Giggling Squid - Leicester — Restaurant in Great Britain

NOT SUITABLE FOR MUSLIMS OR UNIQUE DIETARY REQUIREMENTS!.

Absolutely shocking experience in this restaurant two of my close friends are Muslim, we went to this restaurant, as they have been to other branches in the past. Before sitting down, we checked if they had halal chicken, we asked the waiter who said the wings and duck spring rolls are not halal. Not a problem when they had been to giggling squid in Nottingham they swapped these items out.

We sat down, the incompetent waitress didn't bring us a menu for my friends daughter who was eating with us. She only brought this out after we had ordered which meant a delay my friends daughter food being brought out.

We tried ordering the lunch platters, two regular platters for my wife and I. Two platters for my friends, however we politely asked to swap the non halal items (wings and duck spring rolls) for just plain vegetarian spring rolls. Should be easy enough, cheapest thing on the menu, going to be significantly less from a cost perspective, as they are cheaper than both non halal items. The waitress said she will check, she went to the kitchen and said its not possible. My friends had mentioned they've been to the Nottingham branch and done the same thing. The waitress said ' we can't because of the way things are cooked and set out. Rubbish excuse

It was late in the afternoon, we had a small child with us, we were going to go somewhere else to eat but decided with the little ones schedule we would just have to stay. Disappointed we asked to speak to the manager who gave the same rubbish excuse. We then had to order items separately for my friends and work with the manager to find a solution for the obnoxious chef who I can only assume is racist, who couldn't simply bring out the dishes as part of the meal deal, but make someone order each item separately which is the same thing. My friend did the math the meal was more expensive and asked then manager to cover the cost of the rice to make the expense more barable. Why did we have to come up with the solution for this ? Why is the chef particular about something but happy to serve the same dishes separately.

This was shocking in 2024 to be in the middle of Leicester, which has such a strong Muslim community and not be able to swap items from the menu to facilitate someone's dietary requirements is ridiculous.

I would ask the management to investigate this, it's truly unacceptable, nobody should ever feel singled out based on there background.

The one star is for the food as it actually tasted good but the experience let a terrible tast in my mouth. I would have left 0 stars otherwise

You failed at your mission to serve great tasting Thai food and a truly welcoming experience for our guests no matter how far our tentacles reach across the UK. We didn't feel welcome and will not return to your restaurant. I encourage others to reconsider...

First time in Leicester - up until that point the biggest UK city I hadn’t visited - and looking for a decent meal. The Giggling Squid was a natural choice, as I’ve always liked the Cardiff one.

Nice location, in a little square near the cathedral. It was a sunny day so some people were sat outside. I didn’t, as I don’t do that in the UK. This was good though, as the inside was cool and quiet.

Seated immediately, in a booth no less, the service here was excellent from start to finish.

Ordered the crispy squid bits to start - I love this, a generous portion of crispy squid with a good level of spice. Order it and make sure you eat all the ‘dust’ at the end. 🐲

For a main, I tried the sticky chicken with a coconut rice - this is described as a ‘hearty’ portion. That makes me think of Henry VIII, now there was a man who liked a hearty meal. He’d have approved of this - it was a very generous portion! I’m no match for Henry though, so I didn’t finish…. 😆 Lovely flavour though.

The roti breads made an appearance on the table - not mine, but they are very good.

Overall a really good meal, served at a good pace and well priced. I would commend this restaurant to anyone looking for Thai food in Leicester.

The beer is Chang, by the way - as it was and as it should be - I didn’t have any on this occasion though. Yet another difference between me and the merry monarch; a man who drank beer...

Wonderful food and wonderful staff, me and my friend had a delicious lunch here and the service was excellent. The staff were very friendly and the atmosphere and decor of the restaurant was lovely.

I won’t be deducting any stars for this but one slight issue with our stay was a guest on the table next to us - a creepy old man. He kept wandering round the restaurant as he ate alone, asking for a particular waitress, who wasn’t on shift. At one point he then took a phone call and during that phone call all he spoke about was asking about the size of “the new girl’s breasts”. He then later went up to a female member of staff, asked her name while standing rather uncomfortably close to her and touched her on the back without her consent. For some this could be upsetting and uncomfortable for guests, me and my friend however just found the situation bizarre and shot him dirty looks. In conversation with this staff member she told us he was a regular at the restaurant and he has a favourite waitress. I dread to think how he acts around her. Does the management really want to allow this, because if he is a regular - do you really want him creating an uncomfortable environment for staff and other customers with his creepy advances and phone calls about women’s breasts?

As I said no stars deducted as this is no fault of the restaurant, just maybe consider some action...