I cannot recommend this place highly enough, I absolutely love this place. We have dinned here twice since it opened and both occasions we have not been disappointed. Chef Bee is amazing and her food is simply amazing. There is such a peaceful atmosphere here.
We celebrated our first wedding anniversary by having dinner here and we were not disappointed. From the moment we made contact with the restaurant to the food and the experience, we were impressed. Since then we have brought family who were visiting from London to this restaurant and they also held this restaurant in high regard, saying the food and the price was better than a lot of restaurants in London.
Although this is a vegan restaurant, as someone who eats meat, I didn't feel as though I wanted to have a meat dish as the food was so tasty. All the ingredients are local and dishes freshly made - there is no better combination.
In us, Sanctua definitely have a customer for life
Thank you Chef Bee and the Sanctua team 😊
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This all-new 100% plant-based restaurant is what Leicester's vegan scene badly needed. A proper sit down evening meal kind of place. Not only did it fill this gap, but set the bar so high for food, it is difficult to conceive how hard another restaurant will have to work to get to this standard. This might sound like a biased review or an underhand agenda, but I assure you, food did all the talking and nothing motivated me other than the quality.
On to the main event, the food. It was a set menu night.
Four courses
Amuse Bouche - Chilled sweet and Sour Watermelon Soup with Mint and Pink Himalayan Chilli Salt.
Starter - Smoked seaweed crisply chilli cassava chips with a miso and lime mayonnaise.
Main - Soy Chaat Bunny Chow
Dessert - Cardamom, mango, vanilla and rose creme with saffron and candied salted pistachios.
Chef Bee Patel served up a delight course after course.
The Amuse Bouche was a lovely way to start. Served in a small shot glass with the salt around the edge like a glass of Tequila, it was crunch and pow. The perfect tease providing spice and tickle to tongue and throat. The perfectly sweet watermelon was delicately balanced against the edge of salt and chilli.
The Cassava starter was served thereafter. My goodness, the consistency of the Cassava was delightful. Instantly I recognised this cassava had not been created from frozen. Meaning that this dish had one less process before coming to the plate. It made this root vegetable feel whole, as I sliced through it with serene precision. The accompanying smoked seaweed sauce was just a dream and the lime/miso mayonnaise gave every alternative bite a new mix. A delectable blend of spice and sweet.
Main - The bunny chow, this is where I have to make a confession in that I am not a fan of soy products. It's just not my flavour. It would like a hater of marmite reviewing well, errr marmite. So let's put that aside for one moment. Instant recognition number two, I felt that this bread which held the main together had been baked on site and fresh - and my assumption was true. You can always tell freshly baked bread. The sauce was incredible, it was earthy nicely going with vermicelli (sev) giving it a good saucy crunch.
Dessert - WOW! Since going vegan I had missed 'Shrikhand', a yoghurt based dessert. This wasn't Shrikhand, but it was gorgeous. As if the creme exploded in my mouth. The full cardamom, mango and vanilla flavours just saturated the taste buds giving a foodgasm. Potent.
Chef Bee has created something very special. Though this place is new, and of course, Leicester has not always been successful at embracing new, I can only hope it will be a mainstay. Her care towards food and diners is exemplary. We were tended to with care, and Chef Bee spent good time after the meal answering questions we had and talking about the food and the inspiration behind it. This is fine dining. Make no mistake, eating freshly made food with the finest ingredients, reminds you of how food should be.
I am so glad that I agreed to pay the £30 for the 4-course set evening menu. It was worth every penny and I will go again as soon as possible. My friend and I talked about how having no choice takes a lot of stress out of choosing and it enables you to taste things that you wouldn't normally select. For example, I'd never tried plantain before and wouldn't have picked it from a normal menu, but my goodness, the plantain dish was heavenly! The atmosphere was relaxed, family-friendly and attentive. Service wasn't super-fast, but we were having a great time chatting. The glasses of wine were a good amount for £5.50 and it seems like this stretch of Oadby is looking good for quality eating and drinking. We were told that there's now a lunch menu, and that the set menu changes each Wednesday. Sanctua serve top quality vegan food and we loved it!
Awesome plant based restaurant and general vegan delight. This is not your a street food kind of place but somewhere much more akin to a high end casual dining experience.
Food made with care and attention. Amazing flavours with a bit of spice. Calm atmosphere with attentive hosts. Try the lemon grass mocktail. Set menu. See their website.
I cannot recommend this restaurant enough! My wife is very interested in plant-based food and I stumbled upon Sanctua while looking for somewhere to take her for a meal out.
When I rang to book my table I was advised that it was a set menu. I knew this already, but I was pleased that they didn't assume so.
Each dish that we had was absolutely delicious and I'm not one for getting excited about food! There was a good gap between each course, so if you're in a rush, then maybe this place won't be for you because we were there for 2 hours and it wasn't very busy to start with.
Having said that, I would recommend booking a table in advance because it's not a large restaurant and as its reputation grows, tables will be in demand.
The menu changes each week, which gives us another reason to go back, which we will definitely be doing!
Excellent food. Light, vibrant, combinations of flavours. A very talented and creative cook. The set menu is a little restrictive - for example I wouldn't have chosen saffron polenta but enjoyed it when it arrived - but at least you know all their attention is going into your food. Prices very reasonable. Various hitches - website down, flood, no credit cards - made it difficult to book and suggest financial problems. But I really hope they can make a go of it. Pleasant dining room, good service and a real food experience made for a great evening!
Had an amazing meal at Sanctua. It's a vegan set menu for £30 (4 courses) and changes every week. None of our group were vegan and everyone loved it. The presentation was beautiful and the dishes were so different to other places but so delicious. We will 100% be returning
My husband and I went to Sanctua this evening, to celebrate his birthday. The food was absolutely delicious and the service was excellent. We both really enjoyed this superb dining experience and they also gifted him with a small plant and chocolate, to celebrate his birthday. We would highly recommend this restaurant.
Amazing place, great service and the food was out of this world. Being new I'd say there are teething issues like you'd get with anywhere but this is one place to deffinetly go and try. However I do wish I'd been told on the phone it was a set menu, it didn't matter in the respect the food was fantastic but I do wish I'd been told.
Go and try this place though!
Delicious. Amazingly tasty food spread over four courses. Fixed price £30 menu is great value for money. Highly recommended.
Great alternative Asian fusion..and vegan. Fixed menu and price
An interesting and well prepared plant based menu. Well worth a visit.
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