Leicester does not really need convincing about Desi food. This is a city where people know the difference between a good dhokla and a mediocre one, and will tell you about it. That is a high bar to open under, and it is the best possible reason to do it here.
But the city centre and the Golden Mile are two different worlds, and people mix them up constantly. Here is roughly how we see it.
The Golden Mile is a destination, not a lunch break
Belgrave Road is one of the great food streets in Britain, with Gujarati vegetarian cooking of a standard you would struggle to match anywhere outside India. If you have an afternoon and a car, go. Take an empty stomach.
What it is not is convenient when you are in town, you have got forty minutes, and you want something properly cooked rather than a chain sandwich. That gap in the middle of the city is the one we set out to fill.
Horsefair Street sits in a useful spot
We are two minutes from Town Hall Square, five from the Highcross, and close enough to the Curve and the De Montfort Hall to work for dinner before a show. In practice that means we get three quite different rooms in a day:
- Lunch. Office workers who want something hot and quick. Masala chips, a samosa, chai, out in half an hour.
- Late afternoon. Students, mostly, working through plates of chaat. This is when the room is at its most relaxed.
- Evening. Proper sit down dinners. Biryani, lamb chops, a table full of small plates and nobody in a hurry.
What to order, depending on the situation
You have got twenty minutes. Masala chips and a samosa. It is not complicated and it is very good.
You are feeding someone who says they do not like Indian food. Chilli paneer or chicken lollipop. Both are closer to Indo Chinese than to anything they are picturing, and both have won a lot of people over.
You want the full thing. Order four or five small plates for the table, one biryani, a dal makhani and a roti to share. Get a mango lassi at the start rather than the end.
You are showing someone around Leicester. Masala lamb chops. It is the dish we would put up against anything.
When not to come to us
If you want a long, quiet, formal dinner with tablecloths and a wine list, we are the wrong room. This place is bright, colourful and busy, and it is meant to be. Leicester has excellent restaurants for that evening and we are happy to point you towards them.
And if what you are actually after is a full Gujarati thali, go to Belgrave Road. We would rather tell you that than serve you something we are not the best at.
A few practical things
- Weekend evenings get busy, so book your spot if you are coming after seven.
- Everything is cooked to order, so a big table takes a little longer. Order everything at once and let it arrive as it is ready.
- Tell us about allergies when you book and when you sit down. Our kitchen handles nuts, dairy and gluten in a small space.
Come and find us. The hand painted sign is hard to miss.