August 2025 by Diane Platts
We stayed there weekend of 8th august, we struggled to get inside our room because of cars parked right in front of our door and really close together, considering it was a wheelchair accessible room !!! the bathroom was filthy there was a rusty screw sticking out of the drain cover, that I caught my foot on, all the walls were filthy the toilet roll holder was dirty, even at breakfast we had to ask staff the to change cups and cutlery as they were dirty.
Totally ruined our weekend visiting family.
They transferred £50 back to our account but it was unacceptable when you pay £270 for a room for 2 nights and you have to clean the shower best you can before you can use it and then cut your foot on a loose rusty screw.
Certainly won?t be staying here again.
August 2025 by Fleur Chiles
Absolutely gorgeous experience!! Couldn?t fault the food or service at all. I had the pigeon breast starter, duck main, sticky toffee pud and we had a bottle of the house sauv blanc which was beautiful ???
Couldn?t recommend all of these choices enough!! A special shout out to the blood orange SAN pellegrino gel!! So unusual and I haven?t stopped thinking about it, YUM.
I would normally take better photos but I was just too excited to eat as the presentation was stunning?
June 2025 by J C
Awful afternoon tea had to pay extra for people who couldn?t attend. Food absolutely awful dry tasteless. Have been before will never go again. Avoid it?s overpriced disgusting food.
April 2025 by Alix Mills
Had an afternoon tea there and it was lovely. All staff were nice and food was all fresh and a good portion. However, it was a big party of people and two couldn?t make it. We?d payed the £5 deposit, but they still made us pay for the extra 2 meals?? My afternoon tea that was supposed to be £25 was £37. I?ve never been anywhere that demands that you still have to have the food and pay for missing people.
April 2025 by Alex Ashburn
Visited for Mother?s Day with the family and had a fantastic afternoon. Food was delicious, most of us had the perfectly pink roast beef for mains. So nice to be offered horseradish without having to ask for it and I really liked that the vegetables were served separately. The starters sounded tasty, but we all decided we couldn?t resist the desserts and wanted to save ourselves for them. I had the Champagne sorbet Eton mess which was fabulous, whilst others had sticky toffee pudding or the chocolate mousse (or mouse as it was described on the menu!).
The 2 young women who looked after us were lovely, really efficient an friendly and although it was busy, they were not at all rushed. The atmosphere was just right, busy with lots of families celebrating their mums and grannies, oh and I almost forgot the free glass of fizz given to us mums when we sat down!
At £25 for 2 courses it was such good value. We will be going back very soon and will definitely be recommending it to everyone we know.
October 2024 by Steve Houltby
We haven't been to the Castle for quite a while as the meal quality had dipped badly. Really happy today, though. Just had roast beef and onion ciabatta from the bar menu. The beef was literally melt in the mouth good. They have replaced the old head chef and have all new menus, including what looks like a very interesting evening a la carte menu. It's open to non-residents, and we've already booked for Sunday lunch this weekend. Looks like Reform is back on form.
September 2024 by Jenni Marshall
Afternoon tea.
Burnt sausage rolls. Sloppy sandwiches egg and slop gristle beef. Hard grated cheese. .
Worst food ever. Looked good . But dried and definitely not worth the money. Desert..mmm jam with Nutella and squirty cream. . Dried scones with cream on the side. Lol ?
Quiche dried up hard pastry with a lack of filling.
Pot of tea .. weak. No coffee
Stay away.
May 2024 by Ellen Bartrum
Service was slow.Food was un edible and came before coffee which was also terrible.
May 2024 by Kelly O'Boyle
we had a lovely afternoon tea here for my mums birthday. the staff were absolutely lovely too . Will definitely be back for afternoon tea again !
May 2024 by Lee Truelove
The Castle Hotel and Reform Restaurant is a great place to stay, friendly staff, superb breakfast, perfect location for the cathedral and castle. 10/10.
May 2024 by Rowan Adams
Was concerned due to high turnover of ownership on potential of restaurant ?I went for Valentine?s Day - This was extremely enjoyable, amazing atmosphere and fantastic service ?- would recommend. Prices reasonable!Vegetarian options: Great Veggie options. Not limited to just meat.
May 2024 by Jacqueline A Bourne
Beautifully presented afternoon tea. Warm scones, pastries and lovely fresh cakes and sandwiches. Excellent service
April 2024 by Jane Simmons
We stayed at the hotel good Friday and booked in for dinner. Excellent food. Scotch egg to start followed by the beef all very delicious and plenty of it.We can fully recommend the reform restaurant.Excellent service
March 2024 by james coulby
Booked for Mother's Day and told to pre order food . Table was 15 minutes late which wasn't an issue as we sat in the bar. Menus on the table which were different from the one we had pre ordered. Explained to the waitress and she took menus away. We were then told that 1 of the starters we'd pre ordered wasn't available, so why did we pre order?????. Food came and one was tomato soup and not pea. I asked to see the manager and I explained we had pre ordered and her reply "why did you? As if it was somehow our fault. I then explained about the soup being wrong and she said " did you enjoy it and the reply was well yes. "Well that's fine then, abruptly" and walked offWe were offered extra gravy that never came even after the secind time of asking. Food was ok but the Manger and her abrupt attitude put a dampener on the experience. It was a special occasion in such a lovely setting and it could have so easily have been a far better experience had the manger been apologetic and understanding. We used to eat here a lot but food deteriated so havn't tried it for several years. We won't be returning ?
February 2024 by Robert Nicol
Ruined Valentine Evening...Visiting Lincoln, my wife and I booked this restaurant looking for something special. Reviews and menu and interaction beforehand all pointed to a good choice. The sharing starter was not as expected nor as described on the menu. "Cheese sharing sharer with bread rolls celery and apple". It came with the celery and apple (which had gone brown) and Le Rustique camembert (<£3 from Tesco - still in its wooden box and cloth wrapper and Le Rustique sticker). Bread rolls were four Jacobs Cream Crackers... (?). Not a bread roll in sight. We had to remind staff to bring our ordered bottle of wine, after it had been sitting on the bar for about 20 mins. (It seems staff weren't assigned to tables - so you were always dealing with different staff and also having to attract their attention to get anything). Things went exceptionally south when the main course arrived. Rack lamb for me; at best it was far from being cooked (my description of "uncooked" was not an exaggeration, and not challenged by the manager). It was tepid, the edge fat was un-rendered, and the meat was fully pink/red in the middle - some very slight colour around the edge. This was NOT rare or cooked "to the point", it was uncooked. Chicken and lobster pappardelle for my wife; the pasta was seriously overcooked and we had to hunt for any lobster (one rubbery piece was found). The only saving grace was that there was no argument from the manager that the service was unacceptable. We agreed to pay for our drinks and left (but even then - the final bill was far from being understandable in terms of the amounts and the way the deposit was refunded).It was clear that others in the restaurant that night were having the same issues - with a least two other couples leaving early with the manager again apologizing.One can only hope that there were staffing problems in the kitchen, and I do understand that Valentine's evening is kind of "off-season", but this is as far as I can remember, the worst dining experience I have had. Service staff, the last port of call to the customer, should never have been asked to serve what was served - perhaps inexperience could be at play, but nonetheless - this seems to be a hotel restaurant which "knows what it is doing" going by past reviews.I hope that they manage to work through these issues and get back to the level of service that previous reviews have indicated. For my part from our experience - I cannot, in any way, recommend this restaurant.
