The Mulberry Restaurant at Heacham Manor delivered a five star service in all areas including a piper on Burns Night

jenny.beake@iliffepublishing.co.uk

Published: 13:20, 29 January 2023

| Updated: 13:22, 29 January 2023

It was easy to book a table online for Saturday night at the Mulberry Restaurant at Heacham Manor and when we turned up there was a surprise in store.

I had been trying for days to book at a coastal pub with no reply on the phone so with our booking reference in hand we looked forward instead to dining at the Mulberry.

And we are glad we did as we were welcomed by a front of house staff member with the news that as it was Burns Night there would be a piper playing.

Front of House at the Mulberry Restaurant at Heacham Manor

The vegan menu has been newly introduced since November, we were told, as a permanent fixture, so perfect for me while I continue Veganuary and it was varied and I was spoilt for choice.

All staff were friendly, polite, helpful and went out of their way and we commented that this is a good example of delivering quality food with outstanding service.

The piper chatted to us after he had entertained

We were offered a choice of still or sparkling water which was brought over to the table and the backs of the menus detailed the history of Heacham Manor.

As it is also Dry January and the fact we were driving, we both had non-alcoholic drinks and again there was a good variety. We settled on a nought per cent Tanqueray gin and Mediterranean tonic (£11.20 for two) and a nought per cent San Miguel bottled beer (£3).

For the starters, I had mushroom crostini – a vegan toasted sourdough with a tarragon dressing (£4.95), and my partner ordered the Heacham Manor chorizo scotch egg (£7).

The Mulberry Restaurant at Heacham Manor soon filled up and was fully booked by 8pm. Bottled water was brought to the table.

For the main courses I chose the vegan lasagne with skin on fries and salad (£12.95) and my partner went for the pan roasted chicken breast with potato dauphinoise and caramelised chicory in a red wine sauce (£16.50).

Both were tasty and well presented.

The cheeseboard for dessert was not a disappointment for my partner, with the selection at £7.95 and it was presented well with celery, chutney, butter and pear.

Again I was spoilt for choice with the vegan menu but opted for a light pudding of fruit salad with a raspberry sorbet (£6.50) which was really fresh and tangy. We had a pot of tea and a latte to finish.

There was a nice selection of nought per cent gin

We had booked the table at 6.30pm as I don't really like eating too late in the evening and the restaurant soon started filling up and was fully booked by 8pm which made for a lovely atmosphere, with low level lighting and good background music, varying from jazz to light pop.

The diners were of different ages and we all loved the piper, dressed in Scottish traditional attire, who played the bagpipes a couple of times to great applause and even did a couple of requests.

He chatted to us after and revealed he is a musician from Swaffham.

The vegan starter was mushroom crostini. The Heacham Manor chorizo scotch egg

Although it was busy we didn't experience any delays with either food or drinks and the staff were impeccably trained in their customer service.

We spoke to the front of house manager, who was visible and available for a quiet word with customers, to say what an excellent evening we had, and we were more than happy to fill in the short survey at the end of the meal.

I will definitely be going back and it is the sort of place you can take all ages of friends or family to and receive a top class five star service for great food which is such good value for money.