The long-awaited Mote Park café has opened today.

The new £2.5m facility within Maidstone's largest green space has been built by Maidstone council, but the project has suffered some setbacks, with several delays to the construction.

It will serve two menus daily – a breakfast menu until 11.30am, and then a lunch menu.

On offer will be items such as The Mote full English breakfast at £7.95, sweet chilli noodles at £8.95 and vegan burger at £5.95.

There will be a full range of coffees and teas as well as ice creams and cakes.

The café will be run by Riverside Catering Services, a Dover-based firm that already supplies catering for a number of councils in Kent and for the Port of Dover.

The company is headed by Robert Kirk, who said: "We can't wait to open. It's such a beautiful location, right by the lake and the children's play area."

"I'm not from Maidstone, but I've visited the park many time over the years with my family and always loved it."

The café will open initially from 9am till 6pm, but closing time will be extended to 8pm as the evenings get lighter.

It will open seven days a week – except for Christmas Day.

Mr Kirk said: "We are aiming to use a lot of Kentish ingredients, local cheeses, and Kentish strawberries when in season.

"There will also be daily special boards and we aim to listen to our customers, responding to their menu suggestions."

The café will employ up to eight staff daily, but the mobile kiosk that the firm has been running in the park since May of last year will cease trading when the café opens.

It offers 52 indoor covers, but they will be supplemented by permanent picnic table-benches along the side of the building facing the childen's play area, while in good weather there will also be nine "bistro tables" at the south end of the café.

A serving hatch on the north side of the building will enable those seeking just a quick drink or an ice cream to be served without entering the building.

Mr Kirk, 56, founded his firm in 2004, but has been working in catering since he was 16. He was impressed with building.

He said: "Maidstone council has really pushed all the boundaries. It's a fantastic facility in a great park."

In fact he was so impressed that he has entered into a 20-year contract to run the café.

Alison Elliot was the council's project officer who oversaw the construction in the later stages.

The building work was carried out by BBS, a subsidiary of Chartway.

She said: "It's taken a long time to get here. Construction was delayed first by Covid and then by the difficulty sourcing supplies post the pandemic.

"But it was great working with Mr Kirk, because he knew exactly what he wanted."

The first spade went in the ground in June 2021.

Mike Evans is Maidstone council's leisure contracts manager.

He was delighted with the way things had turned out and said involving the private sector has been the right decision.

He said: "Riverside have been responsible for all the interiors fittings and that has resulted in a really good finish and spec."

Judging by the number of people knocking on the windows during KentOnline's preview visit to ask if the café was open, there will be no shortage of customers.

The café building itself is only one part of a three-part improvement project for the park, which has cost a total of £4.3m.

First to be completed and put to use was the estate services facility building, which is tucked away behind the Maidstone Leisure Centre.

It is essentially a store room for equipment used in the park's maintenance as well as providing facilities for the staff.

Then alongside, but quite separate to, the café building is the toilet block.

Here the ultra modern ladies and gents loos have already been open some time, but the building houses two other facilities that will open for the first time alongside the café.

One is an education room, which will be available for for meetings hire and comes with its own kitchen and toilet.

Capable of seating 50, it will be primarily used for school visits, and exhibitions about the park

The second is a new offer to Maidstone – a Changing Places room.

This is a step-up from the normal disabled-access toilet, catering for those with severe disability or incontinence.

The Changing Places room includes a hoist to help disabled people move from their wheelchair to the toilet, and a bed-bath.

It will be accessed by a combination lock, with the code available to users who ask at the café.