The Red Cow — Restaurant in Blaby

Recently visited and have to say I was disheartened with regards to how our desserts turned out. The main course had been fantastic and my group had enjoyed each of our choices.

When I looked at the dessert menu, nothing was grabbing my attention. It's mainly the standard choices that the majority of restaurants offer. One of the party had asked for a gluten-free menu which was presented to us on a tablet. He had clocked something which sounded amazing - White Chocolate Bombe (I think it was called). We both decided to pick this.

The order came out relatively quickly, but something seemed wrong. Our desserts were distinctly orange in colour and appeared the same as one of our friends, who had order the Chocolate Orange Delight. I had to quickly speak up in case they had given us the wrong order. I was right! The waitress decided to then let us know that the White Chocolate Bombe was no longer an option and it was the Chocolate Orange one instead. I was left aghast because it would have made a lot more sense to let us know before bringing them out. It was also concerning that nothing had been said even when they did hand out the desserts. In other words, they had changed our choices, then expected us to accept them.

I'm not a fan of chocolate orange so refused to have it, especially at nearly £9. The waitress took it away and asked if there was something I would like instead. Earlier on, I had spotted a promising pudding on the Weekend Special Menu - Chocolate Trio. In light of the mistake, they had made, I thought it wouldn't have been too unreasonable to ask if I could get that. I was told that as none of the group had had another course from that menu, that they couldn't do that choice for me. By this point, I was feeling deflated and I ended up without a pudding whilst my friends tucked into theirs.

For me, the whole dessert section of the night was handled badly. If you can't offer an item which a customer has asked for, then you've got to tell them straight the way. It doesn't make any sense to give them an alternative without warning. It doesn't come across well to not mention that what you're giving out is different. As the wrong dessert had been served to me, would it then be thrown out, or was it given to another customer later in...

Called in here to see what the food was like. So first impression. Greeted by a manager in a t-shirt (wasn't sure at first if this was a manager seeing as the place had just had a really good revamp 3 years ago). The environment was clean and tidy, tables laid professionally. At this point I had high expectations.

We ordered just one starter from the menu which was the Wild Tempura prawn served on a prawn cracker. This (sadly) was the highlight. The batter was perfect, the taste phenomenal and textures were as expected.

The main course was a sirloin for the wife and a slow cooked pork belly for myself. My black pudding mash was delicious, the greens were slightly over, the jus was a great accompaniment for the meal. The pork however came with no crackling (but was specified on menu), which meant just a fatty layer on top of moist meat and dry meat underneath. This says to me that the pork was cooked slow from being stored below temp previously, the fat layer not removed (which could have been done easily as I did at table) and then blasted on high heat or pan fried to create a good crackle.

The steak was a poor cut, the meat was full of gristle as there was a high content of elastin which does not ever render properly, no matter how low/slow you cook it. In this case I would suggest a new meat supplier.

When the manager came to ask my wife (I was indesposed) she mentioned the gristle and the response she received was "no worries". He took the plate and walked off into the abyss. We did find that £20 was comped when our service provider came with the bill.

This place has high end decor and is good value for drinks. Sadly other than the amazing starter the food was lacking. A uniformed professional looking staff would also be of benefit. A more professional and customer focused attitude is also something to...

I am writing this review on behalf of my husband and his team of removal guys who are currently staying over in Leicester while carrying out an office move for an international company based in Leicester, as after a telephone conversation with my husband who is extremely upset and embarrassed for his staff as this was very obvious that the bar staff took exception to the two black guys entering the Red Cow Hotel. My husband was in the Red Cow early tonight eating his meal, he had just finished when he was joined by 4 of his colleagues, all white guys. They ordered drinks and had menus. Then two other colleagues arrived, both black guys. Immediately a member of staff came over and asked them all to leave on the pretence that it wasn’t a sitting area, it was a restaurant. My husband then spoke to the bar manager, told him they were all working in Leicester and he was their manager, he asked why they had been asked to leave the area, they hadn’t even been given the chance to order a meal or drink. The bar manager must have had second thoughts, obviously realised it was a huge mistake to ask them to leave as soon as these two guys arrived so he told my husband they could all sit down again, but instead they left. This was a racism at its best, These are all hard working guys, who just wanted to have some food after a hard days work and two nights away from home. Tomorrow they will look for a more welcoming place to have an evening meal. Based on this I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone as it seems they like to choose their clientele based on colour. This appears to be a chain of pub restaurants so I will be taking the matter up on their behalf with whoever is responsible...