Best restaurants in Leicester

Multi-award-winning San Carlo group are famed for their unapologetically lavish Italian restaurants, and this one in Leicester is no different. Ostentatious interiors, Italian classics and a fun, informal atmosphere make it a popular bet in the city centre.

Keralan restaurant Herb focuses on vegetarian and vegan cooking exclusively, with dishes inspired by head chef Ramdas Krishna’s love for his home town. Spinach dosas, herb soup, lentil curries and veg stir fries are all served in abundance.

Bodega Cantina’s crowd-pleasing offering combines colourful interiors with vibrant South American plates, from tacos and ceviche to Argentian steaks. Kids and vegan menus make it open to all, and it runs a great-value happy hour every day of the week! 

This quaint and cutesy tearoom has become part of Leicester’s furniture over the years, serving breakfast, lunch, brunch and afternoon tea to locals for more than 100 years. Grab a seat in its pretty patio garden in the summer if you can.

This warm and cosy restaurant with rooms offers a wealth of vibrant tasting and grazing menus. Dishes include smoked rabbit with goose liver and black garlic, scallops with sweetcorn and kombu and chocolate with olive oil and muscovado. 

Vegetarian and vegan restaurant Bobby’s was one of the first Indian restaurants of its kind in the UK. You can find it on the Golden Mile where it serves up everything from gastronomic street food to traditional thalis. 

One of Leicester’s top-rated Indian restaurants, Kayal focuses on the cuisine of Kerala in south India with a menu of fragrant, mildly-spiced dishes using ultra fresh ingredients. Expect fish and seafood curries, masala dosas and Thali dishes.

This spacious contemporary Indian restaurant is great for date nights, family dinners and big nights out! The menu is replete with plenty of familiar favourites, plus a few surprising options. The crispy duck samosas with tamarind and cucumber relish make a great appetiser. 

Bordering Leicestershire you will find award-winning country pub and hotel The Olive Branch. With a menu of contemporary British dishes, pub classics and a dedicated children's menu, it's a welcoming spot for all.

Great value, properly tasty Thai food has become Giggling Squid’s USP, and we’ll always recommend it to anyone with a hankering for a half decent pad Thai or a soul-warming massaman curry. It might be a chain, but it’s a good one. 

Glitzy Indian restaurant and cocktail bar Tandem serves up great food and a fun night out in one fell swoop. Spanning two floors, the spacious restaurant serves a menu inspired by Goan and Portuguese influences. Stick around for a cocktail at the bar post-dinner.  

The White Swan is first and foremost a traditional country pub, but with a more contemporary feel and one that serves a six-course tasting menu. Locally-sourced, seasonally-led plates are designed by head chef duo Alex and Dan, including delights such as roscoff onion veloute with truffle custard. 

Travel a little way south of Leicester to discover this charming village inn, where a relaxed approach to food and service makes it popular with locals and visitors alike. A concise-ish menu addresses all the classics: steak and chips, chicken supreme and a tasty-sounding artichoke gnocchi. 

Low ceilings and wooden beams inject this 16th-century country pub with huge amounts of charm. Combine that with local beers, weekly-changing menus and an award-winning chef and you can see why Michelin has granted it one of its famed Bib Gourmand awards.  

Sapori, meaning flavour in Italian, specialises in modern Italian fine dining and it certainly lives up to its name. A la carte and tasting menus take inspiration from head chef Andrea Scarpati’s home town of Naples, who puts a refined spin on classic dishes. Think smoked beef tartare with pickled beetroots, onions, yellow tomato ketchup, apple and celery sorbet and parmesan crisp.