Middletons Leicester — Restaurant in England

Middleton's is a smaller group of chain of steakhouses starting out in Middleton near Kings Lynn. I decided to visit Leicester's branch with a total of 9 in their group now. The exterior and interior of this restaurant was gorgeous. It had really tall ceilings and it's chic touch without going over the top help retain the buildings character which used to be NatWest bank. I was seen my a host and shown to my booked table promptly. You can also pre order your food online which I had never seen before and nice to have that option. Likewise when seated I was given water automatically without asking. This was a lovely touch to see more restaurants adopting also. I opted for their very reasonablely priced Fixed Price Lunch Menu which at 2 courses for £10.95 or 3 courses for £11.95 this is excellent value. The rest of the menu is also reasonably priced and is cheaper than Miller and Carter overall. Cocktails are priced at around £7. I did note that I had to order from the menu manually as I was not offered this menu on entry and had to get it off their website. The restaurant had nice ambient background music on and given it was warm outside it was suitably air conditioned. Exterior dining tables were avaliable and busy at the time but quieter inside when I visited.

One thing I liked was that the starter and main dish came with tissue underneath it which helped given there was only one napkin on the table for those messy eaters.

I had the following today:

Starter - Garlic Mushrooms Mushrooms are my favourite thing to have. It was in a lemon and herby sauce with sourdough on the side. The sourdough was on the hard side with that extra crunch to it. It was nice that it was separate to the garlic mushrooms as opposed to being on top of it to avoid it going soggy. They tasted fresh and a good pallet cleanser to start with. I received this in around 7 minutes.

Main - Minute Steak I opted for this medium rare as per the hosts recommendation. A steak knife was already on the table in advance and I did not need to ask for this. I opted for wedges as a side with this. The steak was cooked exactly to how I wanted it and had a distinct chargrilled taste to it. It was a little chewy but nothing excessive to expect of a minute steak. It had a lean and tender flavour to it and tasted great. The mushroom tasted as expected alongside the tomato. The wedges were a good size and well salted with a crisp outer layer to them. Overall I had no issues! I received this within 12 minutes of the starter being cleared.

Dessert - Eton Mess Cheesecake Eton Mess crossed with a cheesecake. I had never heard of a combination in a restaurant before. This worked so well and was very rich in its flavour. A generous amount of berries on the top of it coupled with the vanilla ice cream made it an awesome summer dessert. I received this 7 minutes after the main.

Overall, I was very happy with Middleton's given it was my first visit to one. Great value food with friendly staff, relaxed atmosphere and good quality for what you get. I did report a hand dryer issue to the team who said they would get it sorted. Toilets are unisex here with individual cubicles. The location also offers Blue Light Card 20% discount Monday - Friday on the a la...

Inhospitable. I rarely leave bad reviews, but my experience of Middleton’s was so bad I couldn’t allow it to pass. Starting with the good points – the interior is lovely, but that is where it ends. My meal was average, the main was overcooked and everything was under-seasoned. I could have let that pass, but what I couldn’t fail to mention was the awful service. Our main waitress was very jovial and able to handle a large party, but communication was lacking, particularly when it came to dietary requirements and closing times. We had a vegetarian in our group who was mis-sold a meal that she couldn’t eat and then the replacement wasn’t what we were told – even though the person in our party was very specific. This led to her having a meal consisting of a small bowl of fries. Given the delays, the kitchen closed before we had time to order our desserts. We were not informed that the kitchen would close an hour before the venue closed, nor were we told that the venue would be closed at 11 – but the manager made that very clear when we attempted to order desserts, telling us we had to leave before 11, no exceptions. Begrudgingly, and after an unnecessary argument where the manager felt it appropriate to make himself the victim in the situation, we were offered desserts that didn’t need to be cooked, but that came with an attitude that made us feel unwelcome. Staff then clocked off and lined the side of the restaurant with their coats and bags and it made for an uncomfortable climax where we had to rush down our last drinks and get out. Our bill came to around £300 after a small token discount was given – we could have easily spent three times that with extra drinks, desserts and tip. However, it was clear the most important thing was our party leaving so the staff could go home. I had a decade-long career in hospitality and I remember reopening our kitchen many, many times when a walk-in arrived 15 minutes before closing and accommodating them just as if they were the first customer of the day to make sure they had a decent experience. I’d expect that from the cheapest restaurant in Leicester and given Middleton’s is definitely not the cheapest I would hope for something beyond the lowest standard. That is not the experience I got. It was below the lowest standard of service. I will never go there again, not even for...

Disappointing Bottomless Brunch – Would Not Recommend

We visited Middletons for a bottomless brunch and were left thoroughly disappointed. There were three of us in the group, and unfortunately, not one of us enjoyed the experience.

Two of us ordered the chicken and waffles, which arrived soggy, bland, and honestly inedible. The third person had the gammon and chips – the gammon was paper-thin, looked like it had been dropped on the floor, and was served stone cold. It’s such a shame because Middletons used to serve lovely food, but it’s clearly gone downhill. We were warned by friends that Middletons was rubbish, but from past experiences (3ish years ago) being so positive, we decided to give it a try. What a mistake.

The atmosphere was off – we were crammed into a tiny section of the restaurant, despite plenty of space elsewhere. It felt awkward and poorly thought out. Service was also a letdown. Most of the staff seemed completely disinterested or overwhelmed. One younger waitress stood out for being helpful, but she was clearly run off her feet while the rest of the team offered little to no support.

We ordered drinks and some bread with olive oil as a starter (which we were happy to pay extra for), but while our drinks arrived after about 10 minutes, the bread never did. Then came the cold, unappetising food.

Over the entire two-hour brunch, we managed just two drinks each – not exactly what you’d expect from a “bottomless” experience. One of our group doesn’t drink alcohol, and the only non-alcoholic option available was mocktails – no simple things like a Diet Coke.

Overall, it was a really disappointing visit. The food was terrible, the drinks were slow, the service was chaotic, and the atmosphere just felt strange. I definitely wouldn’t recommend Middletons for a...