Thyme Bar & Grill in Leicester

Walked in to the hotel receptionist were busy on screen, said hi asked them what time dinner is served to and if we need to log our car in parking…. Was all fine showed us were Resturant was… we waited for a bit near wait here sign.. no one in sight just a few odd tables with ppl sat down.. (not busy at all would say 10/11 ppl sat down.. walked through Resturant seen two staff members in purple striped shirts Staring at till screen and talking between themselves, so we waited to be acknowledged by them… for a few minutes then asked… hi, is there any one that cud assist they had said “we are busy go back to the front” in a abrupt rude manner like we were not well come.. so we walked to reception and told what we had just experienced and walked out.. they were shocked what had just happened.. and I had told them we had come for a meeting to look at hiring your conference rooms for 2 months twice a week. Not any more we said Moral of the story is NEVER turn a customer away you never know how much business they give even if it’s just a tea or coffee per month especially in these times every little helps.

Plenty parking although the car park appears small at first there is more around the back of the hotel. Great food staff where helpful on the first day helping me choose a meal because of my gluten allergy. However i cant say the same for the duty manager the second evening I asked if I could swap the naan bread as i'm allergic to it for an extra portion of rice he said no I questioned him on why as other premier inn owned restaurants have done this for me in the past. The waitress told him to check with the chef however the chef said its ok. I did get my extra portion of rice minus a naan bread but he seemed like he couldn't be bothered helping customers out. At breakfast on the second day the waitress who took our order was taking the Michael out of our northern accents. Which is totally unprofessional. i'd recommend the meal deal if staying in the premier inn.

The food was of a reasonable standard, but the wait to be seated and the length of time for the food to arrive was not acceptable in a restaurant that is part of a major chain. The waiting staff blamed the kitchen,but they were also inept,walking past dirty tables without clearing the debris. My old boss would've sacked most of them at the end of their shift !! So many tables offered comp drinks due to kitchen delays.This needs to be sorted asap.

My only real niggle about this restaurant is that it is not very obvious and is easy to miss. Located in the hotel lobby, the only clue to its existence is the bar and lounge area. Nothing is named or overtly signposted, so it is only by venturing into the bar that I was referred to the restaurant further down. I was staying at the hotel for one night recently - see my separate review on that, and Thyme seemed the most convenient option for dinner - there being nothing else within walking distance. As for the food - it was the same old perennial favourites: burgers, grills and the other usual suspects (a curry, pie & gravy, fish & chips). Although, to be fair, there was a special selection called 'Tastes of the Med' which looked interesting. As a starter I opted for the spicy king prawns which were grilled with the shell on and served with a piece of flatbread and a spicy dip (see picture). I'm sure these were jumbo prawns, not king prawns, and there is a difference. But shell-on prawns can be hard to administer as they invariably need to be peeled which can be messy. But they were reasonably fresh and not overcooked. The main course was a Mediterranean chicken burger, an interesting take on the humble chicken burger, a bun with marinated chicken breast, sliced peppers and tzatziki. The combination works surprisingly well (see picture). Dessert was also the same old fare: cheesecake, chocolate brownie, ice cream, sundae. The most interesting and slightly out of the ordinary item was the Prosecco trifle (see picture). This was clearly freshly prepared and nicely presented in its own individual bowl and was surprisingly good. At any rate a vast improvement on the usual shop bought trifles we are perhaps more familiar with. My only negative observation is that it was not chilled enough - it had clearly been sitting in a warm kitchen and was a little too loose. A good trifle should really be well chilled. My evening was made more agreeable by the chatty and friendly waiter, who was happy to discuss options and was very attentive and informative. The restaurant itself was pretty quiet and virtually empty, but for a hotel of this size it certainly does the job.

Had a great dinner recently, great tasting food, nice staff who were very helpful. Must visit if in the area.

Had to wait for around 2 hours to get one seat a table in this restaurant. Did wait and there appeared to be empty tables for quite a while. Food was on usual quality.