The Lighthouse | Perfect for a Blind Date on a Summer's Evening

The Lighthouse has been open about four or five years, specialising in fresh seafood and fish, tapas and regular paella and Sangria nights.

It's a pretty little restaurant, tastefully decorated, light and airy with a seaside theme. It has, I would guess, about thirty covers, with tables for two and four scattered through a range of semi-secluded spaces.

I believe the couple who arrived to sit at this table were on a date of some kind, if not a blind date. It was the perfect nook for them, some privacy from ear-wiggers but not too full on.

We went on a beautiful evening, perfect English summer weather. The Lighthouse is in the village of Kibworth Beauchamp, easily reached from the A6, about six or seven miles south of Leicester.

We arrived early and the restaurant was already beginning to fill up. We didn't have a booking and were shown to a table of four, so all the twos had already gone or were being kept for more romantic looking diners, not a woman and her teenage grandson.

The Lighthouse has a lavish menu with prices to match: starters between £3 and £7 pounds with puddings about the same, main courses between £15 and £21 plus side dishes at £3.50 each, a medium sized glass of Pinot Grigio was £6.85.

Luckily, though, for impoverished prospective beaus wishing to entrance an unknown blind date, there is a midweek supper menu at two courses for £16.50 and three courses at £19.50, side dishes included.

It was a very nice menu, nicely balanced, and with portions of a size that you could easily eat three courses, if you wanted to. Much of the food is sourced locally, and there are changes to the set menu everyday, according to what is available. You could have a blind date every week and find something fresh on the menu.

We chose the gilt head bream with potato gnocchi, tapenade and basil, which came with a good selection of fresh vegetables or salad, depending on your preference.

The bream was pan-fried with crispy skin and delicious with the tapenade and gnocchi. The vegetables were perfectly cooked, too, a quarter of baby cabbage was especially radiant and delicious (I never thought I would say that about cabbage, baby or otherwise).

For pudding, I chose panna cotta with rhubarb and gin and home made short bread biscuit. Lovely combination, although some stems of rhubarb were a little crunchy and didn't quite have the silky texture that would have been perfect.

My companion had a chocolate semi-freddo with mint and vodka jelly. Very pretty, but it looked a bit heavy going and I think he struggled with the last few mouthfuls. When I asked, he said eight out of ten, so not too bad.

All the pudding choices had alcohol in them - fine for me but not to everyone's taste.

The wine was pleasant, just as it should be. Water was served in an ice cold carafe with a stopper, that looked like alcohol, too!

The service was excellent, we were looked after very well and the wonky table was sorted immediately. The total bill came to £39.85. Not bad for very nice food that was a little bit special and a lovely environment.

It was getting very busy by the time we left, so I would book to avoid disappointment. On the other hand, Kibworth has six other excellent restaurants just a slow wander up Church Lane or down the High Street, so all would not be lost on a blind date.

---

Restaurant Information

The Lighthouse

9 Station St, Kibworth, Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicester LE8 0LN, UK

---

The Lighthouse | Perfect for a Blind Date on a Summer's Evening
This post participated in the Tasteem contest Where to eat for my blind date?

What is Tasteem?