Home, Lincoln

We, along with 400 million (thats how it felt...) others, made the annual pilgrimage to Lincoln for the Christmas market on Saturday. They must have been planning it all year, so finely tuned was the level of organisation; pick up points, marshalls in fetching pink dayglo tabards, tannoys on every corners, metal fencing to corral you down the narrow lanes - a real feat. The crowds were VERY oppressive, and I'm sure on a few occasions I could have lifted my feet up off the ground and still have been carried along 100 yards! Imagine then what it was like trying to find somewhere for lunch! EVERYWHERE was full, queues out the door, standing room only in the pubs....put it this way, "Walkabout" and "Slug & Lettuce"were options at one point. Yes, we were that desperate, but even they were heaving.
So, when we glanced to our right up a narrow street off the main drag, and spotted a sign for "Home", it felt like fate had taken a grasp! The huge building hidden away had only been open since November, and billed itself outside as an 'entertainment venue', boasting several floors, bars and function rooms. We received a warm welcome at the door, and waited a few minutes whilst a table upstairs was cleared for us. I thought we might be stuck in some out of the way anteroom, but he area we were shown into was light, airy but cosy, with feature driftwood sculpture, a well stocked padded bar and the perfect level of music..... We were seated in a lovely suede booth, and were immediately attended to with speedily served chilled white wine. Always a good start. Our waiter was great, left us to chat awhile, no pressure to order, but kept his eye on us and spotted exactly when we paused for breath.
We shared a charcuterie platter with crusty bread and oil, served on a suitably gnarly wooden bread board, then I had the Smothered Chicken, and Compo had the Penne Pasta with Chorizo. The food was really good, and VERY reasonably priced. The service stood out a mile throughout, with a check back at just the right point - when we were also asked how we planned on paying! Odd, I thought, but it turned out the card machine system had crashed, and they were only able to take cash payments. With the nearest hole in the wall a 5 minute walk away AGAINST the throng, our waiter offered us a discount for the inconvenience.......25% inconvenience as it turned out.....very generous. So, for 5 glasses of wine, a shared starter and 2 mains, Compo paid £30. Impressed.
Discount aside, Home was a real oasis, a genteel, peacful,welcome sanctuary in the chaos, and well worth a revisit - any time other than December!!!!!