The Arkle Manor - Betchworth

I was excited to try the vegan options at Arkle, but unfortunately, I was greatly disappointed by the rude and unwelcoming attitude of the front of house manager. It's a shame.

I have tried the special vegan menu at this restaurant multiple times and the food has been fantastic. The only downside is that there could be a few more options available (3 starters, approximately 5 main dishes, and 3 desserts), but they still offer more choices than most non-vegan restaurants.

A whole separate vegan menu, but many of the options were not available. Got the salad that was well presented, but pretty glands, there was little or no dressing. Wanted to finish the meal with a tea or coffee, but no vegetable milk were available even though it was soy and coconut milk on the menu. Of the 5-6 teas on the menu only peppermint was available. A frustrating experience as a whole, as 90% of what I wanted was not in stock.

The new(ish) vegan menu has a nice selection of starters, mains and sides. The tart was really tasty. I nearly didn't order it as it doesn't come with any sides (and I had already clocked the treacle tart on the dessert menu) but I'm glad I did. The decor is modern and the tables are well separated so it's not too noisy.

The East Surrey Vegans (find us on Facebook! had one of our monthly meetups at The Arkle, and we were all impressed with the fairly new, separate vegan menu. Just a note, if you're vegetarian, do ask to see the vegan menu, as these don't feature on the standard menu. There's a good selection to choose from-I went for the curry, which was really nice, and also tried some of my boyfriends veg tart with side of broccoli, which again, was delicious-you can really tell that people have thought about the menu when creating it. For pudding, I went for the chocolate tart-not quite as good as the one Zizzi have/had, but still good. Being a pub, they also have a good selection of drinks, and the service we received was friendly. Definitely worth a visit.