The Bronze Pig
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
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While many restaurants adopt increasingly neutral presentations, the Bronze Pig’s owner Pompeo Siracusa embraces a more quirky approach. Just metres from the castle walls at the top of the city, it’s a technicolour Tardis offering a variety of dining spaces within a re-purposed jumble of historic cottages. The idiosyncratic decor delivers a kaleidoscopic collision of colours akin to living in an exuberant auntie’s scarf drawer. Playful? Yes, but with an underlying passion, care and attention to detail that embraces the food. Head chef Phil Cooke’s concise menu offers quality local ingredients in full-flavoured, sometimes offbeat dishes underpinned by solid classical technique. Some unapologetically punchy harissa bread is a bold opening, followed quickly by a ‘dodger’ – perfect savoury sablé with chicken liver parfait, raspberry purée and brandy jelly cheekily referencing the popular 60s biscuit. Lamb rump is roasted pink to perfection, imaginatively complemented by chunky smoked eel with goat’s curd, mint oil and caramelised onion purée. Desserts such as chocolate and strawberries feature tried-and-tested combinations – satisfying, with the odd surprise. A simple but affordable wine list nods to Pompeo’s Italian heritage. The ubiquitous porcine presence is explained in the menu, while a quote from German naturalist Sy Montgomery advises that 'Pigs love company… crave contact and comfort… have a delightful sense of mischief and seem to enjoy a good joke'. That sentiment perhaps extends to those behind this eclectic Lincolnshire establishment.
