Eat My Words: We review Hidden Food Tours in Lincoln

I’ve lived in Lincoln for a few years now and discovered some of the best food spots, but I’d never really explored the rich history behind them—or the city itself.

So when the team behind the Hidden Food Tours invited us to join their first-ever Lincoln tour, I couldn’t say no.

With six delicious stops and a walk through some of the city’s highlights, including Lincoln Cathedral and the Cornhill Quarter, it’s a must for food lovers and history buffs alike.

We met at Seven Districts Coffee in the Bailgate area at 10am on Saturday (May 10), where I was introduced to our host and culinary tour guide, Matt Hall. With gorgeous weather and highs of 21 degrees, it was the perfect day to explore. I joined the other six attendees over iced vanilla lattes on the upper terrace, which offered beautiful views of the Cathedral - a lovely place to start the morning.

Our first stop was just around the corner at the Redhill Farm Shop, where we tucked into one of Lincolnshire’s most iconic exports: sausages. We grabbed our baps and headed to a nearby spot in front of the 11th-Century Cathedral, once the tallest building in the world—until 1548, when its spire collapsed during a storm.

It was here that Matt gave us a quick lesson in some of the county’s other traditional dishes, including haslet and chine. If, like me, you’d never heard of them before, haslet is a type of pork meatloaf, while chine is a cured pork neck stuffed with parsley and cooked until tender.

Making our way down Steep Hill, which was a bit of a challenge in the heat, we headed towards The Cheese Society on St Martin’s Lane. The business originally started out as a wine bar but later shifted its focus to cheese, eventually launching a subscription service that delivers four hand-cut, seasonal artisan cheeses to customers each month.

Now, I absolutely love cheese, so this was arguably my favourite stop. It’s strange to think I’ve always known the shop was there, yet never stepped inside. We were treated to samples of different cheeses, each paired with a variety of accompaniments. One of the most unusual combinations - blue cheese with lemon curd - completely took me by surprise. Trust me, try it. It’ll change your life.

Next, we headed across the road to the White Horse, where the others sampled some local beers brewed just north of Lincoln in Fiskerton. I’m currently about halfway through a 90-day no-drinking challenge, so I settled for a Coke Zero—but what really made this stop memorable for me was the setting. I used to work in this bar when it was the Tap and Spile back in 2021 and hadn’t been back since it was refurbished in late 2023. The transformation was remarkable. What used to be a gritty rock bar is now a pristine and welcoming pub and restaurant. I’ll definitely be back.

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Just down the road, we made our way to Slow Rise Pizza, a restaurant where all toppings are vegetarian. It’s been a firm favourite of mine and my partner - she’s vegan - so I was already familiar with the place. While learning about the Roman connection to pizza (turns out soldiers were given rations of bread and cheese, often goat’s cheese, which they’d cook and slice into something not too far from what we’d now call pizza), we tucked into a goat’s cheese pizza ourselves. The only difference? Roman soldiers didn’t have tomatoes.

At this point, I was getting pretty full, but we still had a couple of stops left as we headed near the city’s Cornhill Quarter. Our next visit was to The Sign of the Fish - pointed out as the third-oldest continuously frying chip shop in the country. We sampled some haddock and chips, which were absolutely sublime and generously sized, especially considering it was only a small portion.

Lastly, we made our way to Lincoln’s Cornhill Market, which officially reopened with a full refurbishment and new traders exactly a year ago to the day. Here we cooled off from the heat with gelato from Bella di Casa—one of my favourite stalls in the market. Owner Antonio Catalano gave us a quick talk about the history of his business and the latest trends he’s experimenting with - including Dubai Chocolate - before treating us to a cone or tub of our choice.

There were loads of flavours to choose from—pistachio, chocolate, and more—but I had to go for the lemon cheesecake. A great choice, if I may say so myself.

Looking back on it, this was a brilliant day out packed with great food, a bit of history, and a chance to rediscover some of the city’s gems I’d almost forgotten about.

Out of five:

Food: There was a vast variety of food on offer, and the cheese in particular was immense *****

Drink: A coffee and half a pint were part of the offering ****

Staff: The tour was packed with fascinating stories and historical facts, it gave me a deeper appreciation of Lincoln and Matt was friendly and definitely knew his stuff *****

Decor: We visited some of my favourite spots, like Slow Rise and the former Tap & Spile. I only wish we’d explored a few places I hadn’t been before - but that’s probably down to me being a local ****

Price: As we were invited, it was complimentary but a tour normally costs £75 per person. It’s a little steep but you get a whole lot of food for it and a good history lesson as well so it’s great for a one off ****

Have you had a great meal? Share your own Eat My Words reviews or tell us where to try by emailing: news@lincsonline.co.uk