Best Vegan Meals and Foods in Leicester | Herb Restaurant

Vegan dining out often means scanning a menu for the one dish without cream, butter or paneer buried in it. At Herb that scanning isn't necessary – the base of Kerala cooking is coconut milk and coconut oil rather than dairy, so a large part of the menu is vegan by default rather than by substitution.

How to order vegan with confidence

A few pointers if you're ordering vegan and want to move quickly rather than cross-checking every dish:

• Curries built on coconut milk (rather than a cream or yoghurt base) are usually vegan as standard.
• Dosa and idli batter is rice and lentil based, with no dairy or egg in the traditional recipe.
• If a dish lists yoghurt (as some pachadi-style dishes do), ask – it can sometimes be left out or substituted.
• When in doubt, just ask your server directly which dishes are vegan that day – it's a quick answer, not a long explanation, because so much of the menu already qualifies.

Vegan dishes worth trying

• Mixed vegetable avial – a coconut and yoghurt-free vegetable curry, one of the most popular orders on the menu.
• Banana thoran – banana and black-eyed peas stir-fried with coconut and mustard seed.
• Green papaya stew – light and coconut-based, good alongside rice or dosa.

Allergies alongside a vegan diet

If you're vegan and also managing an allergy – nuts and sesame both appear in some South Indian cooking – let your server know when you order so the kitchen can point you to dishes that work for both. For the fuller picture of Herb's vegetarian menu beyond the vegan-specific dishes, see our guide to Herb's vegetarian and vegan kitchen, and if you also need to avoid gluten, our gluten-free dining guide covers where the two overlap.