Vinous Table: Kinghams Restaurant – Shere, UK

Oak Cottage

Gomshall Lane

Shere

GU5 9HE 

BY NEAL MARTIN | JANUARY 31, 2025

The Food:

Hibiscus and Gin-Soaked Trout with Trout Roe and Crème Fraiche

Seared Sashimi-Grade Tuna with Pickled Fennel and Poached Clementine

Surrey Hills Beef Fillet and Melted Croquette with Jerusalem Artichoke and Confit Leek

Rhubarb and Ginger Oat Crumble with Vanilla Ice Cream

The Wines:

2020 Domaine Marc Colin et Fils Saint-Aubin Le Chatenière 1er Cru - 93

2016 Pichon-Baron - 96

2009 Sigalas Rabaud - 94

I doubt you have heard of Shere. But I bet you have seen it. You just didn’t realize. Shere is one of this sceptred isle’s most picturesque villages, one that boasts 34 listed buildings, many of them centuries old. Three-quarter-sized, tailor-made for our vertically challenged ancestors with miniature doors and wonky chimneys, it is architecture warped by time. Besides Shere’s splendid public houses, babbling brooks and tearooms, people come here to take a selfie in front of the cottage where The Holiday was filmed. Starring Cameron Diaz, Jude Law and Kate Winslet, this 2006 rom-com has become a Yuletide staple alongside It’s a Wonderful Life and Elf. However, that was not Shere’s film debut, since it can be spotted in Four Weddings and Bridget Jones, thereby giving the false impression that every single English village is unchanged since Henry VIII. Located just a ten-minute drive from my front door, I often go to Shere for a latte at the Dabbling Duck Café. Before you ask, yes, ducks do dabble in the stream outside. I park my car behind the community hall, turn right, and the café is just down the road…

And that is the problem. I turn right. Never left. I long assumed there is nothing of note in that direction. Had I turned left and walked 50 meters, I would have come across Kinghams Restaurant. In a sense, this Vinous Table has the same theme as Le Lion d’Or insofar that you should always seek what lies on your doorstep. Thankfully, a friend suggested Kinghams to chase away the January blues, and I discovered a delightful place to dine.

The exterior of Kinghams Restaurant.

The restaurant occupies a two-story cottage built in 1620 by William Blackman. At the time, this area of the North Downs was wealthy thanks to the flourishing wool trade, but it was also notorious for local smugglers. It was once known as Hangman’s Cottage. The local hangman would relax here after a day’s work at the gibbet. Despite that macabre backstory, the present building is enchanting, boasting a red brick façade with exposed Tudor beams. A small, weather-beaten side door opens into a cozy reception, where on your left, you can still see the wattle and daub of the original construction. Tables occupy two fire-lit low-ceilinged rooms, and anyone over six foot will have to mind their head. These oak beams are worth close inspection because you notice odd markings and carvings, none of the beams quite matching. Co-owner Jack Forrest Foster told us how these were probably recycled from decommissioned Tudor galleons, information that evoked a strong sense of history.

The warm, welcoming interior.

Paul Baker opened Kinghams Restaurant not in Tudor times but in 1993, naming it after his grandfather, Paul Kingham, whose bronze bust smokes a pipe in reception. Baker recruited chef Mohssine El Faddi in 2006, who had graduated from the Tante Marie cookery school and worked at Mirabelle in Mayfair, incidentally, one of my favorite restaurants of all time. Foster joined as the front of house in 2012, and eventually the pair bought Paul Baker out, though he still resides just behind the restaurant. The fact that tables were full on a freezing January night after 30 years of trading, not to mention several awards (including AA 2 Rosettes), suggests that Kinghams is doing something right.

The menu is classic European fare. Being outside London, prices are certainly more modest, with starters around £10 and mains £20 to £25.

Hibiscus and gin-soaked trout with trout roe and crème fraîche.

To begin, hibiscus and gin-soaked trout with trout roe and crème fraîche. I have to confess that I was intrigued by the hibiscus and gin infusion. It works well, especially with the salty trout roe. Perhaps the fish could have been a little more succulent, but this is a novel take.

Seared sashimi-grade tuna with pickled fennel and poached Clementine

The seared sashimi-grade tuna with pickled fennel and poached Clementine is a combination that is actually complimentary, against my expectations. The tuna is good rather than great (it would not get in the door if we were in Japan), but it does match the poached clementine extremely well. More thought could go into the presentation, each component of the dish acting as if they had just had an argument and were distancing themselves from each other.

Surrey Hills beef fillet and melted croquette with Jerusalem artichoke and confit leek

The Surrey Hills beef fillet and melted croquette with Jerusalem artichoke and confit leek is the best dish. The beef is cooked rare to my request, and I thoroughly enjoy the melted croquette, flavorsome and crispy. The leek is lovely and nicely charred.

Rhubarb and ginger oat crumble with vanilla ice cream

The rhubarb and ginger oat crumble with vanilla ice cream, instead of custard, is fine. Maybe I would re-adjust for more rhubarb and less crumble, but nevertheless, I am soon scraping the plate.

One aspect about Kinghams that I appreciate is that wine is an important part of the restaurant, not just a means of increasing turnover. The short list is well chosen, with some interesting bottles. Foster himself is a keen wine-lover, though sadly one born in a terrible vintage (1984). The restaurant was open about us bringing three bottles to share with friends with very reasonable corkage.

The 2020 Saint-Aubin Le Chatenière 1er Cru from Domaine Marc Colin et Fils is delicious. It is actually more powerful on the nose than I recall from barrel, with scents of yellow plum, Clementine and slightly less of the sea spray that I noticed previously, Colin’s signature subtle reduction lends this Chardonnay tension. The palate is quite intense yet beautifully balanced with admirable mineralité. Hints of oyster shell mix with melon and (again) Clementine on the finish. My neighbor professed not liking white wine, but five minutes later, he asked me to refill his glass. We then move to Bordeaux. The 2016 Pichon Baron is outstanding, powerful on the nose with blackberry, mocha and just a hint of dark chocolate that emerges after an hour. The palate is weighty in the mouth but delivers real elegance, graphite-tinged black fruit fanning out gloriously on the finish. It is probably three years away from when I would advise opening bottles.

My New Year’s resolution is to drink more Sauternes. So, I open a 2009 Sigalas Rabaud for the occasion. This is similar to the bottle a few months back with orange pith, macadamia nuts and saffron on the nose. There’s perhaps a little more creaminess in this bottle. The palate is intense and viscous with a keen bead of acidity. This is not a subtle Sauternes, but it delivers gorgeous butterscotch and vanilla pod on the long finish. Give it another couple of years.

This is a perfect dinner to start 2025. Kinghams is no culinary pinnacle, and maybe that is partly because on this evening Faddi is not working in the kitchen. I would like to return and see what he can do. The presentation is adequate, although I feel it could be improved with just a few tweaks. But Kinghams is not criminally expensive, and dining out is more than what you eat. The building foments a wonderful rural atmosphere away from the hustle and bustle of life, and the sense of history is palpable in every nook and cranny (and there are plenty of those). Service is outstanding from start to finish. Stepping outside, our feet crunch into a layer of snow, as if we were walking into a rom-com. I looked to check Cameron or Jude were not walking hand in hand down the street.

Oh, and the location of the cottage from The Holiday?

It does not exist.

That cottage was built on a set.

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