Halal and HMC food spots on Evington Road in Leicester
Masjid Umar
If there’s one thing Leicester’s Evington Road isn’t short of, it’s Halal food, with most dining establishments firmly adhering to the Halal Monitoring Committee’s (HMC) certification initiative.
This means that restaurants with the HMC insignia have been validated for selling HMC meat that’s been hand-slaughtered without stunning, with full traceability to the supply chain.
What’s also of convenience after a good dine at anyone of the many cuisines available up and down this road, is that at the end of the parade of high street shops, there’s the main mosque: Masjid Umar.
What we’ve done is not just collate 22 different restaurants, eateries and takeaways for your convenience, but also indicated both their hygiene rating and if they’re HMC certified.
BRGR.BRO
HMC CERTIFIED HYGIENE RATING 5
158 Evington Rd, Leicester LE2 1HL • Hygiene Rating: 5
BRGR.BRO is the UK’s first slider restaurant. For those who don’t know, sliders are miniature burgers; and this fully Halal, HMC certified restaurant does them extremely well.
Flaming Hot Chicken – #FtLionAwards & Readers’ Choice Best Burger of 2019!
We had the pleasure of reviewing them last year where they not only impressed with a 4/5 rating, but their fantastic Grilled Flaming Hot Chicken also won our #FtLionAwards Best Burger of the Year, while being voted our Readers’ Choice too.
Now the idea behind sliders, given their daintiness, is to consider ordering either BRGR.BRO’s 2-slider box for just £4.99, or the more popular 3-slider box for £6.99, with all burgers available in either a charcoal bun or brioche, and coming with some incredibly addictive skin-on fries.
These guys also did one of the best versions of McD’s Filet-O-Fish we’ve had in quite some time, along with this huge bowl of delicious Grilled Chicken Salad, which was so well executed.
But, do NOT forget to try their freshly-made Classic Pancake with maple syrup – an extremely generous dessert which can be topped with either plenty of crushed Oreo and Hershey’s, or Lotus Biscoff & Caramel.
If you are in the vicinity, then BRGR.BRO needs to be, as a matter of priority, on your restaurants to try in Leicester.
CHAIIWALA
HYGIENE RATING 4
207 Evington Rd, Leicester LE2 1QN • Hygiene Rating: 4
There’s no denying the popularity of desi breakfast and tea chain Chaiiwala both across the country, with 25 stores (more on the way), and here on Evington Road.
#FtLionAwards 2019 – Readers’ Choice: Karak Chaii
This place is always packed during the evening; and we can understand why too because their Karak Tea was voted by you as our Readers’ Choice: Best Beverage of the year during last year’s #FtLionAwards.
Their menu is renowned for serving street snacks with plenty of beautifully brewed teas and coffees which can be enjoyed with things like a selection of rotis, Bombay sandwiches, Masala Chips.
And since they open early too at 7.30am on weekdays and 9.30 on weekends, we’d seriously recommend their desi breakfast too which, while coming with their “special” masala omelette and at under a fiver, is a no brainer!
Having launched over 4-years-ago, Chaiiwala now boasts cafes across the UK in places like London, Birmingham, Leicester, Cardiff, Bradford, Bolton and Blackburn among others.
FAIZA'S PASTRY CORNER
HYGIENE RATING 5
209 Evington Rd, Leicester LE2 1QN • Hygiene Rating: 5
Located on the corner of Conway Road, Faiza’s Pastry Corner is a small joint that offers a varied menu comprising of things like: samosas, spring rolls, pastries, filled cobs, wraps, rolls, desserts, drinks and sweets.
CHOCOBERRY
HYGIENE RATING 5
207 Evington Rd, Leicester LE2 1QN • Hygiene Rating: 5
Chocoberry has three desserts parlours across Leicester and one in London. They “believe quite simply, in great desserts for everybody”, and offer a menu “inspired by our travels around the world” with things like Waffles, Choco Puffs, French Crepes, Cookie Dough, Cakes, Cheesecakes and Spanish Churros.
JUNGLE PAPRIKA
HMC CERTIFIED HYGIENE RATING 5
202-204 Evington Rd, Leicester LE2 1HN • Hygiene Rating: 5
Promising “the wild taste of Afrika”, HMC certified Jungle Paprika is a large, African Grill House offers seating outside, and has a menu with gourmet burgers, plenty of kebabs, pizzas, and what they call JP’s House Specials.
BOMBAY BITES
HMC CERTIFIED HYGIENE RATING 4
194 Evington Rd, Leicester LE2 1HN • Hygiene Rating: 4
So “when hunger strikes…”, HMC certified Bombay Bites is apparently the place to visit. Having been voted Leicester Mercury newspaper’s Readers Choice Takeaway of the year back in 2015, these guys are essentially a cafe with plenty to choose from.
TASTY
HMC CERTIFIED HYGIENE RATING 3
192 Evington Road, Leicester LE2 1HN • Hygiene Rating: 3
This HMC certified takeaway that does chicken and pizzas. With an online payment system to makes things easy, Tasty is also available through Just East and Deliveroo.
BURGER BASE
HMC CERTIFIED HYGIENE RATING 4
190 Evington Road, Leicester LE2 1HN • Hygiene Rating: 4
HMC certified Burger Base appears to be the only competitor to BRGR.BRO. However, unlike their sliders, this place offers what appear to be your traditional burgers made from “100% prime beef”.
JOHNNY CUSTARD
HYGIENE RATING 5
183 Evington Road, Leicester LE2 1QN • Hygiene Rating: 5
Johnny Custard is Evington Road’s second dessert parlour. With two venues in Leicester, these guys swear by their Jam Roly Poly, Trifle Treat Sundae, Nutty Chocolate Cake, Ferrero Rocher Waffle, or their Johnny Custard signature dessert.
QBARAZ
HMC CERTIFIED HYGIENE RATING 3
181 Evington Rd, Leicester LE2 1QN • Hygiene Rating: 3
Qbaraz is an HMC certified, Indian restaurant that has an extensive menu of breakfasts, tawa and karahi curry dishes, an assortment of grill and steaks, as well as desserts.
OODLES CHINESE
HMC CERTIFIED HYGIENE RATING 5
1 Kingston road, Leicester, LE2 1QD • Hygiene Rating: 5
Located on the corner of Kingston Road, Oodles Chinese, as the name hints at, is a noodle house takeaway franchise that’s HMC certified and boasts 18 branches across the UK.
MARHABA
HMC CERTIFIED HYGIENE RATING 3
171 Evington Rd, Leicester LE2 1QL • Hygiene Rating: 3
‘Marhaba’, or welcome to… Marhaba – another steak and grill restaurant that’s again HMC certified with steak sizzlers, grills, kebabs, burgers and more.
AL-BARAKAH
HYGIENE RATING 5
167 Evington Road, Leicester LE2 1QL • Hygiene Rating: 5
Al-Baraka is a huge restaurant with seating both upstairs and down. What’s more, it seems to offer an extended menu that includes fish and chips while also serving as a grill house.
KHYBER TASTE
HYGIENE RATING 2
165 Evington Road, Leicester LE2 1QL • Hygiene Rating: 2
Khyber Taste is a small restaurant with limited seating that does your usual burgers, wraps, kebabs, grills, and chickens, all of which can be delivered direct to your door. NOTE: This place has a hygiene rating of 2.
LOKMA
HMC CERTIFIED HYGIENE RATING 1
164 Evington Road, Leicester LE2 1HL • Hygiene Rating: 1
Okay, so this is Evington Road’s only Turkish place. Lokma is an HMC certified Meze Mangal whose menu is dominated by plenty of freshly made meat dishes. NOTE: This place has a hygiene rating of 1.
FALAFEL FACTORY
HMC CERTIFIED HYGIENE RATING Awaiting Inspection
161 Evington Road, Leicester LE2 1QL • Hygiene Rating: Awaiting Inspection
This HMC certified eatery stands out because of its menu revolving around freshly-made falafels. Falafel Factory is a little place that serves Middle Eastern cuisine.
KORTOBA PIZZARIA
HMC CERTIFIED HYGIENE RATING Awaiting Inspection
159 Evington Road, Leicester LE2 1QL • Hygiene Rating: Awaiting Inspection
Another HMC certified pizza place, Kortoba Pizzaria is your typical takeaway pizza place that also has some Mediterranean and Turkish choices like Lasagna, couscous-oriented dishes, and tajines. NOTE: Peculiarly, while their Facebook page has a picture of a 5-hygiene rating, the FSA website, perhaps still to update their page, has this marked as “Awaiting Inspection”.
PIZZA COTTAGE
HYGIENE RATING 4
155A Evington Road, Leicester LE2 1QJ • Hygiene Rating: 4
Not sure if the ‘P’ in Pizza Cottage is meant to be doubled-over like that, but if it is, then it’s a good way of standing out from the crowd (not sure if that’s a positive thing or not), especially if you’re another pizza takeaway joint.
CRAVINGS
HYGIENE RATING 4
144 Evington Road, Leicester LE2 1HL • Hygiene Rating: 4
Cravings is Evington Road’s third dessert parlour (you guys must really love your desserts!), and they have just as many sweet things to tantalise your taste buds as their nearest rivals.
MUBARAK'S
HMC CERTIFIED HYGIENE RATING 2
2 Draper Street, Leicester LE2 1PP • Hygiene Rating: 2
Situated on the corner of Draper Street, HMC certified Mubarak’s is the famous roads’s only Indo-Chinese fusion place which, similar to Oodles Chinese, serves noodle boxes among other Oriental-inspired assortment boxes. NOTE: This place has a hygiene rating of 2.
STEAK HOUSE
HMC CERTIFIED HYGIENE RATING 4
143 Evington Road, Leicester LE2 1QJ • Hygiene Rating: 4
And Steak House is the only restaurant that claims to specialise in steaks. Being HMC certified also, there’s grilled steaks like T-bone, kebabs, chops, beef and chicken strips, and more.
CAKE BOX
HYGIENE RATING 5
141 Evington Road, Leicester LE2 1QJ • Hygiene Rating: 5
Well established specialists Cake Box, if you don’t know, are renowned for making and selling only eggless fresh cream cakes that have been given the stamp approval by no less the Vegetarian Society.
Sponsored by: BRGR.BRO/ Chaiiwala
