Leicester Restaurant Guide

You “always can depend on excellent vegetarian food” (of a Gujarati bent) at this affordable sweet shop and canteen: a fixture on the Golden Mile since way back in 1976 – though it’s somewhat spruced-up these days, and the menu has taken into account modern healthy-eating trends (sadly the founder, Bhagwanji Lakhani, passed away in 2017).

“Authentic South Asian cooking at its best” – Kayal has blazed a trail for Keralan cuisine in Leicester “with an excellent choice of dosas, fish and vegetarian dishes and a knowledgeable waiter to talk you through the options”. Top Tip: “amazing business lunch for £6”.

Restaurant, steak house and bar, "celebrating the very best of British" in an imposing Georgian grade II listed hotel set in parkland; weekend brunch and afternoon tea (not Sunday) a feature.

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.

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?

Mowgli - which has restaurants across the country, in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, Oxford and Sheffield - has launched its latest branch in St Martin's Square in Leicester.