About Herb – Our Story, Our Kitchen, Our Philosophy

Herb was built around a simple idea: that Kerala's vegetarian cooking tradition deserved a proper home in the UK, rather than being folded into a general "Indian restaurant" menu alongside a dozen other regional styles. That idea shapes everything from how the kitchen is run to how guests are looked after, across both the Leicester and Leamington Spa restaurants.

Our story – from Kerala to Leicestershire

Kerala's food culture goes back a long way – the region's spice trade dates back thousands of years, long before it became one part of the wider story of Indian cuisine. Herb was founded to bring that specific tradition to Leicester and Leamington Spa: coconut oil rather than ghee, curry leaves and mustard seed tempered into almost every dish, and rice and lentils as the everyday staple rather than wheat and dairy.

Head chef Ramdas Krishna

The kitchen is led by executive chef Ramdas Krishna, cooking from recipes and techniques rooted in Kerala household cooking. Dishes like pothichoru – a banana-leaf wrapped rice meal, traditionally packed for travel in Kerala – sit alongside curries built the traditional way, on coconut milk rather than cream.

Athithi Devo Bhava – our philosophy

"Athithi Devo Bhava" is a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the guest is God" – a principle of hospitality that runs through a lot of Indian culture and specifically shapes how we think about service at Herb. It's not a slogan on the wall so much as a working assumption: that looking after the person at the table matters as much as what's on the plate in front of them.

Awards

That approach has been reflected in recognition from guests directly – Herb has received TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice awards and a Vegan Restaurant of the Year title, both based on the kind of consistent guest reviews that can't really be manufactured, only earned over time. See our TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice write-up for more on what that award actually measures.

Visit us

Herb has two restaurants: 96 Granby Street, Leicester, and 5-6 York House, Clarendon Avenue, Leamington Spa. Both serve the same Kerala vegetarian menu, cooked the same way, wherever you visit.