Pub grub used to be a cheap and cheerful safety net. These days it can feel like a small financial commitment. A pie and a pint can easily cross the £25 mark. So, if we’re paying more, it’s only fair that the food justifies the cost.

This week a friend visiting from Portugal booked us in at The Running Horses in Mickleham. He’d eaten there nearly twenty years ago and wanted to see if it still held up. Unlike so many British pubs, it has not only survived – it has thrived, winning numerous national accolades including National Pub of the Year 2023. With that reputation, the bar was set.

Inside, we found a wood-panelled dining room with red leather Chesterfield booths. It’s a cosy and quietly classy space without tipping into formality. The sort of room that feels special but no one is judging your jumper.

I ordered the chicken and leek pie. It arrived domed and glazed, looking built rather than baked.

When the lid was cracked, steam lifted and the filling slumped generously onto the plate, thick with chicken and soft leeks that had clearly taken their time. I still think a flicker more acidity would have sharpened it, but this was a proper pie, not a token gesture in pastry.

My friend chose the trout with crayfish sauce. I asked him for a detailed tasting note and he delivered, “It’s a yummy mouthful of… crayfishy yumminess.” Make of that what you will. He cleared the plate.

Service was warm and unforced. We were never hurried, never hovered over. We stayed long after the lunch crowd had thinned, working through a bottle of wine and a cheese board (at a very fair £10) that felt less like a course and more like an invitation to continue the afternoon. Soft and voluptuous Tunworth, nutty and confident Cashel Blue and floral Black Cow.

Here’s the thing. Not only is the food here restaurant-quality; the experience quietly outperforms many restaurants. You get the warmth and ease of a pub, with plates that show thought and technique, and service that understands hospitality rather than performance.

If this is the cost of a modern pub lunch, it ought to feel this satisfying.

The Running Horses, Mickleham.

Booking advised.