21 Anstey Ln, Leicester LE4 0FF
36/40
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.
There is limited parking, but we had no problem finding a space on one of the many side roads.
The restaurant is accessed via a staircase and on entering we were greeted by members of staff, all of whom were wearing face masks and appeared to be following the relevant guidelines. The tables were well spaced out with hand sanitizers at both the entrance and near the toilets.
We were shown to our table and immediately asked for our drinks order… during the whole evening we found the staff to be extremely pleasant, courteous and professional.
There is a separate bar downstairs (which is ran by the same owner) so several draught beers are available (inc. Guinness, Cobra, Carling etc) but we opted for a Spanish draught lager called Madri which was very nice… for those that don’t drink, and of course the driver, soft drinks or bottled Cobra Zero was available.
Although this was a Thursday evening, there were plenty of diners and on first impressions, a very pleasant atmosphere. There are numerous TV’s around the restaurant (which may or may not be to everybody’s taste), but this certainly did not deter from our very enjoyable evening.
If you’re a regular visitor to our site, you will be aware that following the obligatory ten poppadom’s and various pickles, we head straight for the Mains. However, on this occasion, we were served complimentary dishes of ‘Crispy Aubergine’ and ‘Mini Kebab Rolls’… these are their signature starters, and as we had not ordered them, they wanted us to try it… “thank-you and very much appreciated, we particularly enjoyed the Crispy Aubergine”.
The Mains chosen were Chicken Tawa (Madras strength), 2 x Lamp Chop Curry (Madras), Chicken Karahi (as hot as possible) and a Chicken Chana Saag (medium). The waiter explained that their dishes were on the hotter side, but we all found that our choices were about right, although the Lamb Chop curry was not quite as hot as the Tawa – both Madras strength.
Our accompaniments were a Boiled, a Garlic Butter and a Vegetable Rice along with 2 x Garlic/Coriander Naan’s and a Plain Naan (without Ghee or Butter), which were all very nice indeed. The extra Coriander that was requested at time of order, also arrived without a prompt.
The plates were hot, the Mains were well presented, fresh and extremely flavoursome… you will see from the scores that we all enjoyed our meal and commented that the service was excellent throughout.
The cost of the evening was extremely reasonable and it was a welcome change to find the drinks were at pub rather than restaurant prices.
As you will know by now we do not partake in desserts, so requested the bill which was presented to us without fuss, no mints or chocolates, just a smile and a thank-you. The total cost was £106.90 for the five of us which was exceptional value for the quality of the food… all major credit and debit cards accepted.
Overall, a very enjoyable evening and we can see why they were finalists in the 2020 ‘Leicester Curry Awards’ – ‘Best New Restaurant’ category. It was a pleasure to visit ‘The Little Club, Bar & Grill’ and very much look forward to visiting again with family/friends very soon.
The score out of 40 based on the venue/surroundings/food/service/cost was 36.