Plum bread does not actually contain any plums. Shocker…read more However, pork pies and custard tarts do contain the protein they are named after. Thank goodness. Though after eating the pork pie at Lakings, I don't care what it's made out of so long as it never stops. Ever. It was the second day in Louth, England. The BF gets a bit spazzy about food he hasn't had in a long time. We walk into this place, his favorite place, the temple at which he worships, to buy a sausage roll. Or two. But did we stop there? No. A custard tart, curd tart, mincemeat pie and plum loaf later, we finally escaped the rapture of Lakings. This would become a mantra of mine. Nearly every day, I walked to Lakings in the morning under the guise of getting some milk or bread or whatever lame excuse I could mumble. I knew what time they were open and I would sneak out of the house. Once at the counter I would order: custard tart, pork pie, sausage roll, plum bread. When I got the goods home, I would have to strategically hide them so the boys didn't eat it all. Once, I returned to find my morsels uprooted and devoured like truffle-seeking pigs. I cried a little. Then, I knew to hide it under the cauliflower. Sometimes I would put a decoy curd tart at the front of the ice box so they would not dig further. It worked. I've lost count of how many pork pies I've purchased from this place.

I used to live and work near this traditional old-fashioned butcher's shop and I was always bowled…read moreover by the love people had for the place! It's clean, light and airy inside and sells a wide range of foods as well as meat - lots of pastries and pies and the popular range of freshly made sandwiches. We ordered our organic Copas turkey from there last Christmas, which was delicious, and the butcher couldn't have been more helpful when we made our choice. I also highly recommend a Lakings sausage roll as a hangover cure!

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!!

The British have developed frozen food into an art form. Toad in the hole comes frozen. And so…read moredoes everything else you can possibly think of. Comes in a brightly packaged frozen equivalent. Sold here! Usually for a value! And, most English people I know make custard from a powder. Some even consider powder custard "making it from scratch." If the house I was staying in had a bigger freezer. If I wasn't so manic about what I ate lately. If I had the metabolism of a teenager. If I was not concerned about my sodium intake. If turning on the oven did not make it smell like burning plastic. I would have bought more frozen things and eaten that. But, be it as it may, I ended up eating a lot of Greek yogurt and steamed cauliflower. Still, this place was always filled with people.

This is a great greengrocer's - nice and light and airy, with a good selection of fruit and…read morevegetables available at decent prices. There are usually some offers on which are on display outside the shop, such as bargain strawberries in the summer. One of the owners of Robinsons is usually available on the premises which I think adds a nice personal touch, and the staff are friendly and knowledgeable. The only drawback to the shop is that it's quite a long way out of the town centre - although now Wilko's has moved to this end of town, there's another reason to venture down the road!