Brown’s Kitchen

Brown’s Kitchen has been on my radar for quite some time now so at long last we made our booking and got ourselves down there for an evening meal. You can find Brown’s in Mundford, Norfolk where the A134 meets the A1065 within easy reach of Thetford, Swaffham, Brandon and King’s Lynn. It makes for a destination restaurant in it’s own right, well worth the trip from all over Norfolk.

Priding itself on sourcing quality local ingredients and creating delicious, creative dishes is certainly something Brown’s do with gusto. The menu is always changing to make the most of what’s in season. When we took a look at the menu for the evening we were really excited by the choice! Never before have we had such a dilemma of what to choose, I would have gladly ordered 90% of what was on offer. Everything sounded tasty, fresh and tempting. So after quite a while pondering the starters chosen were

Parsnip and celeriac soup with cream cheese, apple & croutons, curry oil and carrot bahji

Oh my goodness, it was fabulous and such a treat. The soup was lovely and creamy which worked so well with the apple as well as the carrot bahji.  Chris went for this

Scott field pork ham hock terrine with homemade piccalilli, pea puree and parsnip remoulade

It looked rather good and to be honest Chris polished the whole lot off before I was able to sample a bit.

The main I went for was Scott field pork belly with braised shoulder rosti, carrot, bubble & squeak, apple puree & crackling

Honestly, this is my ideal dish. I’ve had pork belly two or three other times and found it to be the most amazing thing to eat so when I saw this on the menu I knew it had to be mine. The pork was heavenly and everything else on the plate really complemented it in every way. If we weren’t out and about I would have been sorely tempted to lick the plate! Oh yes, it came with this cute saucepan of gravy too, so fear not.

 

Chris chose line caught sea bream & glazed king scallops with local clam chowder and fish beignets granny smith and smoked bacon

It looked great and he really enjoyed it.

It’s always a bit of a dilemma whether to squeeze a dessert in but we really didn’t want to leave without trying a pudding too, plus we heard a lady at another table waxing lyrical about the rice pudding. It was especially tricky for me as sweet things are what make me tick, so I decided to go for

‘Banoffee’, shortbread, toffee mouse, banana sorbet and caramelised banana

Oh yes, I was indeed rather delighted when this was presented to me, very pretty and extremely moreish.

Vanilla and Norfolk honey rice pudding with poached forced rhubarb, almond and rhubarb macaroons

Chris isn’t even a proper dessert fan and he tucked into this with great enthusiasm,

I have to say this meal was head and shoulders above anything we’ve ever had before and was such a great experience. The restaurant itself is laid out with a great mix of tables and chairs and low lighting perfect for a chilled out meal. We have been talking about the food for days and know for sure that we’ll be back. Brown’s Kitchen is clearly passionate about offering the highest quality local produce and creating modern British cuisine which is really inspiring. They also have themed cuisine evenings too which are really popular. Perhaps Norfolk’s best kept secret.

Brown’s Kitchen is open Wednesday to Sunday for breakfasts 9am onwards, then lunches are from noon. Dinner is served Friday and Saturday from 7pm.  I’ve heard from February they will be opening every day (for breakfasts and lunches). To book your table give them a call on 01842 879888  You can also follow on Twitter @BrownsKitchen  for some sneak peaks at dishes and updates on forthcoming events.

We’ll be back!