New Indian Restaurants in Leicester (October 2026)

TL;DR

• Leicester has welcomed a fresh wave of Indian and South Asian dining options in 2026, from a refurbished Goan restaurant to a biryani specialist and a street food chain
• Golden Sands on London Road returned after a full refurbishment with Goan and Portuguese-influenced cooking 🍽️
• Mandi and Biryani House on Granby Street focuses on mandi and biryani, two distinct rice-based traditions
• Naan Staap on Horsefair Street is the chain's first Midlands site, serving stuffed naans and desi karak chai
• My Delhi on Belvoir Street remains a popular choice for North Indian street plates and slow-cooked curries

Leicester's Indian Food Scene in October 2026

Leicester has held a prominent place in the UK's Indian food story for more than half a century. The South Asian community settled here in significant numbers from the 1960s onward, and the city's restaurants, sweet shops, and grocers have reflected that heritage ever since. In 2026, the scene continues to evolve, with new openings adding fresh perspectives alongside long-established favourites across the city.

October is a particularly good time to explore the city's Indian restaurants. The cooler weather suits the spiced, warming dishes the cuisine does so well. Post-summer, recently opened venues have usually found their rhythm. With Diwali falling in late October or early November depending on the year, the city's Indian community is in a celebratory mood, which animates the dining scene from the Golden Mile outward into the city centre and surrounding streets. This guide covers the most notable recent arrivals and the staples worth revisiting as the year winds down.

Golden Sands: Goan and Portuguese Indian Cooking

Golden Sands sits at 65–69 London Road and reopened in 2026 after a full refurbishment. The kitchen focuses on the Goan and Portuguese-influenced traditions of western India's coastal cooking — a style that uses coconut, tamarind, vinegar, and spice profiles distinct from the North Indian repertoire that dominates many UK menus.

The menu includes chicken xacuti, a Goan coconut and dried-spice curry, as well as lobster biryani and fried squid preparations that reflect Goa's maritime cooking traditions. The restaurant also runs Indian-style breakfast and brunch service, which is unusual for a city-centre Indian venue and gives it utility across more of the day than a dinner-only operation would.

The refurbishment gave the restaurant a sharper visual identity alongside the updated menu. For visitors who have already worked through Leicester's North Indian staples, Golden Sands offers a meaningfully different angle on the sub-continent's cooking.

Insider Tip: Golden Sands is one of the only Leicester Indian restaurants offering a daytime brunch service. If you want to try Goan cooking without competing for a weekend dinner table, the morning service is a quieter entry point and a less common way to experience the cuisine.

Mandi and Biryani House: Focus on Rice

Mandi and Biryani House operates at 124 Granby Street in central Leicester. The menu centres on two distinct rice dish traditions: mandi, a slow-cooked preparation of rice and meat popular across the Arabian Peninsula and South Asia, and biryani, which needs no introduction in a city like Leicester.

The restaurant's narrow focus gives it a clear identity in a crowded field. Where many Indian restaurants aim for breadth — a full curry menu plus tandoori plus street food — Mandi and Biryani House draws customers who know what they want: rice-forward, slow-cooked South Asian cooking done with care and consistency. The Food Standards Agency logged an inspection visit in March 2026, confirming the restaurant was actively trading and compliant.

Granby Street sits at the edge of Leicester's city centre and attracts a mix of students, workers, and residents from the surrounding neighbourhoods. The restaurant's position on a well-frequented street makes it an accessible choice for anyone already exploring the city centre.

Naan Staap: Street Food Chain Reaches the Midlands

Naan Staap opened its Leicester branch at 6 Horsefair Street in August 2025, taking over what had previously been a gaming café space. The chain was originally a London operation and this was its first venture outside the capital — a vote of confidence in Leicester's appetite for South Asian street food outside the Golden Mile.

The offering centres on stuffed naans and layered parathas, served alongside desi karak chai — the sweet, condensed-milk spiced tea common across Pakistani and North Indian communities and now well-established on the UK high street. Desserts and baked goods feature alongside the savoury menu, making the space function as a daytime café as much as a restaurant. The Food Standards Agency awarded the site a "Very Good" hygiene rating after inspecting it shortly after opening.

The format is relatively quick and casual, which suits a street food concept. Queues form at busy times, but the turnover is fast enough that waiting is rarely prolonged.

My Delhi: North Indian Street Plates in the City Centre

My Delhi at 26 Belvoir Street opened in 2023 and has steadily built a following for North Indian cooking in Leicester's city centre. The menu covers street plates — smaller dishes designed to be shared or ordered in combination — alongside tandoori preparations and roadside-style curries that draw on the kind of everyday cooking found across North India.

The brand chose Leicester for its East Midlands debut, and the city-centre location brings it within easy reach of shoppers, students, and office workers. The menu includes both meat and vegetarian options, and the restaurant operates as a halal kitchen. For first-time visitors, the range of street plates makes it easy to try several dishes across a single meal rather than committing to one main course.

The Golden Mile and the Wider Scene

Leicester's most concentrated stretch of Indian restaurants and sweet shops runs along Belgrave Road, commonly called the Golden Mile. This corridor has anchored the city's South Asian food identity for decades and continues to draw visitors from across the region. Many of the restaurants along this stretch reflect the city's large Gujarati community, and the range of purely plant-based Indian cooking here is exceptional by any standard.

October also marks the approach to Diwali, and the Golden Mile is at its liveliest around the festival period. Sweet shops along Belgrave Road pile up fresh mithai — barfi, ladoo, jalebi — in the weeks leading up to the festival. If you plan a visit around Diwali, reserve tables in advance and expect the area to be busy in the evenings. The city's annual Diwali lights are switched on along the Golden Mile, drawing crowds from across the region.

FAQ

Are the new restaurants halal? Naan Staap and My Delhi both operate as halal kitchens. For Golden Sands and Mandi and Biryani House, check directly with the restaurant before visiting, as halal status is not stated in public listings.

Where is the best area for Indian food in Leicester? Belgrave Road (the Golden Mile) is the most concentrated area for Indian food in the UK outside London. Central Leicester around Granby Street, Belvoir Street, and London Road has also grown significantly in recent years.

Are there good vegetarian Indian options in Leicester? Yes. Leicester's South Asian food scene is especially strong for vegetarian cooking, with several fully vegetarian restaurants along the Golden Mile reflecting the city's Gujarati population.

Is it worth booking ahead? Around Diwali in late October and early November, restaurants along the Golden Mile get very busy. Booking ahead is advisable, especially for groups and weekend evenings at any of the venues listed here.

Is Leicester worth visiting specifically for Indian food? The city is widely regarded as one of the best places in the UK for South Asian food, and the reputation is well earned. The combination of long-established institutions and newer openings gives visitors a wide range of options at different price points and in different styles.

Bottom Line

Leicester's Indian restaurant scene has fresh entries in 2026 worth adding to your list. Golden Sands brings Goan coastal cooking to London Road. Mandi and Biryani House focuses the menu on rice-based South Asian traditions. Naan Staap delivers Indian street food and chai in a casual café format. My Delhi continues to hold its own as a consistent central option for North Indian cooking. The Golden Mile remains the city's anchor, but the spread of quality Indian dining across Leicester means there is now more to explore than ever for anyone following the diaspora food trail.