Melanies restaurant prides itself on everything being made on-site with local, quality ingredients…read moreand this is more than evident in the quality of the food. Even though it hasn't been open long, Melanies has fast established itself as the favourite eatery for the Louth branch of the firm I work for, and with good reason. Prices are excellent for the quality and quantity of food on offer and the layout and lighting in the restaurant make it a really pleasant dining experience, for either lunch or dinner.

EXCELLENT MENU - SERVICE - FOOD…read more I read in the GOOD TASTE magazine that Melanie's Restaurant was the winner of the Tastes of Lincolnshire's TASTE OF EXCELLENCE award. This inspired me to look on Melanie's website. The website itself is impressive in design, content and concise facts which include the various menus. I therefore decided to telephone Melanie's and left a brief message on their answerphone. Within a couple of minutes Aileen, the owner, returned my call and duly reserved a table for my party of three. We were greeted most politely and professionally by a member of staff and then Aileen introduced herself to us. Top marks so far! We chose our meals from an excellent menu and were shown to our table. We each had a three course meal of differing dishes and were totally in agreement that everything was of an outstanding class. We regularly dine out and have for many years , we know what 'total excellence' means. We were delighted to meet Stephen, the joint owner and chef, after our meal who enthused about his passion for food and his beliefs on how it should be sourced, cooked and presented. Top marks in every category 5* Excellent value for money Excellent menu Excellent service Excellent food Overall, Melanie's exceeded our high expectations Thank you to Aileen and Stephen and Staff - We will be back soon

Long been an instittution in this area for fine dining. Recent visit with a 12 year gap and at…read moreleast one change of owners, Small ideal for small groups for special occassions. We chose from a fixed price £38 menu . Duck chilliejelly starter was very good.

Very good! We chose the set price menu on a Saturday night and were not disappointed. While you are…read morewaiting for your table, and before you order any food at all, they serve adorable appetizers. We had tiny shot glasses of soup and lovely finger foods. It's just a little bite, but very unexpected and very lovely. The restaurant is in a very old pretty pub, so the atmosphere is very nice. Patrons were quite dressed up.

This has recently opened after the previous newsagents-grocery store on the site closed. I was…read morevisiting family in Louth over Christmas and we had a slight accident with the cream so I was told to go here and get some as it had recently opened. I can't believe the difference from the previous shop. It is now a well laid out minimarket with quite a wide variety of products and at surprisingly cheap prices. Not only did I pick up the cream that I had to get but quite a few other items too. I seriously couldn't believe how cheap some of the products were and what high quality they were - beating some of the supermarket prices by a good margin. If you live nearby it's well worth a quick visit before you go to either of the two town centre supermarkets for your shopping. The staff (considering it was christmas day when I visited) were very friendly.

I LOVE FARM SHOPS…read more There. That's pretty much all you need to know. No, but really: is there anything more summery than pulling up somewhere, peeling your bare leg off the too-hot seat of the car, and running into a farm shop to buy local fruit and veg (and maybe some ice-cream for immediate consumption?). SIKE! Rhetorical! THERE IS NOTHING BETTER. Drove orchards is a step above, though: the selection is great, and interesting, and well-priced. So there. When I popped by there were homegrown black currants, dark and juicy, on offer. And local runner beans and beautiful green-and-purple artichokes. Tiny sweet-but-tart plums. Exploring the shop further, there is a cooler selling Norfolk ice-cream (yayerz) as well as a wall of apple juices (they bottle themselves). I snagged some apple and quince juice (!!!) and all involved in the resulting cocktails were big fans of the selection. Some cold cuts, dairy, and plenty of baked good options: it felt too hot for cake (blasphemous!) but the Victoria sponge _almost_ convinced me otherwise. Double bonus: in addition to a farm shop there is also a vintage and home goods-y store, a Danish fashion shop and a kids' clothing store. What wonders! Fresh produce AND baby booties AND a Denmark-imported tunic? Yep. Yelp note: I've lived almost 5 years in England and can't believe it took me this long to discover this corner of the country. Gorgeous (now, just don't all head here in droves to ruin it for me!) (Kidding. Come one, come all!).

Award winning Lincolnshire sausages anyone? Don't mind if I do. Super tasty top and silverside of…read morebeef? Oh go on then. Best steak you've ever had in your life? Why the hell not? If you can get over this way within the rather limited opening times, or arrange a visit directly, then definitely do. From their website: Minting Park Farm is a family run mixed farm of approximately 600 acres, situated in the centre of Lincolnshire to the south side of the ancient Limewoods. We have a suckler cow herd and a flock of sheep, and grow wheat, barley, beans and grass which feed our stock. After converting buildings, we have a butchers shop/cutting area, chill store and freezer room, from which we market our wonderfully tasty beef lamb and mutton. A recent addition to our range is a small group of Pedigree Lop pigs. One of Britain's most endangered rare breeds , as well as our own Free-Range chickens. All meat is hung on the bone in our chill store to properly mature and give optimum flavour and tenderness.

I'm not a fan of whole grain bread. I'm not a fan of bread. I like rice. But Papa Smurf likes…read morethis really fancy loaf of whole grain fancy bread that is available only at this place. It's not made here, it's par-baked and frozen, shipped to this shop, where they bake it and sell it as needed. Sort of like that Frenchy fancy shop around the corner from the Church. I guess fancy cheese needs fancy bread. The white one was pretty good. Excellent crunch, crusty exterior, uniform though chewy and pliable holes. I also bought cheese here on 2 occasions. The first time, I didn't get to eat any of it since Papa Smurf ate it all while I was out. It was some really lovely looking gorgonzola dolce, blue, runny, delicious. But, the lad helping me cut a slice from the wheel, then let the delicious center portion FALL OUT. Obviously, these people are NOT french. Oh, and Papa Smurf cuts the nose off the cheese. Always. Cuts the nose off the frakking cheese. The second time I bought cheese here, there were 3 types. Again, some gorgonzola dolce, and a bigger portion! I asked the shopgirl to scoop up the runny tasty lovely middle portion. Maybe the English don't like the middle runny portion? Maybe they can't taste the difference? Could I have asked to have 250 grams, JUST FROM THE CENTER? Cheese was very good. The shop is quite famous in England because of television attention and celebrity chefs. They don't carry Lincolnshire Poacher unless it's actually made in Lincolnshire. Such staunch Geographic Protection of Origin. Single tear. Sigh.

If you like cheese - and I think my wife is part mouse she likes it that much - then this is the…read moreplace to go. There are a fantastic range of cheeses of all types in this traditional market town shop. Organic, soft, hard, smelly, flavoured, smoked just about anything you can think of and more! The prices are also very good for what they are selling and compare well with supermarket prices - especially considering that there are a lot of cheeses that you won't find in any supermarkets. The service is superb and again its an independent business!!

Heron foods a large food company that as over 200 storesread more

The best sausage shop in the area. Try the Boston sausage or country sausage.read more