Decent restaurants in and around town?

[JonnyBoy]

22 hours ago, FoxesDeb said:

Six of us went to La Fontana in town on Saturday night, lovely food and good service, but our Spanish debit card had a bit of a shock at the bill, it was probably around 50% more expensive than we'd expect to pay at home for similar

 

Do you ever check trip advisor reviews? There are awful reviews on there. Would save you a pretty penny next time 

[FoxesTez]

5 hours ago, JonnyBoy said:

 

Do you ever check trip advisor reviews? There are awful reviews on there. Would save you a pretty penny next time 

You’d easily find several awful reviews on any restaurant you looked at. 

[JonnyBoy]

13 hours ago, FoxesTez said:

You’d easily find several awful reviews on any restaurant you looked at. 

 

you can, but the average score for this particular restaurant is 2.5/5 

[kenny]

2 minutes ago, JonnyBoy said:

 

you can, but the average score for this particular restaurant is 2.5/5 

4.3 on google???

[JonnyBoy]

Just now, kenny said:

4.3 on google???

yea they have good reviews in google, but trip advisor ones atrocious and all very recent which would concern me 

[hejammy]

1 hour ago, JonnyBoy said:

yea they have good reviews in google, but trip advisor ones atrocious and all very recent which would concern me 

I can confirm that this place is awful, quality of the food is terrible (probably one of the worst pizza's I have had), the service is awful (very arrogant staff) - wouldn't step foot in this place again. 

[FoxesDeb]

I think people mentioning trip advisor reviews either haven't read or have misunderstood my post.

 

The food and the service were both great, maybe we were lucky. Maybe my post also would have been better in a different thread, but the point was that I was surprised about the bill, that was all, and as has since been mentioned there are reasons for this

[westernpark]

La Fontana gets a lot of exaggerated poor reviews because the vegan community of Leicester were frustrated as it used to be Prana- a completely vegan cafe/restaurant. Having eaten at both iterations of it, it’s better as La Fontana but still average.

[Wolfox]

Tried the Abbeydale last Friday (walkable for me)

 

It was absolutely rammed…. We hadn’t booked, but a really friendly guy clocked us and sorted a table within half a pint at the bar…

 

Food was excellent- fish fry superb and I had the lamb chops - yum!

 

watching Derby smash Bristol on tellies you can’t escape was a little distracting and as I was with my wife and two daughters I regularly got a bollocking for becoming distracted!

[Tommy G]

11 hours ago, FoxesDeb said:

I think people mentioning trip advisor reviews either haven't read or have misunderstood my post.

 

The food and the service were both great, maybe we were lucky. Maybe my post also would have been better in a different thread, but the point was that I was surprised about the bill, that was all, and as has since been mentioned there are reasons for this

Bet you wish you hadn’t bothered 

[kenny]

On 02/02/2026 at 17:24, Stadt said:

Tax and NI increases plus the most expensive energy costs in the world have made dining out inordinately pricey 

The minimum wage here is nearly double what is paid in Spain as well.

[Unabomber]

I appreciate it’s not even Leicestershire but had a roast earlier at the remarkable hare in Matlock today and it was absolutely sensational.  

[grobyfox1990]

Went to herb before a show at the Y theatre on Friday night. Very good, hadn’t been there for years, forgot how good it is. Fairly priced too 

[HighPeakFox]

4 hours ago, Unabomber said:

I appreciate it’s not even Leicestershire but had a roast earlier at the remarkable hare in Matlock today and it was absolutely sensational.  

Given I drive down that road regularly and it was not on my radar, I appreciate this feedback.

[Chris_OGrady]

On 20/01/2026 at 13:16, Soar Fox said:

Very good, it’s a bit random as you don’t eat in the pub but an out building. 
 

They do get very busy, we tried getting in on Saturday night but it was fully booked so opted for a takeaway instead. Well worth trying in my opinion. 

Went here on Saturday. Wasn't sure what to make of it to begin with, but it won me round by the end. The food was very good. The value was insane at £85 for four people (excluding drinks) and there was still enough for each of us to take some home. We were speaking to the chef and his wife, it turns out he was the original chef at the Broadway when it first opened, which makes sense as the food has never quite been as good at the Broadway since the first time that i went. It wasn't the busiest but picked up a bit as the night went on. They're not active on social media at all and don't seem to do any marketing. Great recommendation, and will deffo go back! Hopefully it survives. 

 

The Talbot itself could be a great pub but is in completely the wrong area. Feels like a proper traditional village pub. 

Edited 9 February by Chris_OGrady

[Raj]

39 minutes ago, Chris_OGrady said:

Went here on Saturday. Wasn't sure what to make of it to begin with, but it won me round by the end. The food was very good. The value was insane at £85 for four people (excluding drinks) and there was still enough for each of us to take some home. We were speaking to the chef and his wife, it turns out he was the original Chef at the Broadway when it first opened, which makes sense as the food has never quite been as good at the Broadway since the first time that i went. It wasn't the busiest but picked up a bit as the night went on. They're not active on social media at all and don't seem to do any marketing. Great recommendation, and will deffo go back! Hopefully it survives. 

 

The Talbot itself could be a great pub but is in completely the wrong area. Feels like a proper traditional village pub. 

Whats this place called buddy, sorry must have lost it in the previous posts

[Chris_OGrady]

1 minute ago, Raj said:

Whats this place called buddy, sorry must have lost it in the previous posts

Naaz Ka Dhaba at the Talbot. It's very different. Certainly not one to take the Mrs 

[grobyfox1990]

1 hour ago, Chris_OGrady said:

Naaz Ka Dhaba at the Talbot. It's very different. Certainly not one to take the Mrs 

The king of curry strikes again, will spot this up next time I am back in Leicester

[Chris_OGrady]

24 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

The king of curry strikes again, will spot this up next time I am back in Leicester

It's very different and feels like somewhere you'd get abroad with the husband and wife running the show and personally attending to you. You'll enjoy having a beer in the Talbot before even with the incredibly naff beer selection. 

[grobyfox1990]

27 minutes ago, Chris_OGrady said:

It's very different and feels like somewhere you'd get abroad with the husband and wife running the show and personally attending to you. You'll enjoy having a beer in the Talbot before even with the incredibly naff beer selection. 

Is it this one? 

Address: 4 Thurcaston Rd, Belgrave, Leicester LE4 5PE, United Kingdom

 

Google is unclear

[JonnyBoy]

any nice restaurants in Loughborough? live in a village near Loughborough but i don't go in much.. waked past Antalya (turkish) the other night and was very busy. i have heard the noodle bar is good as well 

[Chris_OGrady]

1 hour ago, grobyfox1990 said:

Is it this one? 

Address: 4 Thurcaston Rd, Belgrave, Leicester LE4 5PE, United Kingdom

 

Google is unclear

yeah that's it. If you type in Naaz Ka Dhaba on google maps you should see it. It's got 13 reviews. 

[Chris_OGrady]

1 hour ago, JonnyBoy said:

any nice restaurants in Loughborough? live in a village near Loughborough but i don't go in much.. waked past Antalya (turkish) the other night and was very busy. i have heard the noodle bar is good as well 

That Antalya must be new. Right next to Organ Grinder as well - perfect. Will give that a try!

 

Noodle bar is okay, does a job. I go there with my wife because she won't go to the Szechuan, which is miles better and does authentic well priced Chinese food (very basic inside though).

[JonnyBoy]

1 minute ago, Chris_OGrady said:

That Antalya must be new. Right next to Organ Grinder as well - perfect. Will give that a try!

 

Noodle bar is okay, does a job. I go there with my wife because she won't go to the Szechuan, which is miles better and does authentic well priced Chinese food (very basic inside though).

 

Its either rammed because it is new, or because it is good (or both!) Will check that one out 

[Chris_OGrady]

1 minute ago, JonnyBoy said:

 

Its either rammed because it is new, or because it is good (or both!) Will check that one out 

be interesting to see how it compares to Istanbul in Barrow