The Dovecote in Blaby

Plenty of room between tables. Food delicious. Wonderful staff. Great value

Had a lovely meal with my family. Great food and friendly staff, will definitely be going again.

Came here with 3 babies, 3 high chairs provided and lots of room around the table which was great. Yorkshire pudding was great, really generous serving of meat, gammon not too salty.

Fantastic pub.Great atmosphere.Lovely staff.Food served piping hot.Could not fault it.

Ordered a 28 day age steak Bleu. Was like an old boot. Pub is lovely friendly staff and good atmosphere

We came on a Saturday evening after going to the football during the afternoon. The restaurant was packed out so we expected delays but the staff were amazing and we were quickly served with drinks and the food was also brought to us without having to wait too long either. The meals were excellent and we had such a good evening. Our thanks go to the fantastic staff who worked so hard and with smiles too. We will be returning, hopefully not too long in the future.

Waited an hour for our table although booked. Unable to have the carvery as had run out. Had to ask twice for someone to take our orders. The pie had tough meat in it and some of the meals felt like they had been kept warm for too long. The staff were very pleasant but disorganised.

Unfortunately staff had allowed too many "walk ins". We had booked but waited an hour for our table. The staff were good but overwhelmed and too busy. A long wait for drink and food and we could not have the Carvery which was very disappointing. My beef pie had grissly meat. Couldn't eat it and another had overcooked potatoes. My broccoli spears were hard. Not the experience we have enjoyed in the past.

Service was amazing we was a party of 14 and our waitress kept on top of everything making sure we had drinks, making sure food was ok. I would definitely recommend the dovecote. I couldn’t fault the service or food in anyway. Our Nan fully enjoyed her birthday meal out.

Service was amazing we was a party of 14 and our waitress kept on top of everything making sure we had drinks, making sure food was ok. I would definitely recommend the dovecote. I couldn’t fault the service or food in anyway. Our Nan fully enjoyed her birthday meal out.

Ate here yesterday, food and service always good, we had the carvery which had a good selection, can I give a shout out to amy our server, she is a joy to interact with, nothing was too much trouble, overall a lovely lunch

Really enjoyed our meal and time here. Only fault is that no reason at all they don't accept Blue Light card discounts at the weekend? Rather odd...

Good food and pleasant service.

Dry food, had the steak and ale pie, dry, pretty tasteless , lumpy gravy, my daughter had chicken, dry, rubbery and tasteless , will not return.on a positive the staff were extremely friendly.I couldn’t be bothered to complain but as said won’t return or recommend to anyone.

Avoid. Use to be a great restaurant. Not anymore. We were 10 minutes late and they gave my 8 year old daughter's table to someone else, then offered us a rubbish table near the door. My steak was 90% fat and over cooked, chips were cold and like cardboard. My partner's mixed grill meat was not cooked properly and included a roar sausage. My daughter's pizza was cold and like cardboard. No staff and the male manager is very rude and unhelpful. The old manager was excellent. We have paid nearly £100 for a rubbish meal. Very disappointing. Food: 1/5 | Service: 4/5 |

Always good, hot, tasty food and great service.

Nice place we come here often went for a cavery which was lovely

Lovely food, great atmosphere, good music

Have been to the Dovecote on many occasions and been satisfied so I booked a table for 7 people for a midweek lunch. The waitress was friendly but disappeared constantly. The service was so slow we booked at 1pm but didn't manage to leave until twenty to four having only a main course and a coffee. The good when it arrived was disappointing.

Awesome place with fab staff. Always a great atmosphere. Not badly priced.

Night out with our friends Excellent mixed grill, surf &Turf and Gammon steak all cooked superbly Louisa our Waitress was helpful and patient 😋

Everyone enjoyed their food especially the carvery, I chose the crab cakes, and although very nice, the dish was dry and could do with a dipping sauce or similar

This is the second time I have been and really enjoyed our meal.

Really poor customer service. Very unfriendly at the bar and refused to put up the bouncy castle despite asking several times on a beautiful sunny bank holiday. Yes there was water on it but this wouldn’t go until it was blown up. So disappointing for my son as this was the main reason we came down! Won’t be coming back!!

Superb carvery available at this hostelry. Reasonable price and plenty of choice. Recommend booking though as extremely busy. We'll worth a visit

Amazing service, we visited with our very picky grandson and the lady serving our table went above and beyond when he didn’t like his meal saving the day ! Well done all.

Fabulous place. Food & service was absolutely fantastic. Big shout out to our lovely waitress-sorry we didnt get your name. We were looked after so well. Our 6 yr old grandaughter loved her cookie dough desert off the adult menu. Thanks again.

Tasty meal, friendly service and atmosphere. I'll be back again

Tentative staff and accommodating. A lot of the food was great bar the children's pizza - cheese was a little on the plasticy/rubbery side. Kids didn't like it unfortunately. Returned again recently with friends - 2 were sick in the night not surprised as by the time we ordered at the bar and sat back down at the table the food came out within a minute. Don't think we will be eating there again unfortunately. Also some of the drink glasses were filthy

Food was better than expected! Cool bouncing castle for kids outside! Service was less good! 2 ladies were amazing but one was a bit catty which is not how you want to treat customers

Found drinks and food to be bit on dear side Excellent service although some tables too close to others for comfort especially as neighbouring tables loud and raucous

I had a meal with friends, I had the crispy chilli chicken and the chocolate fudge cake, both of which were nice but nothing special. One of my friends had the fish and chips which he was very disappointed with, he described the meal as bland and tasteless. Unfortunately on our visit both real ales were off. The first one was Park life which was cloudy, tasteless and left a grainy texture in your mouth. The barman checked the barrel and pulled another pint but put it in a frosted glass. Unfortunately this pint was exactly the same as the first one. I was then offered the Doom Bar. This was a slight improvement but was still in poor condition. I drank half of it before admitting defeat. So all in all a very uninspiring and disappointing evening meal.

Excellent food, not expensive either, friendly staff

Lovely pub and popular, will definitely be back.

Loved it. The food was fantastic and a large portion. Probably too much for me and my partner. Excellent all round

Friendly staff, good service, and good food at a reasonable price

Absolutely beautiful Thank-you so much. Everything was fresh and beautifully cooked and presented. Staff were lovely too and attentive. Highly recommended 👌

Great pub. Food is lovely. Great outdoor seating with a bouncy castle.

Great food nice atmosphere clean will go again

Lovely venue, very cosy and homely. Friendly, welcoming and efficient team. Gorgeous steak cooked to perfection, a decent Malbec by the glass!! And my friends meals looked equally mouth watering. I'll be back!

Basic pub food but okay for an occasional visit

Delicious food and ample servings with great service and a lovely ambience

Last minute booking so glad we did very busy, food was incredible, I had the halloumi burger and partner had the mixed grill, outstanding food and service. Definitely recommend 👌

We came for a family meal on the 27th June & can honestly say it was one of the best meals we had. There was a nice atmosphere & the staff were very welcoming & not intrusive, but were around when glasses needed refilling ect.We are sure to visit again soon. Many thanks.

What a great find. Struggled to chose from such a large menu with so many favourites on it. Went for the PoBoy subs. Very satisfied. Bar staff had to change the barrel half way through pouring our pint but didn't throw the flat dregs out of the glass, simply topping up the glass with fresh lager. Tasted cr#p compared to the pint that was fully fresh. Silly oversight.

The staff was friendly. I feel the gravy was watery with my yorkshire vegetarian feast.

Last minute lunch plans and a magical mystery tour of the local area found us in this refurbed building on the Coventry Road. My initial concerns were assuaged by the presence of Doombar beer for me and a decent mini bottle (or two) for the missus. Despite the fact neither my wife or the waitress could say the name properly, the Dovecote ("Dovecoat" and NOT "dovecut" 🙄) the food was good, the service friendly and helpful with the atmosphere doubtless hindered by the lateness of the midweek, lunch. Really nothing to complain about.

Great meals had by both of us. Always good food here. My wife had Seabass, and I had the pork. Both were lovely and very tasty. Would highly recommend

Friends invited us out for a meal and chose here , not having been for a long time it was fingers crossed . It was very busy and didn’t start well with the table behind us complaining about cold food. They also got the drink order wrong twice during the evening. We ordered 2 steaks, a pork special and the chicken and noodles . None were brilliant, steaks over cooked , the pork way too thick a cut and hard . The noodles ok but not very warm. We were asked about the meals but the guy literally asked as he was walking past and didn’t stop for a reply ….we were quite shocked . The service was ok but it wasn’t very clean with squashed chips under the table and a knife and fork discarded there as well . It was noisy with lots of young children . All in all quite poor . At least the company was good .

Overall very good. Efficient service and helpful. We were there in numbers for a birthday party and all the meals were served together. The food was tasty and no real complaints, perhaps the only criticism was that the chips were too big and too many.

Regular pub grub in a pleasant place. Very busy on the Sunday lunch time we visited, but they managed to fit us in as we hadn't booked. Clean friendly place suitable for most guests including couples, families and groups.

Never had a bad meal there before last night. Ordered a sirloin but it was just 90% fat and over cooked, chips were also just left over scraps, very disappointing.

Delicious food, super service, amazing quality.

Really nice meal at lunchtime,staff all very good

Probably the tenderest rump steak I've ever had. Great food, good prices, great beer, brilliant company. Staff thoughtful and attentive without being intrusive. Top marks.

Lovely pub. Great food. Garden is a good size for kids with a bouncy castle.

Good food great staff carvery lovely only pain is carpark too small sometimes you have to park doubled up along the rows

Just stop off for a nice drink I the garden was good service

Me & my wife are semi-regulars to this fine dining pub, as it's in the next village to us and a fair walk, we go about once a month and have been doing so for a number of years. The fact that it's so good means we will walk the extra mile to it. There's other dining pubs in the area but not as good as the Dovecote. One in particular has just had a refurbishment and new staff and menu after getting bad reviews galore. We've been in twice since the refurb and they still can't get it right. In comparison however, the Dovecote is a breath of fresh air. We've been to many pub restaurants, fine dining restaurants and lavish restaurants on cruise ships in and around the UK and abroad over the past 20 years. So having experienced these places to compare too, we've become very hard to please on the food and service side as we know what to expect. However, I have to say that having travelled extensively, ironically one of the best restaurants we’ve been too is actually right here on our doorstep, i.e the Dovecote. Everything here is excellent, from the always smiling, always friendly, ever abundant and attentive staff to the beautifully created fine dining gastro food and the relaxing atmosphere. This rivals any restaurant on a top cruise ship we've sailed on for service and food. We mainly call in at weekends occasionally for lunch or an evening meal with friends. On this occasion we booked to see an Ed Sheeran tribute act with a set 3 course meal on a Thursday night, which they sometimes have on throughout the year. Unfortunately on the day the tribute act couldn't make it and they managed to source a Robbie Williams tribute act, that was just as good and we had a brilliant night. The thing that impressed us again with the Dovecote, was that the assistant manager, I think, called us the day before to say there had been a cancellation as the Ed Sheeran act couldn't make it. They'd managed to source a Robbie Williams tribute act as a last minute replacement and is that okay or do we wish to cancel as they understand if we did want to cancel. Immediately I thought, how good is this service. Other establishments will let you know once you get there, but this poor manager was probably working hard calling the 40 or so tables that this pub has I think, who've booked, to let them know this. Just so caring of them and above and beyond what you would expect. When we were seated we were placed at a small table for two. Not a problem at first, but then found the legs were not so wide apart as a small table, but intimate nonetheless and not normally a problem, but I couldn't stretch my right knee out as one leg of the table was in the way. I needed this as I'm awaiting a right knee operation due to cartilage and ligament damage so I cannot keep it bent for more than a few minutes as causes excruciating pain if I do, so I needed to be able to straighten it every so often, something I could not do at the table where we placed. I pointed this out to them and asked if we could move to a table with wider legs or something that would accommodate my needs. I apologised for not saying this sooner but didn't realise until I'd sat down fully. I also stated not to worry if another table wasn't available, as I have painkillers on me, and would take them if we have to stay where we are and the pain gets worse. The waitress was not in the least put out by this request and said it shouldn't be a problem and she would check to see if anything was available. She went off and returned a few minutes later, with a smile, and escorted us to another two seater table. This had a central pillar in the middle and not 4 legs with a narrow gap, immediately giving me room to stretch my knee out. Again I apologised for not pointing this out sooner and thanked her for this. Again she smiled profusely and replied “Absolutely not a problem, you're welcome, enjoy.” Without a hint of sarcasm or a false smile, in other words this was sincere, friendly and showed warmth to us, the customer. Can't fault this place, absolutely first class service once again, as always we thought. I've read Fred Sirieix’s autobiography, the french guy whose been a restaurant critic and has been the maitre’d in many of Paris and London's top and most expensive restaurants and I can honestly say he'll be impressed by the Dovecotes service and food. He states there are 4 rules a top restaurant or a fine dining gastro pub etc, has to meet. The restaurants in which he has worked he has always made sure that all of these were maintained at all times, no Ifs no Buts, to provide the best service for his customers. He said it was very hard-pressed to find more than a dozen restaurants in the whole of the UK that get all 4 correct some or all of the tine. Some don't get any right, some 1 or 2, some rarely 3 and hardly ever 4. The ones that do are the top ones like Gordon Ramsay establishments or the odd Michelin star ones etc. But guess what the Dovecote always gets at least 3 out of 4 right, but last night they scored the whole 4. Amazing, a little known fine dining pub in Leicestershire actually achieves what very few restaurants in the UK achieve. Wait. I supposed you want to know what those 4 rules are so you can look out for these in each restaurant or fine dining place you may visit around the country from now on, the ones the Dovecote nailed precisely. Bet you'll be hard pressed to find anywhere that gets all 4 right, 2 is good at the very minimum anywhere, 3 better, but you'll only get 4 at the Dovecote…honestly! Okay, they are:- A member of the restaurant, not normally a maitre’d, as can happen in pubs or fine dining pubs etc MUST… 1. see, smile and say hello to the customer before the customer sees, smiles or says hello to them. In other words, if they see you but don't say hello and only smile they've failed. If they see you and do say hello and welcome you but don't smile, they've failed. If you see them first and smile, then they actually do smile and say hello to you they've failed as they didn't see you first. When we arrived through the door, there’s a booking stand as you enter. We were literally there for a second and a member of staff appeared from nowhere, smiled and said lovely to see us, thanks for joining us and can I take your names and took us to our table with a smile. Again, he appeared out of nowhere, so seen us before we saw him, welcomed us and smiled before we did…total pass, excellent again. 2. The wine glass test. A top establishment will have the right glass for each wine. Not a requirement in a pub restaurant probably, but the Dovecote, a fine dining pub, passed this with ease. My wife's had white wine in the past here and they've served it in a small wine glass, as should be. She's also had prosecco which they've served in a long thin prosecco glass and a rose in the taller but wider glasses, and I like my red wine which they always serve in the correct red wine glasses, which are the largest of all. We've actually been served wine in a hi ball glass, a cocktail in a pint glass and a gin and tonic in a rose glass before in other pubs, not on. But again the Dovecote prevailed, faultless once again. 3. The service must be faultless. In other words every aspect must be immaculate. The number of staff should be proportionate to the customers so no one is ever kept waiting or has a lack of attention. The staff must always be nice and polite no matter what the customer demands. And, the staff must ways be attentive and anticipate the customers needs and be accommodating at all times. Again this is hard to do all the time, we only expect this in top restaurants that we pay handsomely for the service. Hats off to you again Dovecote, my compliments again to the staff. Last night, as always, there was so many staff running around you were never short of attention. Each and every one of them that I noticed were always smiling, always friendly and always attentive. On a Friday night or weekend it's impressive, but on a week night even more so. Our empty glasses and plates, and those of customers around us that I noticed, were cleared within minutes of finishing them, shows very attentive staff. No request was too much trouble, from the request to move table to the request I made for a Guinness and blackcurrant, but could I have the blackcurrant poured in first, not after, as I like it that way. The waitress beamed an honest smile again, and replied “of course that's no problem.’ Most staff even went further and joked with us, as they always do, and made it another pleasurable visit for us. 4. The food. Stands to reason, in a restaurant, especially a fine dining pub such as the Dovecote that the food has to live up to this and also for the price that you pay for this fine food. Obviously food has to be hot, flavourful, beautifully presented and cooked to perfection. Other pubs and restaurants we've been in tend to have just bland or plain food with the occasional decent one or two being the exception. Even on a luxury cruise we've been on in the lavish restaurants we've have cold or uninspiring food sometimes, but never at the Dovecote, always excellent cuisine, every aspect of the food spot on and cooked to perfection, never ever had a bad meal here. I had duck dumplings for starter, again not a pub starter, only found in fine dining places and it did not disappoint. I've had these before in other restaurants and they've been rubbery and soft, an indication they've probably been boiled earlier in the day and then reheated in the microwave, hence the rubbery texture, and with no garnish etc. But the ones I had here were crispy, hot and delicious, obviously cooked fresh as crispy and moist at the same time and with garnish and a dip and presented in a beautiful half circle shape. It was hot, but fresh cooked hot, not burn your mouth microwave hot, and the flavours and texture of the duck were tangy, soft and cooked to perfection, spot on again. My wife's chicken shashlik starter was also faultless. Tender, moist, perfectly cooked chicken strips on a skewer, marinaded in spices with a slight layer of yoghurt. The flavour was savourful but not overpowering or too spicy but enough to bring out the flavours, and the garnish and presentation was equally colourful as always. My main of chicken ricotta was again excellent. Tender chicken breast covered in breadcrumbs and cooked in sun blushed tomato with melted ricotta cheese. Again the dish was fresh, hot, tender and flavourful. It came with buttery and beautifully soft, melt in your mouth new potatoes and fresh salad and again was beautifully presented like the other dishes. Compliments to the chef. Exquisite. So in conclusion another lovely evening at this hidden gem. Beautifully done once again Dovecote, we will be coming back again as we always do. We will also carry on bringing friends and family here. Pass on our compliments to the chefs and all your hard-working, friendly and attentive staff, they really do all deserve the praise, and believe I'm normally hard to please so well done. We salute you…absolutely first class all around. Craig B. Freelance critic.

Lovely Sunday carvery experience. Both gravy sauces were gluten free and the staff was very knowledgeable about what I could and couldn't have. The food was great and the staff was friendly and guaranteed a smooth service. We will be back!

Very welcoming food was lovely staff was very nice and friendly and helpful so its all the 5s from us trav and claire 👌👍

Vegetables were hard , waitress replaced potatoes for chips for us. Must admit we have had better meals previously.

Food ok. Drinks extremely expensive!!! Outrageously expensive.

Never had a disappointing meal, excellent service and the music is great and not so loud to stop conversations. My favourite dishes is either a nice steak or the inside out chicken Kiev

Lovely large pub with very good service. Mixture of traditional pub food and something different. Loved to the Duck Gyozas.

Popped in today the staff were lovely and pleasant the place itself is very nice, It has a decent beer garden too.

Had a fabulous meal with my daughter, superb service from the team and the food was bob on. Thank you!

Beautiful building and staff were very friendly, despite being a big group they were great and really on it. However the food was the let down for myself anyway. Our party ordered a variety of food, most of which had great portion sizes. However, I ordered a main portion of the sweet chilli chicken strips . This was the most disappointing meal on the table, closely followed by the chicken inside out Kiev. The chicken was dry and bland, the sweet chilli sauce was non existent and I would have thought this would be on the side of the plate for dipping. We did ask for more sweet chilli, however they only bought one pot when several people asked for it on the table so I did not end up getting any sauce, so the chicken was unbareably dry and bland. The chips were lovely but I clearly drew the short straw with my meal and had barely any. Salsa comes on the sweet chilli chicken which was not stated on the menu and was very annoying to take off, as I cannot eat onions. The chicken strips were offered as a starter and I would highly recommend only getting the starter version as even as a main you only get 3 very small bits of chicken! Definitely not what I would call a main meal!

Absolutely gorgeous food and great staff

Very good menu but paper under fish n chips let down a little as it came away into the meal

Great place to eat, lots of seat friendly staff and a good choice of food at a reasonable price.

Eat from the new menu, sadly was very disappointing. Avoid the po-boy philli cheese steak

Steak was good, don't bother with the 'surf",5 normal size prawns turned up and cost an extra £4, hate being ripped off!

Had a lovely evening meal really enjoyed the new menu service as always was excellent looking forward to trying more from the new menu

I absolutely love this place! Staff are very friendly. They did the food for my late husband's funeral, and it was 100% first class

We love this place, whether it be for just a drink or a meal. They cater for absolutely everyone. The building inside and out is absolutely beautiful, really cosy, feels like home. The staff are extremely friendly, the food is absolutely amazing, never been disappointed. Nice big carpark. Couldn't recommend this place enough.

Nice upstairs room for slightly separate group celebration. Congratulations to our waiter who coped very well serving 12 customers single handed, running up a flight of stairs!!! Food tasty. Shame a lot of the deserts were not available due to menu change? Bad planning? Overall enjoyed it.

Amazing food and fantastic customer service. Will definitely be visiting again.

Food was great, great atmosphere too. Thanks!

Food is delicious 10/10, Nice staff

Lovely relaxed pub with great dining options. Reasonably priced and quality hot food

Super restaurant with friendly staff. The menu is very good, plenty to choose from. 5⭐️ rating for taste and ambiance

Food was good but room was very cold and spoilt the experience, puts us off returning.

Excellent food and beer, be good when the builders have departed

Love a trip to the Dovecote - one of my favourite local(ish) pubs. I visited here fairly regularly and have never had a bad experience. Fresh, tasty food and really good portions! The black and blue steak is a particular favourite.

Food luke warm, dining area cold

Outstanding. Staff are amazing. Very friendly and always willing to assist. The food is excellent and great value for money with a wide variety on the menu. We booked a group for my sons 18th birthday and the Staff were extremely helpful. They made the dining area look fabulous with the balloons and banners we'd provided. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable evening and highly recommended. Thank you.

My first visit lovely will definitely go again

Clean and welcoming, quite a busy place at lunchtime with a great choice on the menu ! so obviously doing things correctly Thank you for fitting us in for the meal without pre booking

Andy was brilliant- friendly quick and efficient service. Really nice food - had the lunchtime tikka kebab - delicious and just right amount. Will definitely return.

Good service and very helpful staff.

It was brilliant. Great service lovely food. Shame some random people let their 2 children skip and run around the restaurant while people were eating and stFf were waiting on tables.

A little more expensive than most restaurants if this genre, but well worth it. I had the rump steak AKA black and blue, topped with peppercorn sauce and Stilton…nom nom nom. Will definitely go back again and again and again.

Too noisy for me personally To qualify - it was Sunday lunchtime.

Lovely friendly place for a meal. Always busy. Decent food and helpful staff.

Lovely place for a family meal. Yummy food, good service and atmosphere.

Really lovely place with fantastic service! The food was lovely with some great choices!

After a small hiccup having to wait an extra 30 minutes for our booked table the staff, service and quality of food was exceptional. Will be back!

Had lovely family meal recently. Would definitely recommend it.

Really great food, great service but it was really cold in the pub.