Surrey Hills · Silent Pool
Some cafes tolerate dogs. We rather expect them.
Mandira's Kitchen sits on the Surrey Hills walking route above Silent Pool, so muddy paws and hopeful-looking Labradors are standard issue here. The patio looks straight out over the hills.
Sit outside with masala chai, lunch or cake after a walk through Newlands Corner, the Pilgrims Way or Albury. Water bowls are out. Nobody minds a wet dog.
What you actually eat here
Lunch, seven days a week
Lunch is Indian street food, the kind Mandira grew up eating, not a curry-house menu. Samosa chaat with tamarind drizzle, papri chaat, biryani, kathi rolls, keema pav, the forbidden chilli cheese toast, all handmade with our own chutneys. Chai ice cream and lychee martini sorbet if you have room. Gluten-free options. Eat in the barn or out on the patio over the pool. Booking a table is wise, especially at weekends.
The weekend thali
At weekends we make a limited number of thalis: a round platter of small dishes that changes every week, and comes with a Bollywood playlist, a film recommendation and a quiz, because a thali should be an afternoon, not a plate. They must be pre-booked and are picked up Friday or Saturday. If you are further afield or on the monthly subscription, we can post one (it arrives the Tuesday after).
Freezer meals to take home
The same food, cooked by hand in small batches in the barn and frozen the same day, never cooked from frozen in a factory. Take a stack home from the cafe after lunch, or have them delivered anywhere in the UK in insulated boxes, free over £100. Larger trays for four or ten when people are coming over and you would rather they thought you cooked.
A barn above one of England's strangest pools
Silent Pool is a spring-fed former chalk quarry on the Albury Estate, so still and so clear it looks lit from below. Tennyson came here to think. Agatha Christie's car was found just up the hill at Newlands Corner in 1926. There is a legend about a girl called Emma and a king on a horse, which may be Victorian invention but is told anyway, usually in a lowered voice. Our barn sits on the track just above all of it, where pilgrims once walked the old North Downs way and the smell of ground cardamom now drifts across the hills by mid-morning. Four hundred years a cowshed. These days, something rather better fed.
Good questions, briefly answered
Are dogs allowed at Mandira's Kitchen?
Yes. Dogs on leads are welcome on the patio overlooking Silent Pool, with water bowls provided. It is a regular stop for walkers on the Surrey Hills routes.
Can I bring my dog after a muddy walk?
Absolutely. The cafe sits right on the walking route above Silent Pool, near Newlands Corner and the Pilgrims Way, so muddy boots and paws are entirely normal.
Is there outdoor seating?
Yes, there is a patio overlooking the hills and the pool, open seven days a week.
Where is the cafe?
Silent Pool, Shere Road, Albury, Guildford, Surrey GU5 9BW, just off the A25 with free parking when you register at the cafe.
Book an outdoor table overlooking Silent Pool
Open seven days a week, on the track above Silent Pool.
Book an outdoor table overlooking Silent Pool →