An afternoon in Lincoln

A couple of weeks ago, I took an hour's drive from my quaint hometown to explore the beautiful city of Lincoln. Ever since leaving London I’ve craved the sounds, sights and smells of a bustling city (without the exuberant prices) and Lincoln hit the spot perfectly. I was fortunate enough to travel during the UK's heatwave and couldn't help but feel at ease as the sun kissed my shoulders while walking down the busy highstreet. I must admit that my trip was not as spontaneous as I make it out to be. I planned to visit this Friday in particular because of the local farmers market that takes place every week.

I love going to farmers markets (or any food market in general if I'm being honest) because you can get an honest look at the local food culture. Back in London, my local market would consist of bright red peppers, beautifully orange scotch bonnets and boxes of ripe plantains waiting to be fried. (Can you guess where I lived in London?) However, my new local market proudly boasts of British produce with a sea of fresh cabbage, kale and carrots. I always know I'm near home when the scent of cabbage fills the air!

So I was very excited to see what produce Lincoln had to offer but rather than being greeted with the sounds of vendors hollering prices of strawberries at passers-by, all I saw were two or three food stalls. I had the strong feeling I was in the wrong place but it turns out it was more a food market than a produce market. I was interested but not sold on the food on offer so went in search of somewhere whose food matched my summery mood. That is how I ended up at Thomas 2.

To be honest, I had entered Thomas 2 earlier in the day as I exchanged my pound coins there after a very stressful parking machine fiasco (who's bright idea was it to give a £1 coin twelve sides?) and felt welcomed by the cool, relaxed vibe it had. So after wandering aimlessly for an hour or so, I walked back to the small cafe on Broadgate in search of something light yet satisfying. We were greeted by a friendly server as we sat ourselves down to peruse their moderately sized menu (I mean that as only a compliment - can't stand it when the menu feels like a short novel). There was an all-day breakfast, sweet and savoury pancakes and a range of sandwiches and toasties - the basic things you would expect at a brunch style cafe. But of course, all these beautiful things were pushed aside when I saw the words 'Afternoon Tea'....

The afternoon tea consisted of a sandwich, a fruit scone, a plain scone, a slice of any cake, a slice of tray bake, macrons and some savoury pastries. The pastries on the day I went were pork sausage rolls which I asked to be substituted for anything else as I don't eat pork. In terms of sandwiches and cake, I opted for chicken and a slice of lemon white chocolate based on the server's recommendation. While my mother (did I forget to mention I wasn't dining alone?) chose tuna and the chocolate fudge cake. Everything served is made from scratch so as you would expect we had a bit of a wait to endure but it simply gave us the chance to soak in the wonderful decor.

I don't know whether it was the warm weather giving me relaxed vibes but something about Thomas 2 felt homely. However, it wasn't trying very hard to give off that vibe. There weren't random knick-knacks adorning every surface or wall and there wasn't the classic red/brown/woody colour scheme that you would associate with a 'homely' cafe. The walls were lightly coloured which looked amazing on that sunny day, light wooden floors and the occasional table had a garden style bench. And right in front of me was a beautifully vintage bike mounted on a wall which the hipster in me couldn't help but smile at.

When our food arrived I was filled with excitement and a twinge of disappointment. The main letdown for me were the sandwiches. I am fully aware that there is A LOT going on in an afternoon tea and sandwiches are usually there to justify eating all that sugar in one sitting (the 'Don't-eat-dessert-before-dinner-mentality') but I disagree. I love savoury just as much as sweet so I get annoyed when the sandwiches aren't given the same level of attention as everything else on the tower. My mum's tuna was ok - nothing spectacular. My chicken, however, was SO dry! It was literally just pieces of chicken between two slices of buttered brown bread. It just needed something to lift it, some mayo, a bit of lemon zest....something...just...ugh! Okay, rant over.

​​The rest of the food gracing the tower, however, was absolutely splendid. To replace the sausage rolls, they made grilled cheese baguettes with various toppings - the brie, cheddar, cherry tomato and onion chutney one was my favourite. That small, rich slice of rocky road swiftly pleased my inner chocoholic. The covfefe, I mean coffee-caramel macrons were moreish and chewy with a coffee taste that was subtle yet present. In the battle of the cakes, lemon most definitely trumped chocolate mainly because the latter was so much drier. And last but not least, the scones that were paired with the tangiest jam I've had in a while. The scones really are quite sweet so I was wonderfully surprised to discover the jam (which I believed was blackberry) had a sharpness to it. A sharpness which made eating two scones slathered in clotted cream far too easy! (Have I still got time to get a beach body?)

All in all, my afternoon spent in Lincoln and Thomas 2 was a resounding success. Beautiful weather, beautiful architecture and I even got to take the rest of the jam back home! Result!

Please feel free to recommend places to try below and I'll see you in the next post.