Lincoln Cathedral Cafe — Restaurant in Lincoln

I am posting this review in the hope that the proprietors will take heed and make the necessary improvements. I take no pleasure from writing this.

First off, as Lincolnites I must say we love the new visitor centre cafe; the location is to die for, the architecture is out of this world, and the decor is lovely. We have had several visits in the summer when we sat outside in the courtyard with dogs and had drinks. All really nice experiences. All good so far.

Then Winter came.

My wife and I adopt a “3 strikes and they’re out” philosophy when it comes to eating out. If they get it wrong once, fine, mistakes happen. Twice, ok mistakes happen regularly, but alarms start sounding. Thrice, nope, no more understanding.

So, onto our 3 visits over the winter of 21-22.

Visit 1. Sunday afternoon. We sat inside. It was clear they had experienced a busy lunch time, the aftermath of which was evident all around us. We ordered 2 hot drinks. Simple? Not quite. A soya cappuccino was ordered, a milk cappuccino was given. Fussy? No, one of us had a dairy intolerance, as such it is imperative to get this right. We waited for the replacement, and when it came, it was a soya hot chocolate. No worries, we thought, mistakes happen. We left, drinks paid for but only one drunk.

Visit 2. A really busy Sunday afternoon again. It was 3pm and it was heaving. Most tables were full, those that weren’t were occupied with detritus from their previous occupants. However upon further exploration we noticed the rear area of the cafe was empty. As we approached this area we were told that it was closed as they had cleaned it ready for closure. We left disappointed. We checked later to find out that the cafe closed at 4pm. We can understand closing a part of the cafe 15 minutes before, maybe even 30 minutes at a push, but 1 hour felt a bit much; and the lost revenue this causes, if it happens every day. Alarm bells started ringing.

Visit 3. Half term, Feb 2022. Our first outing with our new grandchild, and a bit of lunch. Where better than a walk uphill and the lovely surroundings offered by this lovely cafe. We arrived at 1pm. It was heaving with families of young children enjoying half term. We found a nice table in the back; although again it have lots of evidence of its former occupants; half eaten cakes and bowls of cold chips, and the like. These were cleared away within 20 minutes of arriving, so not too bad. We pursued menus and chose light lunches all round. When we finally attracted some table service we were disappointed to be told that they had cancelled any further food service because they were too busy. At which point we left and got a lovely table in the trusted Wig, at which we spent a lovely hour or so in each others’ company. Nice.

So, wrong drinks, then no tables, and finally no food.

So 3 strikes and they’re out.

No more attempts will be made to visit the Lincoln Cathedral Cafe. It’s such a shame, because they have a really unique and beautiful cafe. But they need some significant changes to get it right. The failing in all three visits can be distilled to poor customer service. Cmon Lincoln Cathedral Cafe, you can do better,...

Five of us met up for a catch up, one of us arrived later after our order was placed. Our order arrived in installments, sadly the first set of coffees served was not what was ordered, so a replacement for the wrong one was organised and our late arrival said they would have the Americano that wasn't ordered. The order continued to arrive in installments and thankfully the rest of it was correct. Our latecomer was asked to pay for the extra coffee which they happily did and when not offered one, asked for a receipt, this however could not be provided for some unknown reason. Those who had the scones chose the best option, as the ginger loaf and malteser tiffin looked as if they'd been plonked on the plate with no care at all. They didn't even look appealing. The place was busy when we arrived and extremely noisy, this didn't change as the tables emptied. It made conversation extremely difficult for us.

On returning home and checking the card app, we discovered that they had overcharged for the coffee. Too late to do anything about it, but could have been sorted out at the time if a receipt had been provided as requested.

As a wheelchair user there are two very shallow changes in floor height on entering the cafe from the visitor centre. They don't look much, but the distance between them makes it extremely awkward to travel over them in a wheelchair as they block both sets of wheels once halfway up. The tables in the cafe are spaced far enough apart for a wheelchair to travel between them, but the chairs set alongside every edge of the tables block the route. This means that chairs have to be moved out of the way and, if they are occupied, people have to move. The tables don't allow wheelchairs to fit beneath them, unless the armrests can be height adjusted, plus the footplate for the central table leg stops the wheels moving right underneath the tables. The disabled toilet requires a RADAR key, it is roomy and is suitable for a wheelchair user as it is a 'Changing Rooms' facility. It was the best point about the venue!

It's not a place that any of us will visit again. I cannot recommend it.

If you are disabled and need facilities, I do recommend the Changing...

We often choose a cathedral cafe for breakfast when visiting a city, but I left with mixed feelings here. The cafe did not open until 9 am but is clearly very popular with local people, who I believe, get a discount. It was quite busy, once the doors had opened. We were quickly seated, and our order and payment taken in advance. The surroundings were pleasantly clean and light but the ambiance was not as relaxed as some cathedral cafes. The coffee arrived promptly and was excellent. I had Americano, my wife had cappuccino.

The breakfasts arrived a little later. Mine was a sausage bap; a bit dry and not the finest sausage. My wife had a bagel with bacon and maple syrup, also rather disappointing. We liked the surroundings but the food on this occasion was disappointing.

Thinking this might just be bad luck, we went back the following morning; we each ordered avocado on toast with poached egg.

This might have been okay if it had been warm. I could not be bothered to complain to the staff who were clearly very busy.

I suspect a big firm of caterers is running this and not employing enough staff, and buying cheap food

This seems to be a worrying post-covid trend.

Next time, it's...