Review of Surrey House Restaurant

Surrey House

May 24th, 2013 11865 Rolfe Highway
Surry, Virginia 23883
(757) 294-3389
Since 1954 the Surrey House Restaurant has been preparing down home country meals served with southern hospitality

Here’s a riddle: What restaurant allows you to begin and end your meal with peanuts and is located in a town that has a population of about 300? That’s right, the Surrey House. Maybe that big title at the top helped you out a bit.

The Surrey House in Surry, VA is a ferry ride over from Williamsburg and a popular destination for locals and visitors alike. Established in 1954, visitors come from across the world (one recent visit from Surrey, England – doesn’t that town sound familiar?) to experience the restaurant’s traditional, made-from-scratch Virginian cuisine and unique southern atmosphere. Make sure to read the little stories and “directions” in the menu as it’ll give you a feel for the personalities of the owners. See if you can figure out which one is the “mean one” and which one is the “nice one”. Honestly, we found them both to be quite nice!

The restaurant itself is unassuming and is decorated with wood paneled walls and dark booths, which takes you back to times gone by. The food is “country homestyle” comfort food and fits perfectly with its surroundings. When we looked up other reviews online people raved about the peanut soup and/or the she-crab soup. So we tried both. This was our first time eating peanut soup. It reminded me slightly of a peanut sauce you might find on a Thai pasta dish. Or you could describe it as liquid peanut butter. It was very good. The she-crab soup was unique too. It actually had a kick to it, which made it stand out from other crab soups I’ve tasted in the past. The flavor was incredible. Our next plate was the ham rolls. A classic southern favorite for this area. These were little soft homemade rolls with thin slices of Country Ham filling the center. The strong saltiness adds so much flavor in just a thin slice of ham. We had their signature apple fritters as a side (yes you can have them as a side item!). The fritters we’re used to are more like donuts, but this one resembled more of a miniature apple pie. The Surrey House fritter was an apple wrapped in crust and covered in powdered sugar. I’d say this is a must-try for the uniqueness factor! It went perfectly well with the saltiness of the ham to give you that sweet/salty combo. The last entree we stuffed in our face was the fried chicken. The crust was nice and crispy and both of us agreed there was a sweet aftertaste in the crust, which we liked. The inside was incredibly moist and tender, just like fried chicken is supposed to be. At around this point in the meal the owner asked if we needed a nap. With all that southern food, you might want to stay at their attached 10 room Inn after your meal. So keep that in mind To round out our meal, we ended with their Peanut Raisin Pie. I’m not a super big fan of raisins, so I was happy when I realized they were a subtle addition to this delicious pie. It was very similar in taste and texture to a pecan pie, but had the distinct flavor of peanuts. I really enjoyed this. Peanuts are one of my favorite foods, so to be able to start and end my meal with this made me happy. If you are in Surry, visiting the Surrey House Restaurant is a MUST. And even if you’re not in Surry, you should probably make the trip out there to experience this nostalgic little southern restaurant and town.

Mindy’s Favorite Thing: I like peanuts. I love pie. It’s only natural to combine the two into a Peanut Raisin Pie.  This was yummy.

What Mindy would like to try next time: I’d probably want to try their banana fritters. I’ve never had this before and if it’s like the apple one, then count me in!

Eddie’s Favorite Thing: The She Crab Soup. The flavors were amazing. I could gulp down a gallon of this stuff.

What Eddie would like to try next time: Crabcakes. With how fresh and delicious that She Crab Soup was, how could I NOT try the Crab Cakes.

For more Williamsburg Restaurant Reviews, check out EatPlayWilliamsburg.com