Date Night Ideas in Leicester & Leamington Spa: Dining at Herb

Date night ideas tend to circle back to the same handful of options after a while - a familiar restaurant, a familiar cuisine, a familiar routine. If you're looking to break that pattern without overthinking it, a shared Kerala meal is worth considering.

Why shared plates work well for two

A lot of Kerala cooking is naturally suited to sharing - a thali is built from several smaller dishes rather than one large plate each, which makes it easy to try a range of flavours together rather than committing to a single dish per person. It also gives you something to talk about across the table besides whatever you'd usually default to.

What to order

• A Kerala thali to share - or one each, if you'd rather not compromise on favourites.
• A dosa split between two - a good, low-commitment starting dish if either of you hasn't tried South Indian food before.
• A coconut-based curry with rice - lighter than a cream-based curry, which tends to suit an evening meal better.

Setting

Both restaurants have a relaxed, unhurried atmosphere rather than a rushed turnover feel - useful for a date where the point is the evening itself, not just the meal. Leamington Spa's Clarendon Avenue location and Leicester's Granby Street site both work well for this.

Booking ahead

Weekend evenings are the busiest time at both branches, so booking ahead is worth doing if you want a specific time. See the Leicester and Leamington Spa restaurant pages to book, or read our thali guide first if you want to know what to expect before you go.