Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Leicester
Hardens guides have spent 34 years compiling reviews of the best Leicester restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 7 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
John Duffin’s “excellent and interesting cooking” continues to inspire interest in this family-owned venue – a simple, brick-lined space with attractive wooden pitched room, which is part of the family farm (Stonehurst Farm) where he grew up. Fans vaunt the “amazingly priced set lunch menu” for £49 per person, and “it’s good to have a cafe and farm shop on site to extend a visit”. A trip in the evening requires a more substantial investment: five courses are £100 per person or seven are £120 per person. Reports are consistently upbeat.
2. Mowgli
Indian restaurant in Leicester
10-12 Saint Martins - LE1
Nisha Katona’s Liverpool-based operation has two branches in London (Charlotte Street and Westfield Stratford) offering her “very tasty” Indian street food – “with the occasional hint of raw spice”. The Lancashire-born former barrister launched the business in 2014 and now has 28 outlets around the country, whose “enjoyable, authentic food” is “really great for a chain”.
3. Kayal
Indian restaurant in Leicester
153 Granby St - LE1
“Not your ‘bog standard’ Indian” (“don’t look for chicken tikka masala, onion bhajis and poppadums here, you won’t find them”) – this stalwart Leicester local – now with offshoots in Nottingham, Leamington Spa and West Byfleet – instead specialises in “innovative” Keralan dishes “using the likes of rabbit, pork or salmon” that “never fail to hit the spot”.
4. Bobby’s
Indian restaurant in Leicester
154-156 Belgrave Rd - LE4
“Not your usual Indian”, down to the bright, café-style décor – this “totally authentic” icon on the Golden Mile was founded in the 1970s, and is still run by the Lakhani family; it’s built a huge reputation over the years for its “vegetarian, mostly Gujarati-style, home cooking” – and, surprisingly, its afternoon tea, acclaimed by TV chef Rick Stein, and offering unlimited sweet and savoury snacks washed down with masala chai. Top Tip – “try as many new dishes as possible – they won’t disappoint!”
5. Amrut
Indian restaurant in Leicester
30 Church Gate - LE1
Having recently celebrated its first birthday, this “largish, newish” Indian dining spot was launched by sisters Shweta, Shivani and Natascha Joon. The “premium location” and décor set the tone for some “excellent” and “affordable” food, ranging from street-food nibbles to eclectic small plates and mains.
6. The Monk
British, Modern restaurant in Quorn
2 Station Road - LE12
“Remember to order oysters in advance if you go for the Thursday seafood special” at this contemporary restaurant in a thatched building (dating from 1590), in a Leicestershire village near Loughborough that’s home to arguably England’s most famous fox hunt. Each night has a different culinary theme or style and it was well-rated all-round this year.
7. The Joiners
British, Modern restaurant in Bruntingthorpe
Church Walk - LE17
2024 Review: With its oak beams and flagstone floors, this family-run rural gastropub between Leicester and Lutterworth continues to win a solid thumbs up from Midlands-based reporters in our annual diners’ poll. The fairly traditional, bistro-style cooking (e.g. chicken liver parfait, steak or seabass, panna cotta) is in a more ambitious mould than typical pub grub.
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