Think of Leicestershire's best restaurant, and you'll probably picture a fine dining establishment with pressed linen tablecloths and views of rolling countryside.
But, according to TripAdvisor, that's not the case.
The best restaurant in Leicestershire is, in fact, a small café in Braunstone.
Gilly's Sandwich Bar is currently the number one ranked restaurant in the county, out of 1,015 restaurants reviewed.
It sounds pretty impressive, but is it really that good? Along with my three-year old son, I went to find out.
Venue
Gilly's Sandwich Bar is somewhere you'd have to seek out, rather than somewhere you'd happen upon whilst out and about. It sits among the likes of takeaways and a mini-market in the Watergate Lane parade of shops, off Narborough Road on the edge of Braunstone.
It's a well presented cafe, with rustic wooden tables and benches, and some cosy booths. Plus, ideal for those visiting with children, there's a little table with some colouring sheets and crayons.
We received a warm welcome from the friendly staff, and I liked the fact that they made an effort to talk to my son - and even find him a Hotel Transylvania cup for his apple juice!
Food
The menu offers a great selection, including lunch options such as jacket potatoes, sandwiches, burgers and paninis. We were there for breakfast (due to the fact it's highly lauded on TripAdvisor!) which ranges from breakfast cobs and fry-ups to the more healthy spinach omelette or smashed avocado on toast.
There's also a small kids menu, with the likes of beans on toast and a kids' sandwich box.
I decided on the large fried breakfast (£4.90) and ordered bacon and egg on toast (£3.00) for my boy.
They soon arrived, and looked good. I was impressed they'd even gone to the effort of cutting up my son's bacon to make it easier for him to eat.
He happily tucked in to his bacon, toast triangles and fried egg, whilst I also got stuck into my breakfast, which included two rashers of bacon, two sausages, one fried egg, baked beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, hash browns and two rounds of toast.
It was certainly a generous plateful, and most of it tasted very good. I enjoyed the lightly herbed sausages and the bacon, which was slightly crispy how I like it.
The fried egg was perfectly runny when cut into, the hash brown was crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle, and the baked beans and tomatoes were decent.
The only part I didn't enjoy was the mushrooms. Whilst I'm perfectly happy eating tinned tomatoes, I really don't like tinned mushrooms, which I'm pretty sure these were.
Verdict
We really enjoyed our visit to Gilly's. Is it the best eatery I've visited in Leicestershire? Probably not - but it would be unfair to compare it to fine dining restaurants.
What it is, is a lovely cafe, with good food at a very reasonable price (our bill was £11.60 including a drink each), very good service and pleasant surroundings.
I was surprised to read the food hygiene rating, but based on our visit, I wouldn't have any hesitation in recommending a visit.
Food hygiene rating - 3/5
