Cherrapeno: The Poet at Matfield

Tuesday, 16 September 2014

The Poet at Matfield

The Poet at Matfield

You can't beat a long lunch with the girls, and this was a good one. The Poet at Matfield had been recommended by one of the girls who had recently stopped by for breakfast, and had also celebrated a special birthday there. It's somewhere I pass by quite frequently and had been meaning to try for a while.

Set in the village of Matfield, Kent, The Poet has a warm charm about it. There are four oak beamed rooms and the food is English, seasonal and sourced locally. There is a varied menu and a big board with lots of other choices and daily specials.

Lamb koftas with tzatiki & salad

I had lamb koftas with tzatiki and salad. The koftas were hot and spicy, with hints of cumin, coriander and plenty of garlic. The salad, however, was a bit disappointing, a couple of slices of tomato and lots of spinach, I would have preferred more of a mixed salad to be honest. The tzatiki sauce had a cooling effect on the koftas and I also ordered some chips, which were gorgeous - hot and crisp with a soft inside.

Fresh tagliatelle & Parmesan

Some of the other dishes we had included pork ragu, fresh tagliatelle & Parmesan, chicken Kiev with chips & salad, and a rather impressive looking salmon fishcake with new potatoes & salad.

Chicken Kiev

Salmon fishcake with new potatoes & salad

Glazed lemon tart

My dessert was one of the best desserts that I have had in a long time, a fabulous glazed lemon tart, accompanied with a wonderful blackberry sorbet. Just the right balance of tart and sweet flavours. One of the girls had a Pimms jelly with raspberry, basil & cucumber sorbet, which she raved about and was plotting to recreate at home!

Pimms jelly with raspberry, basil & cucumber sorbet

I would definitely go back to The Poet, as it was clean and the food was lovely. We spent a long afternoon there and didn't feel rushed at all. I think the menu needs a couple more vegetarian dishes on it and if they made the glazed lemon tart a bit bigger...!

We had two courses each, soft drinks and coffee to finish, the bill was around £147 for 6, excluding service.