Eat My Words: We review The Victoria in Lincoln

You know those meals where you end up jumping into a photo booth, learning a new pub game and examining the signature of a Madchester icon?

To be honest, neither did I until I accidentally stumbled across The Victoria.

Stumbled is, perhaps, an unfair word as you can hardly miss the place. There’s a big yellow bike out front and a giant Norman castle round the back.

But having just parked up in Lincoln, my wife Laura and I were met with the barrage of ‘I’m huuuuungry’ moans from the kids.

Less than 10 metres from the car (yes, their stomachs are that rapid) we spotted a blackboard encouraging us to try out the pub’s grub.

Before the oiks had a chance to blurt out another moan we were inside, yet still totally unaware of the absolute madness awaiting us.

I’d barely got sat at my table before the ‘I’m huuuuungry’ moans became eager ‘can we try the photo booth?’ pleads.

“The what?” I asked, oblivious to the big neon-lit box behind me.

Sitting them down on the stool I waited for the beep to acknowledge the fact the card-only booth had accepted my £4 before drawing the curtain and awaiting the flash.

The nicely-shot four-frame black-and-white photo montage which developed before us was a pleasant-enough keepsake, complete with a QR code.

One click later and we were transported to the images’ own webpage, complete with digital versions of the snaps to download (now the screensaver on my wife’s phone).

As well as the amateur David Bailey box, there was something of an indie theme to our room.

The Oasis lyric ‘Tonight I’m A Rock N Roll Star’ was painted on the wall in front of me, framed Kooks memorabilia was all over and a space saved for the signatures of bands who had performed here was filled with marker pen squiggles.

One of the messages appeared to be from Happy Monday’s madman-in-chief Bez who had enjoyed a night at the city spot.

“He’s crackers,” the barman said, confirming Bez had indeed visited The Victoria, while The Kooks, with whom the owner had supported on tour, had been approached to gig here.

As if this wasn’t quite enough mind-bending information to take on board on an empty stomach, I was yet to go down The Rabbit Hole.

While there was no Peggy Mitchell or Pat Butcher at this Vic there was a den. Although this one was in no way dirty.

The Rabbit Hole was the name given to the backroom where you could while away the day playing one of the familiar board games on offer - or a new one I’d never heard of before.

Toads - or Toad in the Hole - is a pub game which involves lobbing brass coins into a tiny opening on a small box on legs from the same distance away as you’d stand from a dart board.

I’ll not get into the complex scoring system, but the locals would have to if they took up the invitation on the wall to compete in an upcoming tournament (£2 entry, winner takes all - plus food and trophy).

Anyway, this wouldn’t be much of a food review without actually mentioning the food - which we eventually got round to ordering after being wowed by the Vic.

So enough of Toad in the Hole and more about the burger and chips. This was a Sunday lunchtime, but there were no eyes on roasts or anything like that.

Laura and I both had our heads turned by the southern fried mayo chicken burger from the specials menu while Caitlin, 10, decided on the Shropshire blue and bacon beef burger (with red onion, chutney, crispy bacon, pickle and crispy onion) while six-year-old Connor is still very much trapped in that chicken goujons phase.

The kid’s meal came with fries while we ordered a couple more lots for the table - and could have gotten away with one as the portions were decent-sized and a certain someone didn’t have much room left after demolishing his chicken strips.

The battered laminated menu and serving of our food in diner-style card boxes suggested the vast majority of the portions cooked up at The Vic was for the drinkers starting to get a little peckish as they lost a day in the sizable outdoor area.

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My burger was just what the doctor ordered and the fries nice and crispy. But I must say the stand out dish was the blue and bacon beef burger which I was encouraged to take a bite of by my daughter - it was absolutely delicious.

If you want a poshly presented portions maybe the Vic isn’t for you. But as a family looking to fill a gap with tasty, good value grub in a kooky setting we couldn’t have asked for more.

Besides, not once again that day did the kids moan ‘I’m huuuuungry’… however, there were plenty more ‘can we got back to the pub to go in the photo booth again?’ requests.

Out of five:

Food: The perfect bite to set us up on our day. The food was nice and tasty with the blue and bacon beef burger utterly delicious. ***

Drinks: Plenty of good booze options behind the bar but as I was driving, the kids too short to get away with a G&T and my wife a creature of habit we settled for a Heineken 0.0%, a pint of Madri and two Cokes. ***

Decor: How do you start describing this place? Britpop chic? You can’t really slap any specific label on the Vic, but there was plenty of intrigue and nice touches to keep you going. ****

Staff: The barman was a lovely bloke. Friendly, chatty, great with the kids - just what a pub wants behind the bar. ****

Price: No complaints here. We paid £44.90 to feed four, which I thought was really good value. ****

Have you had a great meal? Share your own Eat My Words reviews or tell us where to try by emailing: news@lincsonline.co.uk