Enjoy Edwardian style and bistro dining overlooking the beautiful gardens of Springfields. This month we pay a visit to The Parlour Restaurant, ideal for lunch with friends, afternoon tea or some pre-shopping brunch….

The English are a funny bunch. In mid-winter, we crave spring, in spring we look forward to summer. In summer… we’re  heard to complain that it’s too hot. Finally, later on in the summer, we clear off to seek out warmer climates abroad… or at least a stuffy car queuing up at Dover. Climatically, we’re never satisfied, from a snowflake or two prompting the kind of widespread panic you’d expect amid a full-scale blizzard, to the declaration of a national emergency when the temperature reaches the mid-30s, as it did recently. I will concede that 40.3°c – the record-breaking temperature reported last month at Coningsby – was far too hot, but otherwise, I’m of the opinion that there’s no such thing as the wrong temperature; just the wrong clothes and the wrong food & drink.

The rise and rise of The Parlour at Springfields since it opened in March has proved timely, given the warm weather this year. Its offerings include a brunch selection, lunches, cakes and a range of cakes and afternoon teas. And it’s not just the menus that suit the late summer/early autumn weather, either. The place has a distinctly Edwardian aesthetic, with crisp white tablecloths and white caned seats rendered less stark by the judicious use of a duck-egg accent colour and a swish white player piano in the corner. It’s a cool place, in terms of its temperature, and its aesthetic. It also overlooks the Festival Gardens of Springfields, with the sound of ornamental fountains just audible over the piano’s performance of Gershwin’s Summertime and the clicking of our camera, as we captured a range of dishes from the current menu.

It’s an extensive menu, with no fewer than 13 brunch options including anything from a Full English for yours truly, to a distinctly healthy Fruit Plate which was very bright and lovely – appealing to the present Mrs Davis – to more unusual brunch options like Truffle Eggs and Crêpes Suzette. A bottomless brunch option also includes the usual array of morning tipples e.g.: Bellinis, Aperol Spritz and Mimosas.

As brunch provision goes, The Parlour is the most impressive place I’ve seen for a long while. It’s a stylish vibrant environment, with an imaginative menu and plenty of provision whether you want Lincolnshire Sausages as part of a traditional cooked breakfast or something a little healthier – the continental option or fruit – if the weather’s too warm for something cooked.

Brunch is served until 11.30am, after which point you’ve a choice of 17 main course options. Again, a pretty extensive menu, but with a soup option, three salads, and a couple of brunch options carried over to all day service. It’s a sufficiently sensible and well-judged menu to provide decent choice whilst still allowing any chef worth their wooden spoon to cook dishes freshly and serve them promptly.

There’s a Great British fish ‘n’ chip dish, ‘gourmet’ beef burger, and a really nice cold cuts plate. Other options, though, include French-brasserie inspired dishes like roast salmon fillet with truffle risotto, and a baked lemon poussin dish with lemon and thyme butter with new potatoes. The menu is probably the closest both in composition and quality to a traditional French brasserie dining experience, but with modern English options too.

A little later in the day? There’s a cake and afternoon tea menu which always comprises the three cake staples – chocolate, Victoria sponge, coffee & walnut – as well as a rose & lemon slice and Bakewell Tart options. Along with 200 scones – available individually or as part of a tiered cream tea – cakes  are baked freshly in house every morning. Commendably, local ingredients are used with Hargreaves of Pinchbeck (est., 1880) providing butchery, Clements of Pinchbeck providing fruit and veg, and fish sourced from Grimsby-dock via The Parlour’s new Lincoln-based merchant.

A great setting, good menu and excellent quality dishes, prepared and presented with skill all add up to a really recommendable dining experience… but then… there’s the really persuasive argument for dining at The Parlour. Before or after your meal, you are of course at the heart of Lincolnshire’s best outlet shopping village. Set over 45-acres, comprising around 50 premium-brand stores and with a 58,000sq ft garden centre at its heat, Springfields is an enjoyable place to spend the day.

The centre cost £30m to develop and was established in 2004, officially opened by HRH The Princess Royal. Today, the place attracts about 2.5m visitors each year, with a combination of shops, show gardens and special events throughout the year. We reckon it’s unrivalled in the area as a destination for an ad hoc Saturday visit. Whilst the sunshine – and the fact we visited on an unhurried Friday afternoon – made our visit even more pleasant, much of the concourses provide at least some shelter from the odd spot of rain, so Springfields is also a place you can visit all-year round.

The Parlour is a unique proposition, offering really good brunch and brasserie provision. It’s great in isolation, but as it’s also set within the outlet shopping village, we think it’s even more recommendable!”

On The Menu

Breakfast

English breakfast, local, award winning Lincolnshire sausages, bacon, hashed potato, eggs of your choice, roast tomato, baked field mushroom, homemade baked beans and black pudding, served with sourdough toast, £12.95.

Crêpes Suzette au beurre d’orange, £9.95.

Fruit plate, apple, banana, kiwi, strawberries, raspberries, watermelon, grapes, served with passion fruit yoghurt, honey and fresh mint, £10.95.

Truffle eggs, scrambled with feta and topped with truffle oil, served with smoked bacon, avocado, lemon and sourdough toast, £11.95.

Main Courses

Roast salmon fillet, with crispy skin, goat’s cheese and truffle risotto, tenderstem broccoli and hazelnuts, topped with a herb oil, £16.95.

Chilli and lemon tagliatelle with lemon and roasted red chillies infused olive oil, lemon zest, £11.95.

Cold cuts plate, £11.95.

Fish ‘n’ chips, £14.95.

Beef burger, £13.95.

Afternoon Tea

Full afternoon tea with fine pâtisserie, £22.95/person.

Four piece cake bite-size mezzé, £4.45.

Dining Out at…

The Parlour at Springfields

The Pitch: Brunch and lunchtime food with influences of French brasserie dining and British Edwardian aesthetic.

Opening Times: Seven days a week, breakfast 9am – 11.30am. Lunch 12 noon until 3.30pm. Coffee and cake 9am – close (5pm Sun; 6pm Mon-Wed/Fri/Sat; 8pm Thurs).

The Parlour Restaurant, Springfields Outlet Shopping & Leisure, Spalding PE12 6EU. Call 01775 760909, or see www.bluediamond.gg/ restaurant/parlour-springfields.