Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Leicester
Hardens guides have spent 31 years compiling reviews of the best Leicester restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 11 restaurants in Leicester and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Leicester restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Leicester Restaurants
1. John's House
British, Modern restaurant in Mountsorrel
139-141 Loughborough Road - LE12
“Always a winner, John (Duffin) delivers every time”, enthuse fans of his well-regarded venture, which they acclaim for its “exceptional food and wonderful service”. It’s a “fascinating location”, on the site of his family’s farm, which informs the farm-to-plate ethos, delivering “excellent, reasonably priced” food (à la carte or tasting menu) and there’s a certain “something about this place that makes it a lovely occasion”.
2. Hambleton Hall
British, Modern restaurant in Hambleton
“A stunningly beautiful position overlooking Rutland Water” helps set an appropriately stately tone at Tim Hart’s “lovely” mansion (previously owned by the Hoare banking family, and actually built before the surrounding lake was created in 1975). In its rather traditional-looking dining room, “the consistency of Aaron Patterson's cooking has proved extraordinary over three decades. Ingredients from the kitchen garden and the area are superb – beautifully presented but without fuss”. And “sommelier Dominique Baduel’s wines complement the food to perfection”. Despite its un-flashy style, it’s one of our annual diners’ poll’s most commented-on and highly rated destinations. (And hospitality clearly runs in the blood, as Tim’s children run a string of high-profile London hits, including Barrafina, Quo Vadis and El Pastor).
3. The Fish & The Chip
British, Modern restaurant in Leicester
13-21 St Nicholas Place - LE1
2018 Review: It’s all change at this swish boutique hotel – a bit of a pioneer when it opened a decade back – with former owner Aatin Anadkat opting to focus solely on the ground-floor restaurant; in August 2017, replacing the fine dining spot of old, he launched this new, more populist Union Jack-strewn concept venue, serving comfort food classics (sausage ’n’ chips, surf ’n’ turf burgers etc.) and, as of yore, superior cocktails.
4. Kayal
Indian restaurant in Leicester
153 Granby St - LE1
“One of the best Indian in this ‘hot spot’ for Asian food” – this well-established outfit near the station offers “excellent” Keralan cuisine, including a range of speciality fish dishes. “The distinctive menu helps it stand out from standard Indian restaurants in Leicester”.
5. Tandem
Indian restaurant in Leicester
59-59a Highcross Street - LE1
2021 Review: Cyrus Todiwala OBE, the acclaimed Bombay-born TV-chef behind London’s Café Spice Namaste, has chosen a Grade II listed building in the city-centre for his first restaurant outside London; and will feature five separate areas over two floors, including a bar, casual dining and fine dining room. For the town with the biggest Diwali festival outside India, Leicester has always curiously lacked a go-to Indian dining destination – maybe this is it?
6. Bobby’s
Indian restaurant in Leicester
154-156 Belgrave Rd - LE4
This 45-year veteran of “Leicester’s Golden Mile”, one of the first Gujarati canteens to open in the city, serves “great vegetarian food, with lots of options”. Still run by the second generation of the founding Lakhani family, it has been smartened up and now has a deli alongside its sweet shop. Co-owner Enna Lakhani spent lockdown compiling and publishing a book of her late mother-in-law’s recipes.
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