Wig & Mitre, Lincoln

Food-led pub in three parts: the main seating area by the picture windows overlooking Steep Hill, the bar area with a few stools in the centre and a slightly raised dining area at the back. All sections smart, semi-traditional in appearance. Despite initial appearances, cask ale is important here, and we found a pair each from Milestone and FAB (including the Green Imp green-hop beer, £2.50, half).

This is a somewhat modernised, gastrofied affair, pics aplenty on their website. Ferry Ales Brewery Green Hop at £2.15 a half and not really what I was expecting from a seasonal green hop beer; it was a bit too weird to attract another of the same, a slight chemical taste and not very nice, a bit like the crawlers referenced by BF below. Beer aside, not bad, but not the cream of the crop in Lincoln.

Located on Lincoln’s main tourist artery of Steep Hill, this is a food led pub and has more of an ambiance of a restaurant serving the eating needs of the tourist hoards. However, the small serving area beyond the front room does have four hand pumps on the bar surface that was providing a local range as detailed by the previous two reviewers below. I went for the house ale, the Milestone brew badged as Wig and Mitre Best Bitter, and it was very good. The area beyond this small serving area and the section upstairs was operating very much as a restaurant and unless you are able to get a table in the front section this is not that comfortable a pub for just a drink and there are much better options for that just a short walk away for that. The menu did look good though and I’ve filed it as a possible lunch venue if I ever return to Lincoln with the good lady.

An old building with a modernised interior over many different levels rising towards the back.The front section is a large seating area with bench seats and an overwhelming smell of pub food,fish is obviously popular here although it was a Friday.The next level up is the tap room offering on handpump FAB (Ferry Ales Brewery) Green Imp (NBSS 3.5) and Squadron 49 along with Milestone Cathderal Gold and Wig & Mitre Bitter. I don't appeciate "house" ales and so was not overly impressed with the range. There is a fUrther dining section even higher and then a steep climb up some stairs to a back door inlaid with red and green glass.An entry from the back door while under the influence could be a very brave decision. Although there are lots of old timbers and there was some richness with the leather furniture,it felt touristy not helped by the sudden influx of pub crawlers claiming to be Yorkshire's finest. I might swerve the W&P if in Lincoln again.

Official site of Wig & Mitre - www.wig-lincoln.com

Official site of Wig & Mitre - www.wig-lincoln.com

A very aged building with a collection of rooms spread over two floors, sadly sitting smack in the middle of the touristy bit and with a heavy emphasis on food. Otherwise it could be pretty good. Ales on were Green Imp and 49 Squadron from Ferry and a pair of house beers from Milestone.

After some confusion about whether I had ever been to the Wig & Mitre, it seems that I probably did go to the original pub of that name when it was a couple of doors down Steep Hill. It then closed down and reopened as Widow Cullens Well, but when I subsequently visited under the new name it was so changed that I didn't realise I'd already been. Confused? I certainly was. Now re-established in its new location, it's been tantalising me for my last two or three trips. So on this time in Lincoln I was determined to finally visit the new location of the Wig & Mitre, and luckily my drinking companions were willing to go along with me. It didn't seem so lucky when the lass behind the bar told us there were no cask ales because of a cellar fault, but this soon turned out to be old information and we were served from our choice of two house beers from Milestone Brewery. I just had a half of Cathedral Gold 4% (NBSS 3.5), as I was intending to visit BeerHeadz next, which the rest had already done, and the others had pints of that or the W&M Best Bitter 4.4%. It was ok here but I'm not sure it's one I'll be in a hurry to return to. Maybe when I've forgotten I've already been...

The entrance to the Wig & Mitre opens into a square front seating area where banquettes run under the front windows and tables sit in the centre. A strong smell of fat was an indication that food is served here. There is a small bar area in the middle section of the pub where a short serving counter runs along the left-hand wall. One of the four hand pumps was reverse clipped which left Black Sheep’s Best, Milestone Brewery’s Cathedral Gold and Ferry Ales Brewery’s 49 Squadron as the cask options. Steps to the rear lead to a split-level seating area. In here were the only other customers, a pensioner couple who sat in complete silence during the entirety of my stay. I wasn’t very impressed with this place and will walk past next time.