved the wood fired mushrooms with pearl barley and quail’s egg. There was also an excellent crab ravioli with turnip and dill, which should definitely be on your order list.
There are daily specials chalked up above the fireplace each day and we couldn’t resist going for the John Dory. Perfectly cooked in the Josper and accompanied by exemplary skinny fries – the best chips we’ve had in ages. We finished with a miso and honey custard tart, and suggest you do the same.
Drink this
We began with a pint in the garden, but if you’re heading straight in to eat we can very much recommend a glass of the English fizz, made just down the road by Albury Vineyards, to go with the snacks. The rest of the wine list is fairly classic, and we had a nice glass of Picpoul to go with the John Dory too.
Why Go
William IV is a perfect country pub, with food that’s way beyond what you’d expect to find in a tiny, sleepy village. It’s such a short trip from London, so we’d absolutely recommend giving this one a go if you fancy getting out of the Big Smoke for a few hours.
Key Information
Address | Little London, Albury, GU5 9DG
For more information | thewilliamivpub.com