This one's not a meat or a vegan burger — it's a treat for those with a sweet tooth! Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
The Mailbox in Lincoln has a new menu with plenty of vegan dishes as well as a new range of food for meat lovers and sweets enthusiasts.
The Lincolnite team went to the bar on Guildhall Street on Tuesday lunch time to try out the new menu.
The starter nibbles we tried included halloumi fries, avocado fries, chicken waffle goujons and BBQ pulled pork and cheese topped tatties. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Several of the vegan dishes include jackfruit, also described as “pulled pork for vegetarians”.
Jackfruit is a large, green spiky fruit originating from India, South America and South-east Asia, with a meaty texture and appearance.
Vegan chilli and cheese loaded fries and the BBQ jackfruit topped tatties. Yum! Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
The pulled jackfruit can be found in the a new vegan spicy bean burger, which is also topped with vegan mayo and cheese. It’s also in the jackfruit Bao steamed buns.
No meat but very tasty: the vegan selection we tried included the falafel salad, the mac and cheese toasted sandwich and the BBQ pulled jackfruit Bao bun. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Other vegan-friendly dishes include macaroni grilled cheese sandwich, black bean and butternut squash quinoa chilli with salad and spicy rice, falafel salad, avocado fries and halloumi fries.
The vegan mac and cheese is creamy and filling while the falafel salad is a light but satisfying choice. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
There are plenty of new items on the menu for meat lovers too.
There’s a new chicken curry burger, maple bacon burger and a decadent double decker burger.
SUBSCRIBE to Business Week, the new email newsletter from The Lincolnite and Lincolnshire Reporter, bringing you weekly features, analysis and a news roundup of the top stories by Stonebow Media. Sign up free receive it every Thursday morning in your inbox. We won’t spam you or share your details with third parties, we promise!
The new burger trio: Cheesy double decker, sweet and smoky maple bacon and the curry chicken burger. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Other meaty treats include buttermilk ribs (buttermilk dusted pork ribs, crispy fried and drizzled with BBQ sauce), chicken and waffles (crispy fried buttermilk chicken breast and house slaw sandwiched between toasted waffles and drizzled with maple syrup), and chicken waffle goujons.
Possibly our favourite on the new menu: the buttermilk ribs — so meaty yet tender and juicy. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
The crispy battered chicken with waffles and slaw was a sweet, sour and savoury treat. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
New desserts include chocolate fritters (crispy fried Mars bar coated in doughnut batter served with vanilla ice cream), cookie dough, and s’mores biscuit sandwiches (digestive biscuits filled with hazlenut chocolate spread and toasted mini marshmallows, drizzled with chocolate flavoured sauce).
The chocolate fritters are Mars bars with doughnut batter and deep fried. They come with vanilla ice cream. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Crunchy, gooey and chocolatey – the s’mores biscuit sandwiches. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
A taste of everything sweet: deep fried Mars bars, s’mores biscuits and chocolate glazed doughnut burger. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
A tray of sweet wonders: ice cream, cookie dough, doughnuts, chocolate flake and Smarties. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
A new addition to the drinks menu are ‘Martinny’ cocktails (cocktails in a can), topped with biscuits and sweets.
We tried the Pornstar Martinny (with a side shot of Prosecco) and the Espresso Martinny. They were topped with bourbon biscuits and pineapple candy cubes. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Mailbox General Manager Adam Johnson said: “We’re really excited about the new menu. We have lots of demand for vegan and vegetarian dishes, so we wanted to ensure we had plenty of options to choose from.
“The jackfruit dishes are really amazing, even meat eaters will love the flavour and texture as it really does taste like pulled pork. We think we’ve got something for everyone so come on down and try our new dishes for yourself.”
The Lincolnite did just that — and it’s a thumbs up from us for the new Mailbox menu!
Spotted an error? Please notify us by selecting that text and pressing Ctrl+Enter.
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
Residents in Grimsby will now be able to order from Deliveroo, after the food delivery service launched earlier than expected.
The company said it would launch in March, but it was expected to be later in the month.
However, the date was brought forward “by weeks” according to Deliveroo, due to wanting to “help” restaurants and customers through lockdown.
A total of 71 restaurants will be at the disposal of Deliveroo customers, including chains such as KFC, Subway and Burger King, as well as local favourites.
More local businesses are being added to the list, and any restaurants, takeaways or grocery retailers can apply to become a Deliveroo partner here.
The service hopes to deliver food and groceries to people’s doors in as little as 20 minutes, and are looking for up to 50 people in the area to become delivery riders.
In celebration of the launch in Grimsby, Deliveroo are offering all customers 20% off orders until April 4, using the code: GRIMSBY10.
This is an offer for new customers only, with a minimum spend of over £15 for one redemption per person.
It has become the third area in Lincolnshire to have access to Deliveroo, following the launches in Lincoln and Scunthorpe.
Harrison Foster, regional director for Deliveroo UK, said: “Launching in Grimsby is a key milestone for Deliveroo. Grimsby has a thriving foodie community and a wide range of restaurants and retailers, so we’re excited to connect them.
“We look forward to working with our new partners to reach a new customer base and expand their businesses.”
Lincolnshire parents are being warned not to change their behaviour on the playground as schools go back next week.
Local health bosses are concerned that adults dropping their children off at school will take the opportunity to gather with others, but say the social distancing and lockdown rules have not changed.
They expect infection rates to rise as pupils return to the classroom, but are not overly concerned about children, who are usually only mildly affected, and praised the return of youngsters to the classroom.
Lincolnshire County Council’s director of public health Professor Derek Ward, however, said the chances of catching a stronger form of coronavirus was higher in adults.
The infection rate in school age children is currently 54 per 100,000 population, compared to just under 70 for those aged over 60 and 103 for the county as a whole.
“The bigger risk is that parents will meet each other around the school, or because their children are together in school will think “oh it doesn’t matter, I don’t have to stay away” and they won’t follow the guidance,” said Professor Ward.
“So my biggest concern, the really strong message is, we are a long way from being out of this.
“I know some print media seems to want to say that we’re through it, it’s all hunky dory — but it’s not.
“While it’s really, really important that children and young people get back to education, it’s equally as important that all the parents carry on as they are today – they stay at home, they work from home if they can, and they do not change their behaviours around their children’s friends, families or their wider friendship groups as adults in any way shape or form.”
Evidence suggests children are less susceptible to the virus, and if they do catch it usually only have a mild form.
Professor Ward said this meant hospitalisations or impact on general NHS services was less likely.
The government’s roadmap out of the coronavirus lockdown includes a five-week step to analyse the impact of the return to the classroom.
Infection rates in general continue to hover between the 100-130 range and health chiefs expect this to continue.
South Holland District Council remains around fifth in the country due to a series of workplace and care home outbreaks, as well as the small number of people in the district – but bosses say it has come down.
Concerns remains around workplace infections including low-income workers.
Councils warring over the future of Lincoln’s Usher Gallery may be about to make peace after new plans were revealed.
Lincolnshire County Council and the City of Lincoln Council have been butting heads over the art gallery since the county announced it wanted to use the landmark as a venue for weddings and other events in a bid for it to earn its keep.
However, new plans lay out how the gallery could instead be split in two, with the upper floor being used for events similar to the recent Museum of the Moon and Dinosaur exhibits at the Collection, while the downstairs would remain an art gallery.
County Councillor Nick Worth, executive member for heritage, said: “What we’ve said in our plan going forward is that to make that work we would need to have some flexibility.
“That way we can bring in a revenue stream on that top floor that would make it financially sustainable and then we could work with the [art and artefact] collections to bring in some big events in cooperation with the Usher.”
He confirmed that other locations had also now been found for the registrars and coroners court to go, and that the county would remain happy to look after the heritage it already does so – meaning there would be no need for it to be transferred to Nottingham under the city’s current plans.
Councillor Nick Worth, executive member for Culture and Heritage at the county council. | Photo: LCC
Councillor Worth hoped the events would attract tens of thousands of visitors and would also allow more artefacts to be displayed on a themed or rotating basis.
Currently he said, around 10% of the millions of artefacts under the council’s stewardship are seen, but under new plans that would increase to 30-40%.
“There are some fantastic stories in that basement and I would love to see them shown”.
“It’s a very simple message: just give us some flexibility on that top floor of the gallery and we’ve sorted the problem. We can have some great collaborative exhibitions between the collection and the actual gallery.”
City of Lincoln Council leader Ric Metcalfe. | Photo: Connor Creaghan for The Lincolnite
Leader of the City of Lincoln Council Ric Metcalfe welcomed the new plans and urged a return to the negotiating table.
He said: “We welcome the county council’s decision to explore alternative uses for the space at the Usher art gallery.
“We always had concerns that the services they proposed to move into the building were a poor fit.
“As they have now announced that they are seeking to move to a more arts event-based offering at the Usher, we would welcome a conversation with them to hear more about their proposals.”
It is hoped The Usher Gallery will reopen later this year as part of the Prime Minister’s roadmap out of lockdown.
Lincoln Castle and Collection are hoped to reopen in April with other destinations such as the Museum of Lincolnshire Live, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the Usher gradually joining them after with social distance measures.