The best restaurants in East Midlands

After having had a fantastic experience here midweek during the summer, we promised ourselves we would be back for Sunday dinner. We booked by email, which was confirmed within minutes, Howe when we arrived there was no record of the booking. I was able to find the confirmation email. We were told that we could be accommodated but it would have to be in the bar area as there were 3 other bookings which already had restaurant tables reserved. We were advised to pick a table and they would set it up for us. We showed them where we would like to sit and waited for someone to bring some seating to the table. After 10 minutes we were still standing so found a different table which had seats in place. (We had already informed them that my husband was recovering from a broken ankle) Eventually the waitress came and gave us cutlery and placemats but no salt and pepper. She took our meat orders and I asked whether the veg would include cauliflower cheese, as I would like to not have it, as I have an allergy/intolerance. We waited a further half an hour for our meals, which came with the vegetables served on a tray, including the cauliflower cheese. There was only one spoon which was resting in the cheese sauce so I had to request another one. I then dished myself up a spoonful of swede/carrot mash and one broccoli floret. I did try to dish up some cabbage but found that when lifted from the plate, the cabbage came out from under the cauliflower cheese and covered in the sauce, so I had to not have cabbage. After the meal, the waitress came to clear the table. She dropped some vegetables on the tablecloth and asked if we wanted puddings to which I responded yes. After waiting for 38 minutes with no sign of the waitress to clean the table or take our pudding order, we decided to leave. On taking our payment the bar staff asked if everything had been ok, so I mentioned the above. He simply said, ‘sorry about that ‘but the mains were ok?’ I chose not to continue with the conversation, as my husband had overheard the barman say that he was going to rip someone’s head off. We are really disappointed as we had been telling everyone about how good our experience in the summer was. To top it all, there was a very large dog in the area which smelled strongly and a group of young children also came and used the pool table right next to us, despite there being a notice advising that nobody under 16 was allowed to use it. Another customer did point it out but was ignored. One or two little things we could have overlooked/forgiven but unfortunately there were too many today and we won’t be back

Best coffee in Harborough, simple as that! There are also some lovely italian style sandwiches and cakes, plus an Italian deli and lots of jars and dried pasta, olives, etc. It's our favourite coffee place by a mile!

Exceptional experience! The staff is super friendly, prices are incredibly affordable, and the food is absolutely delicious - best taste I've ever had! Highly recommend trying it out - you won't be disappointed

Outstanding service and food , such a great place to eat , food is absolutely beautiful and very good value

just to let everyone know that bamboo gardens is shut till the 11 of April 2025

The onion rings were absolutely saturated in oil, literally drip drip drip. Awful taste. Couldn’t eat them. The chicken Caesar salad, supposed to be the healthy option and wasn’t bad but the chicken had bones in it and the skin was on! Lazy. I wouldn’t go back.

I arranged for The Butlers Pantry to provide dinner for an Army Officer Reunion in a rental property. From my initial contact to the dinner served , a first class experience. Dietry requirement were all taken into consideration. I would highly recommed.

Absolutely love Taj. We’ve been a few times as a family and the food and service is excellent. Really friendly and the two girls serving are friendly and knowledgeable the food never disappoints.

Manager was rude to us. Sink and door handle were falling off the wall in the disabled bathroom. Chicken that was served was raw, not pink (which the chefs apparently told us was the case), as a chef myself, I found that insulting. Had to ask for a shot to make sure my girlfriend did not get food poisoning and was left waiting, had to remind the waitress for it. Only got an apology off the waitress and that’s it, got the bare minimum of the chicken being taken off our bill. Interior was not great either, large paint chunks missing all over the restaurant. I will not be recommending this place to anyone and will be avoiding it like the plague.

Came here for breakfast for the first time today very good food and service would highly recommend it here

We would not eat Italian food anywhere else, Rocco and Gill are great hosts and the food is superb, my partner and myself went to Rome 3 years ago and I can honestly say that the food at Rocco’s is better than any restaurant we visited there. Just try it once and I guarantee you will be back for more.

I really hate leaving bad reviews and in most cases I just vote with my feet and not return. This place however, should come with a buyer beware warning. I popped in here a few weeks ago and still have lasting memories about how awful this place truly was. I ordered a battered sausage and chips and a can of coke. The sausage was one of the cheaper end of market chip shop styles with dark grey mystery meat inside. Nothing about it would make you ever want to order another. The magic of this chip shop was prevalent in the chips, the center peice of the meal.... This has to be the only time I've been to a CHIP shop and not only did the chips looked cooked to within an inch of their lives with the outside of the chip being an mid-winter,fallen leaf shade of brown, upon biting in to them, they were rock solid and under cooked in the centre. The best part of this meal was the can of Coke to wash away this greasy and dissapointing meal. As a rule of thumb Ill always try somewhere 3-5 times before leaving a review, this place has unfortunatley been a 1 and done, never again. If your still reading this and want something positive to take away, try Nickos Fish Bar on the other side of town.

Very good fresh and delicious food! Grilled chicken panini one of my favourite, low prices 😋🐔🍗👌 and of course lovely staff 😘

the food was insane the fish and chips, battered sausage and all the pies are so good so cooked to perfection definitely a hidden gem to go to when passing kettering

Brilliant meal and food ! The decor may be tired and the layout a little school dinner hall but put that to one side as the food is something special. We had a range of dishes as starters and they were soon cleared though, with the mains all being eaten and everyone enjoyed their dishes. A rice portion would be fine for two people but it all depends how hungry you are! There’s an outdoor BBQ out back which is fired up on a Sunday with lots of outdoor seating. Will certainly be returning soon.