This month of August 2021 Dear Readers, your intrepid and fearless reviewers ventured into the Northern climes of our county to the quaint market town of Loughborough to see what our collegiate cousins had on their doorstep to entice us away from more local establishments in the great metropolis of Leicester.
This establishment has been on the ‘radar’ for some time but for some reason has never been visited by ourselves. The restaurant is situated on the first floor of what looks like a house, next door to a commercial property and some new apartments near the junction with Blackbird Road. It used to be the Sports & Social Club of Marconi Radar Systems, whom were a major employer in the city during the 1970’s and 80’s.
We all headed to Sunar Gow in Broughton Astley for June 2021. The restaurant has just been refurbished and is located in the village centre above a row of shops.
I had already chosen this Indian Restaurant in 2020, just before lockdown started and have been following it on Instagram since then. Khyber Nights is tucked away just off Melton Road and not far from the owners original The Khyber – which was one of the originals in Leicester and around for 30 years.
Our March outing saw us visit an old friend of curry lovers- Friends. They were based on the Melton Road for 26 years ran by the Pabla family and closed in 2008, but the new venue on Queens Road is still ran by the Pabla’s three brothers in fact. Parking is on the main road or one of the many side streets so this is not a problem.
Our February visit was planned and booked, and the members were collected a little earlier than usual as we were off to the South West of the county, which is the other side of the city for us and we were all eagerly anticipating the delights of the evening that waited for us.
Now in our 10th year, the first visit of the new decade was to Shanaya Restaurant which is situated on the old A6 in the village of Mountsorrel, approximately mid-way between Leicester and Loughborough.
Shanaya was opened by the owner Niraj around two years ago and is situated in the same building as the former Bayleaf Indian Restaurant and Porto Gomez Bistro.
The Leicester Curry Club award night for 2019 was celebrated by a return visit to our highest scoring curry house restaurant of the year. As our regular readers will know we visit a different restaurant every month and points are awarded by each member following the visit based upon their individual enjoyment of the meal and service predominately, but also taking into account the surroundings and the facilities.
What a delight and what a gem. Of course this is inside a pub but still manages to give a restaurant feel and all members thought that they could return with their families without hesitation. The bill was unbelievable with the food coming out at £12 per head.
Well done to the owners, the chef and of course to Jay. We are delighted that we can reveal the winner for 2019 is the WYVERN!
I saw this month’s restaurant whilst driving past what was the 2017 winner – Sizzlers – now called Mother India. Given it was so good and a members favourite I thought this would be an easy win for our club this month. This is reflected in it being placed 2nd worst of all time (thats 104th in the rankings to date). Read the full review to find out how big a disappointment this place is.