The venue for our June visit was The Three Crowns pub, a 17th-century building situated in the heart of the village of Barrow upon Soar, approximately 11 miles North of Leicester.

Several months ago, the owners decided to specialise in Northern Indian cuisine, and are now gaining quite a reputation for their quality of food and service. If you’re driving, the pub has its own car park, or should you wish to travel by train, the station is only around 10-minutes’ walk away.

Please note that I rang to book a table, but was politely asked to book online – following the process, I can personally confirm that it was seamless, and promptly received both email and text confirmations of our reservation.

Upon arrival, we were seated at a charming square table in the corner, perfectly sized for our group of five. As this is still a pub, we were also pleased to see that the usual variety of draught beers, lagers, spirits, soft drinks, etc are available.

We began with our usual serving of 10 poppadom’s, accompanied by an assortment of dips: mango chutney, mint yoghurt, tomato & garlic sauce, and an onion salad, which were a perfect start to our dining experience.

For the main course, our group chose the following dishes:

– Three of us opted for the Chicken Tikka Biryani, which was extremely flavoursome and very well-cooked.

– The Lamb Rogan Josh was also very nice, offering tender and well-seasoned lamb.

– The Lamb Chops were equally impressive, cooked to perfection with a rich, and savoury taste.

We also ordered an additional Rice dish and a couple of starter dishes of Crispy Aubergine in a special sticky sauce, which was a great accompaniment, and added a nice texture to our meal… unfortunately the extra Coriander that one member always requests did not arrive, but after a gentle reminder, arrived within a few seconds.

The bread selection was also impressive…we tried the Stilton & Red Onion Naan, which was superb, as well as the Red Leicester Cheese & Chilli Naan, which offered a deliciously spicy twist.

Everybody thoroughly enjoyed their meal, all dishes were well presented, fresh and flavoursome, and they were all served at the required strengths – well done chef.

The ambiance in the restaurant was warm and welcoming, and the staff were exceptionally attentive and helpful throughout our meal.

We paid the bill (£147), which was extremely good value for the quality of food, and we left with a big thank-you, and we are sure many of our readers will visit once they have read this review.

A couple of messages that I received the following morning from our members were;

‘Great Biryani, great sauce, the egg was a great touch, Stilton Naan was unbelievable, service was good, so a 9 from me’

‘Its a 9 for me too! Good find’

‘I am at 9, best so far this year’, and on a par with last year’s winner’

Some great comments and feedback.

The score out of 40 based on the venue/surroundings/food/service/cost was 36.5.

Overall, a very enjoyable evening, the quality of food and the exceptional service make it a place worth visiting. Well done to The Three Crowns team!

Please note as always, our reviews are personally subjective and isn’t necessarily what others may think or experience when they visit.