Leicester is a fantastic place for Indian food. Leicester's oldest Indian restaurant, the Taj Mahal, on Highfields Street. It has been there for some 40 years. Also worth a try are Laguna which has existed since the late 70's and opertes a traditional tandoor oven, on Narborough Road and the Good Food Guide listed The Rise of the Raj on Evington Road.
Leicester's large Gujarati community - centred in the Belgrave area - has led to the opening of many excellent Indian vegetarian restaurants in that part of the city. Sharmilee (http://www.sharmilee.co.uk), Sayonara and Phulnath (http://Phulnath.co.uk), come highly recommended by local residents. The Chaat House is also a great places for Masala Dosas and other light meals.
The choice of fine restaurants in Leicester is limited and sadly there has been a recent closure of two fine restaurants namely Entropy and The Opera House, however the City is in the grip of major renovation and regeneration presently which is likely to spur on a greater choice and profusion of fine dining experiences. However excellent food can be had at Watsons Restaurant which is a refined and tasty experience near the Phoenix Theatre and The Case near St. Martins, the lunch menu is excellent as are the wait staff, a distinctly French feel is on offer and The Case has the joy of being connected to the delightful Champagne Bar on it's ground floor. Dinos on Garrick Walk, Haymarket has an excellent reputation and a very Italianate, exciting menu. A more recent addition with an excellent menu is The Quarter, housed in the former wholesale vegatable market building on Halford Street and close to the soon to open Curve, Leicester's new theatre expected to open in Autumn 2008. This Restaurant/Bar is a beautiful open space with a great menu and superb cocktails!
Some good, mid range restaurants/ bars with menus can be found near the City on Braunstone Gate, the best of these being the ever popular Left Bank, which is cheap, spirited and tasty. Across the road, Mobius is interesting with a lively bar to the ground floor and restuarant upstairs. Mid priced food can also be found easily at decent chains such as Ask, Zizzi, Las Iguanas, La Tasca and two Pizza Express restaurants.
For those with even tighter budgets, Leicester offers a wide array of different takeaways. Leicester takeaways range from Indian food to Italian, American, Turkish, Chinese, Thai and other types of food. Generally, a takeaway meal for two can be purchased between £10 and £15.
Tea rooms and Coffee Shops/Bars abound, most notable are Mrs Bridges on Loseby Lane and Bossa close to the City Gallery, if you want to avoid the usual Starbuck and Costa chains, Fenwicks also houses a pleasant old school style cafe, steeped in the 60's/70's, on its top floor, with excellent food on offer at reasonable prices.
