The Green Room, The Lincoln Hotel, Lincoln

Carla Watt visited The Green Room Restaurant at the Lincoln Hotel and savoured one of the finest outlooks in Lincoln, while also enjoying some of the county’s great produce.
The Lincoln Hotel from its south facing frontage gives guests and diners the chance to enjoy a wonderful view of Lincoln Cathedral. It’s hard to tire of the scenery whether you are having a cup of coffee, sandwich or cake in The Lounge or head to be seated in The Green Room Restaurant for lunch, afternoon tea or dinner and ask for one of their tables, which overlook the gothic masterpiece.

We visited on a Friday evening and were among the first diners to arrive in the elegantly decorated room. The spacious L-shaped restaurant offers flexible table configurations, ideal for larger groups but fellow diners were couples and groups of four as the evening progressed.

Our waitresses introduced themselves as Emily and Emilia and their friendly and efficient service, while never being intrusive, made the evening an even more pleasant experience.

My anticipation levels always increase when I see the top of the menu credit ‘carefully selected local suppliers’ and ‘fresh and seasonal produce from all over Lincolnshire’. Tempting already. The à la carte menu offers a choice of six dishes for each course with a sensible mix of fish, meat and vegetarian options.

We began with homemade breads with olive oil and balsamic oil while we sipped our drinks and anticipated our starters. I had opted for wild mushroom roulade served with radish, peas shoots and black truffle oil. My daughter had chosen pulled pork and mustard terrine, crackling and sweet cider syrup. I thoroughly enjoyed the intense mushroom flavour against the softer note of cream cheese while my daughter lapped up the sweet syrup and mustard contrasts of the pork. Other starters included a soup of the day; Grimsby kiln smoked salmon served with dill panna cotta with baby capers and pea shoots or seared black pearl scallops, ginger and coriander.

For our main courses I chose slow braised belly pork, ham hock and pea terrine with apple jelly, vegetables and Parmentier potatoes and our second dish was a rib-eye steak from Fosters butchers of Lincoln served with hand-cut chips, flat mushrooms and a brandy and cracked black pepper sauce. My belly pork was very tender, although I did not enjoy so much the contrast of the cold terrine but individually the elements were very good. The steak was perfectly cooked to order and was a real hit. Other dishes which tempted us were a risotto with sun blushed tomatoes, olive tapenade and onion bread; seared Gressingham duck with orange glaze, spinach and sweet potatoes or roast monkfish with Parma ham, braised lettuce and watercress puree.

We did decide to have desserts. My daughter selected a luxurious Black Forest trifle with cherry mousse, rich brownie and Chantilly cream while I could not resist the cheese selection which offered a choice of six exceptional Lincolnshire cheeses. My platter came with my choices of Lincolnshire Poacher, Just Jane Smoked and Dambuster. These cheeses really fly the flag for Lincolnshire and they had bite, flavour and substance – absolutely delicious!

We had thoroughly enjoyed our evening, the impressive dishes and especially the cheery attention of the staff. Prices in The Green Room offer very good value for money for dining in a prime city centre hotel which invests in sourcing high quality local produce. Go in a group or take visitors to the city – they will be impressed by the food and the view.

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