Category: Reviews

“High Street Food Bar”, while not a particularly imaginative name, its pleasantly retro exterior was pretty eye-catching. It reminded me of those old Past Times stores, purveyors of vintage knick- knacks that eventually became a victim of the recession, like so many high street chains before it. Given how much this newly opened sandwich bar stands out in an area of the town mainly dominated with cheap kebab shops and chippies, I decided to give the place a go to see if the food was as bold as the décor.

The retro aesthetic carries over to the interior with shelves lined with artfully arranged reproduction products from yesteryear, all of which are for sale. I checked the price on a jar of jam and one of the tea towels, £5.00 for the jam and £6.00 for the tea towel. That seems a little high to me and this really isn’t the kind of area you’re likely to find a market for these kinds of extravagances. Still this combination of colourful retro paraphernalia and the café’s rather modern minimalist furnishings creates a rather pleasant mix of the old and the new that gives the place a good atmosphere. Honestly it feels more like a trendy coffee house than any sandwich bar I’ve ever been in.

The food, however, was nothing special. The High Street Food Bar offers baked potatoes, home- made soup as well as a choice of paninis, baps, rolls, baguettes or sandwiches with a variety of toppings served hot or cold that can be eaten in or taken away.

I ordered a roll with Lincolnshire sausage, sage and onion stuffing and apple sauce costing £2.90. The menu claims everything is homemade and locally sourced, I’ll take their word for it, it was all rather bland and certainly nothing I couldn’t have simply bought from Sainsbury’s or made myself.

Ultimately, I’m not sure that I was expecting from The High Street Food Bar, but with all the strong presentation, I was certainly looking forward to the food more than I should have been.

I actually already attempted to have lunch at The Cheese Society a few days ago, arriving at 1:30 however, I found the place packed and myself at the end of a long queue for a table. Considering its location, an inconspicuous backstreet it shares with only a skating shop and a vet that specialises in reptiles, it certainly doesn’t seem to be having trouble attracting customers.

I was advised the best times to get a seat were 12:00 and 2:30pm, but even arriving dead on 12 noon, I was lucky to snatch one of the last two tables, the other being taken minutes later with the waiting area filling soon after.
The Cheese Society can best be described as hectic but welcoming. It was packed the whole time I was there but I never felt rushed to finish my food. The staff are constantly on the go but still found the time to be friendly. The design is open and airy making the place feel much larger than it is, the walls are decorated with photos of Lincoln landmarks and posters advertising upcoming local events. Despite its out- of- the- way location it feels like the centre of the community.

The café also features a small deli that sells a wide variety of cheeses as well as crackers, pâté and mustard. This, coupled with the open kitchens right next to the dining area ensure a constant scent of cheese wafting through the building.

The menu is modest, featuring about eight cheese themed dishes with a selection of starters and desserts to boot. I ordered a Macaroni Cheese Au Gratin for a reasonable £8.99 and considering how busy the place was, service was impressively fast.

It emerged from the kitchen bubbling, the cheese almost molten in a dish with what looked like burn marks around the rim. Did they cook this in a blast furnace? A few degrees hotter and I’m sure the side salad would have caught alight.  Once it had cooled down I found the meal to be quite delicious with just enough macaroni mixed in with a perfectly rich cheese sauce. The whole mixture lay beneath a topping of admittedly rather tough melted cheese but it left me satisfied.

When I left, the waiting area was full to overflowing and new customers were already being seated at my vacant table. The Cheese Society is certainly well worth a visit, a must if you have even a passing passion for cheese. The café does not take bookings so make sure to arrive early if you want to avoid a long cheese scented wait.

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My initial impression of Bells’ of Lincoln was quite positive. It has all the staples you’d expect from yet another quaint little café and coffee shop on Steep Hill. It’s located inside a medieval cottage, boasts a cosy, intimate interior and is staffed by perpetually friendly women who call you “m’love” when they take your order.

What I like about Bells’ is the small touches that have been put into the decoration. From the driftwood “welcome” sign hanging askew on the front door, to the reoccurring cupcake motif found in everything from the curtains to the teacups. It seems like real effort has been put into making the place feel homely and welcoming. However, for all the quaintness on display, I couldn’t fail to notice some of the prices, £4.99 for a prawn sandwich? Really?

I ordered the Three Cheese Quiché and, for £7.95 I was expecting a bit more than just two wafer thin slices, some bread and what looked like an entire vegetable garden’s worth of salad. Admittedly the quiche was absolutely delicious, wonderfully chewy with a rich cheesy taste that just melted in the mouth. The bread too was a delight, tasting strongly of herbs and sea salt, it left me feeling a little thirsty but surprised that simple bread could taste so good.

To finish off, I ordered a slice of the chocolate cake that had sat tempting me from across the dining room all through the meal. This portion was a little more generous and came lightly dusted with icing sugar. Again, it was delicious, a rich chocolate and raspberry cream sandwiched between two slices of moist sponge. For £3.30, I was left satisfied with my dessert.

Ultimately, while the food may be excellent and the décor pleasant, I find it hard to recommend Bells’. This seems a venue more suited for those looking to celebrate a special occasion than anyone simply looking for a bite to eat. With the sky high prices and disappointing portions I simply can’t see myself visiting again anytime soon.

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Browns Restaurant is one of the many quaint old buildings lining steep hill. The interior is somewhat barren with whitewashed walls decorated with only framed reviews and exposed wiring. The staff however, are a welcoming bunch, especially the manageress Chris Gill who greeted me like an old friend when I walked in. Considering the place is supposed to be haunted by the ghost of a young boy named Humphrey, it really has quite a warm and friendly atmosphere.

The menu offers quite a choice and I had a hard time choosing between the various delicacies. Browns offer a “Lunch and tea time special menu” available between 12 noon to 14:30 and 17:00 to 18:45. It offers two courses for £9.95 or three for £11.75. I eventually went with the locally sourced chicken and mushroom pie (this being a pie shop after all).

However, on arrival, the pie turned out to be rather small. While the meal came with a small dish of piping hot vegetables and potato’s I could not help feeling a little short- changed. The pastry casing was thick, chewy and served to soak up the rich, deliciously creamy white sauce within but I counted only 3 pieces of chicken in the whole pie. Overall I was left wanting by the main course, but at least I still had plenty of room for dessert.

While my pie had been a bit disappointing, the dessert made up for it nicely. A generous slice of wonderfully chewy treacle tart drenched in clotted cream filled up all the space still left after the fist course.

Overall, while I had been expecting a little more pie from a restaurant claiming to be a pie shop, I left Browns satisfied. Two courses for £9.95 is more than fair and, ghost or no ghost, Browns is simply a nice place to eat a meal, no matter the size of the portions.

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The Highbridge Café is the quintessential British tearoom. Situated inside a crazily leaning medieval bridge house on Lincoln’s busy High Street, it’s cosy but not cramped, meals are small but not snacky and the staff is friendly without being overbearing. It’s the perfect retreat from the crowded street outside, the kind of place you could while away an entire afternoon, simply watching passers-by and eating scones, without feeling guilty about it.

I however, only stopped by for a quick lunch. I’m a big fan of Welsh Rarebit and so when I saw the Lincolnshire variant on the menu I simply couldn’t resist.

A thick cheesy sauce spread over a slice of toast and two rashers of bacon, the sight and smell of my Lincolnshire Rarebit, when it was delivered to my cosy corner table, literally made my mouth water. Made with Lincolnshire Poacher cheese, the sauce was much cheesier than I was expecting but deliciously rich all the same, perfectly hitting both the smoothness and thickness you need in a dish like this. The rashers of bacon, while a little on the skinny side, were cooked to perfection and as crunchy as the granary toast they covered.

The meal set me back about £7.45, a fairly agreeable price even if the portion was rather small. After polishing off the last of my rarebit I felt comfortably full, and to be honest a bit drowsy. My Lincolnshire Rarebit had really hit the spot and, as I left Highbridge Café for the crowds and noise of the High Street, I found myself reflecting that there was no better place to spend a quiet afternoon.

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