The story
Sorrel is a modern British restaurant at 77 South Street, Dorking, and it earned a Michelin star in 2026. The kitchen works from a multi-course Discovery menu, served in low-ceilinged rooms with exposed beams and standing timbers in a Grade II-listed building.
Alex Payne is the chef-patron, and his cooking starts from classical dishes and British and European training. He builds on seasonal produce and precise technique. The kitchen is open, so diners can watch the cooking and hear the stories behind each plate. The Good Food Guide rates Sorrel Very Good for 2026.
The Exploratory menu is available a la carte, with dishes such as Brixham red mullet with courgette and Agria potato, and Herdwick lamb with smoked almond and purple sprouting broccoli. The signature tasting menu includes Orkney scallop with morels, mussels and N25 caviar, and it finishes with Cuban chocolate, hazelnut and armagnac. Vegan and dairy-free dishes are not offered.
The first floor is intimate and overlooks the kitchen. The ground floor has a fireplace, which suits the colder months. The restaurant seats 28 across 10 tables, and a private dining room takes up to 10 guests.
Recognition
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History
High quality cooking
*Owner Steve Drake is stepping back from the kitchen to concentrate on other projects and has appointed Alex Payne (previously at the Tudor Pass, Egham) as his new chef-patron. Watch for a new review coming soon.* Steve Drake is a local legend in Surrey, having spent 14 years at Drakes in Ripley before decamping to Dorking in 2017. Since then, Sorrel has become a real asset to the town and continues to go ‘from strength to strength’. Occupying a series of smartly turned out, low-ceilinged rooms in a Grade II-listed building complete with beams and standing timbers, it’s a thoroughly agreeable spot. Proceedings revolve around a multi-course ‘Discovery’ menu that runs effortlessly from ‘departures’ (exquisite mouthfuls such as apple and curry meringue) to ‘journey’s end’ (jasmine and lemon bonbon, miso fudge etc). In between, the cooking is of the moment, subtle but also razor-sharp when it comes to teasing out flavours from the finest seasonal ingredients. Pork belly might be paired with mussels, raw broccoli and piquillo pepper, while guinea fowl could be given the ‘coq au vin’ treatment, with parsley root and chocolate adding their own unexpected notes to a reinvented classic. Hand-dived scallops feature regularly (perhaps with crushed apple, turnip miso, Ortiz anchovy and turnip leaf oil), while dessert often heralds a voguish sweet-savoury confection (grapefruit, shiitake, coffee, peanut and passion fruit, for example). A more manageable three-course option (also framed by 'departure' and 'journey's end' nibbles) suits the lunchtime crowd. The whole package is enhanced by efficient, considerate staff who explain everything in knowing detail and serve dishes at ‘just the right speed’, allowing diners time to take it all in. A constantly evolving, contemporary wine list aims to match the flavours of the season, with quality and value across the board, and plenty of accessible by-the-glass options for easy drinking.
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