The Mulberry

The Mulberry sits on West Street in Farnham, in a Georgian building that gives the place a certain formality before you have even sat down. It is a restaurant rather than a pub with food, and it presents itself that way: modern British cooking, seasonal tasting menus alongside an à la carte, and a stated emphasis on produce from Surrey and the surrounding countryside.

The £££ price band is the most useful thing a reader can know here. This is not a casual drop-in. It signals a restaurant where the bill is part of the decision, the sort of place you choose deliberately, for a reason, and probably book in advance. If you are weighing up a quick weekday supper against something more considered, The Mulberry falls firmly in the second category.

Tasting menus are listed as one of the things it does best, and that shapes how you should plan the evening. A tasting menu is a commitment of time as much as money; expect to be at the table for a while, and do not schedule anything tight afterwards. It also tends to suit a smaller group better than a large one. If you are a party of eight with mixed appetites and a train to catch, this is probably the wrong choice. Two people marking an anniversary, or four who actually want to sit and eat slowly, are the right fit.

Special occasions are the other stated strength, and that rings true for the format. Birthdays, engagements, a milestone that deserves more than the usual. It would also work for a serious business lunch, though whether lunch is served, and on which days, is not something these facts establish, worth confirming when you call.

A few practical points. The menus are described as seasonal, which means they change; do not travel on the strength of something a friend ate three months ago. If anyone in your party has dietary requirements, raise them at the point of booking rather than on arrival, because tasting menus are built in advance and are harder to adjust on the night. Opening hours are not something we can state here, so check directly before setting off.

West Street runs into the heart of Farnham, a town with a good number of places to eat and drink across a wide range of prices. The Mulberry is positioned at the upper end of that range, and it does not pretend otherwise. Farnham has plenty of options for an unplanned pint and a plate of something; fewer for an evening built around the food itself. That is the gap this restaurant occupies. Whether it justifies the spend is a judgement for the person paying, but the offer is clear and unambiguous: a proper restaurant meal, in a handsome building, in a town where a Georgian frontage on the main street does not feel out of place.