The White Peacock in Leicester

I made it to the White Peacock recently and was so excited to finally get to try it. It has popped up on my radar several times as they are well known for being vegan-friendly, and I’ve only ever heard good things about the food.

I booked us in on a Saturday night at 6:30pm. Even though I called 2 weeks in advance, they were already fully booked for later on (so be sure to get your reservations in early!). I asked them if they could cater for vegans, and was not surprised that yes, they were happy to do that. We were then given the option of having a normal a la carte meal, a seven course tasting menu or a nine course tasting menu. Well you know me and food, I went for the nine course option. If you’re gonna do a job, you might as well go all in, amirite?

We arrived about 30 minutes early in order to have a drink in the restaurant bar. The bar is beautiful – and has a moody, romantic feel. With dark wooden panelling and green foliage dotted throughout, you get a somewhat exotic and colonial feel. I ordered a dry martini with olives (yum!) while Andrew went for a vodka gimlet. Both well mixed and very tasty.

The manager that evening greeted us and gave us the option of hearing about our dishes in advance or being surprised – and we went with the latter in order to avoid and assumptions about what to expect. She also pointed out that almost all of their wines are vegan apart from one or two. So we ordered a bottle of lovely pinot noir for the table.

We were seated in the corner of the restaurant near the windows, facing the rest of the room. It was a great location and the restaurant, like the bar, had a romantic, airy atmosphere. It definitely has a “special occasion” feeling about it.

Let’s talk food. It was really good. And big, really big. The portions were so large for a tasting menu that I’m fairly certain I’m still working off that dinner. Not that I’m complaining really.

Below are all the courses we had with a brief description of each. Rather than go into the detail about what it tasted like, just take my word that each dish was really well seasoned, cooked and beautifully presented.

(apologies for the poor image quality – was a bit dark in the restaurant!)

My only real complaint was that the savory dishes were quite root-vegetable centric. Don’t get me wrong, I like potatoes, beets and the like, but it would have been nice to have a bit more variety. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the desserts – but that’s because I’m a chocolate person and not a sweets person (if that makes sense), so it would have been nice if there was a chocolate option.

The food, experience and ambiance made for a really enjoyable night – I will certainly be back again!

*The 9 course tasting menu was £46 each, while the 7 course tasting menu is slightly less at £35 each