One of my favourite places to eat at is Tipu Sultan in Leicester. Leicester is like my second home as I spent 4 years there studying for my Law degree and then my Legal Practice Course. As the city is about an hour away from us it is one of the places we regularly visit when we want to eat out….as our city is seriously lacking in decent places to eat. We decided to go to Tipu Sultan in Leicester the weekend after Eid as late Eid/birthday celebrations.
Tipu Sultan is in the town of Oadby which is around 2 miles from Leicester City Centre. The restaurant has parking although this can get packed during busy periods. I remember once we decided to go elsewhere as the car park was rammed and we couldn’t find any on street parking…we couldn’t park too far as had my elderly parents with us.
Decor
With a water fountain outdoors and then on entering the restaurant the decor is something that can’t be missed and will certainly impress.
The reception area is pretty impressive and there is a waiting room with ample space and purple velvet seating. Along with chandeliers, coloured lighting and the comfort and spacing between the tables and booths, it all gives the place a luxurious feel.
One of the things that can personally make a break a restaurant for me are the toilets. With children, more often than not they will need the toilet. I don’t want to be taking them into unclean toilets, with broken seats and seats that are so old they actually look like they have germs visibly breeding on them. There is no such issue at Tipu Sultan…even the toilets have a luxurious feel about them. With ceiling to floor mirrors for those who have to take selfies of themselves in toilets, to what looked like a bath as a sink to wash your hands in.
My only complaint would be that the lighting within the cubicles themselves are a bit dark….Bee was a bit nervous going in alone as she said it was too dark.
There are also separate wudu facilites and prayer rooms…but as we did not make use of them I cannot comment.
Service and Food
We have now been to Tipu Sultan about 3 times. Tipu Sultan Leicester is HMC certified and their certificate is on display at the door. From the start their service was impeccable. We phoned to book, as coming from an hour away we wanted to make sure we would be seated. We were advised that there shouldn’t be an issue to get a table that night but they were happy to book one for us which they did. On arriving (at 7.15pm) we were welcomed at reception and immediately taken to our table.
Not long after we were seated we were asked if we would like to order some poppadoms and our waitress arrived with hot towels for us to all wipe our hands. We were not rushed to place our order and the waitress was happy to take her time and provide suggestions when we weren’t sure. She also made the effort with Bee. As a parent it is always nice to see waiters/waitresses include the children and speak to them too rather than over them. Bee left the restaurant having made a friend with the waitress and the neighbouring customers smiling at how talkative she was with the waitress, who was very attentive during the time we were there.
On this occasion we only ordered starters because we did not feel like any mains and even starters can fill you up. However on previous occasions we have ordered the biryani and curries and have had no complaints about the quality.
The food this time did take around 30 minutes to arrive. However we had been warned about the time as we had ordered chicken leg which takes that long as it was cooked fresh.
We ordered:
3 Poppadoms £2.45
Murgh Sheekh Kebab £4.45
Tandoori Chicken Leg £4.95
2 Fries £4.50
Salmon Tikka £8.95
Fish Amritsari £8.45
Papri Chaat £4.45
Naan £1.95
Sultani Chops £5.95
Diet Pepsi £2.20
J20 £2.75
Strawberry Juice £4.45
Total: £55.50
All the food arrived together and there were no complaints with the quality or taste of any of the starters. I personally could have done with a bit more spice in them but I still enjoyed them. Personally I was disappointed with the portion sizes of the fish in particular. I know fish can be expensive but for almost £9 I was expecting a bit more fish!
The lamb chops were tasty. We have been to a few restaurants where the lamb chops have been excessively dry and chewy but these were just right. The chicken was succulent and the salad was also full of flavour.
The papri chaat, although not my favourite out of all the ones I have had in other places was still nice and I would order again.
If you live in Leicester or are simply passing through then I would recommend you give Tipu Sultan a try.
Have you been there before? What did you think?