Jessica (27 February 2011)

The Mulberry Tree has to be one of the best restaurants in Kent. I went with friends who are complete epicureans - a wealthy half French, half English duo who have eaten at some of the finest restaurants in the world over the years. Even they were impressed with the food - though they did ask the manager to tell the staff not to interrupt diners' conversations mid flow to ask if everything is all right, but that was a small, though helpful comment. My recent visit took in three courses for lunch. Terrine of pork with apple and mustard chutney, mulberry tree pork in three or four mini piggy variations with Savoy cabbage, and an ice cream selection for pudding. Backwards first - normally, I don't pay for ice-cream while having dinner out. Overpriced and mostly indifferent to the taste buds in the UK, I have rarely eaten anything to ride home about. On this occasion, I was enticed by the flavours - vanilla, malt and spiced pudding. This trio was simply divine. The vanilla was not remotely plain and regulation - creamy, bourbon and delightful. I drifted helplessly to the scoop of malt. Associated with beer and Ovaltine, I was expecting a rather sickly or odd concoction. Not so! Here was dusky, barley, golden brown perfection. Not too sweet, but almost perfumed with that warm aroma redolent of baking bread - a real surprise. Finished off by a really interesting but wonderfully English melange of spice and citrus in the pudding flavour. A bit of clove, cinnamon, cardamom perhaps - orange peel and a hint of something similar to bread or Christmas pudding. Definitely worth investigating if you like a bit of ice cream.

Backwards to my main. This was simply wonderful - four cheeky selections of locally sourced pork - one fat little sausage with a herby, peppery kick started things off nicely. This was followed by a nice tender fillet of pork - juicy too. I then tucked into a meltingly rich cut of belly pork, complete with crispy crackling, and finished with a flavoursome, soft cheek. It was accompanied by an excellent jus, a single, golden medallion of a good waxy potato and some nicely braised Savoy cabbage - I couldn't sing my praises more. So to the first act - my starter. I must have been feeling rather pink and fuzzy because I homed in on and guzzled up a neat slab of super terrine of pork. Cool, but not cold thankfully, layers of pancetta and different cuts of pork, this was oozing with subtle, herby flavour and rolled along perfectly with a piquant little chutney of mustard and caramelised apples. In fact, I could have had this as a main course had I been given a double helping of terrine and chutney because I simply must mention a part of my starter at the Mulberry that has me and my compatriots humming with pleasure - the bread. All homemade, there is blatantly a bit of a love affair with baking bread here. I have eaten there perhaps four times - every time, the bread has been a different flavour. I've had onion and chive, almond, plain white, hazelnut and prune, raisin and walnut, plain brown, caraway and pinenut. Whoever makes and bakes does so with confidence but also with love. This bread comes with a lovely balance of sweet and salt - it is light, warm from the oven and served with a creamy, slightly salty butter. Bread is served with all starters, but I had a double choice because my starter also came with two very small slices of toasted bread that was close to being toasty brioche. I don't mention wine here because I don't drink often, but my friends loved the selection of French whites and reds.

Kent's restaurants may not traditionally deliver fine dining, but, the Mulberry Tree is the exception to the rule, and given that this is now nearly three years on, since it was reviewed for the first time by a national newspaper, the proprietor must have moved the standard on consistently, because what I have experienced in the past year has knocked the socks off many well-known and exclusive eateries I've treated myself to in London. The price is more than reasonable, especially when one considers that most of the ingredients are sourced from Kentish farms and purveyors of fine English food. My part of the bill came to approximately £28.00 - though I could have eaten three courses from the set menu for £17.50 - starter, main and pudding. So there it is - you won't leave the Mulberry Tree feeling stuffed to the gills, but you will remember the delicious and well-balanced flavours, the excellent service and a very pleasant, welcoming atmosphere in the heartland of Kent. Completely and utterly fabulous!

AF Nash (9 February 2010)

We had the set menu for lunch on my birthday. The service was superb and food lovely.