Opened in June 1959, with a licence from the Joiners Arms, Highcross Street. It ran for many years by the Miles family, when it had the reputation of serving one of the best – if not the best – pint of mild (Shippo’s) in Leicester.
I always made it a stop if in the area. The problem was you couldn’t have just one as your system demanded another.
All good things come to an end. Greenhalls bought out Shipstones, renamed the pub the Owl & Pussycat, spent £250,000 on a refurbishment and in time a good local went the same way as many others. Although the pub was more comfortable and inviting for ladies, Greenhalls bee left a lot to be desired. I am perhaps being over critical but with the demise of Shippo’s a great beer was lost.’
Barry Lount
Opening of the newly refurbished Owl & Pussycat in 1988.
After an initial success, the pub started to go downhill. The kitchen became another ‘Indian’ restaurant in an area awash with them and next door to one of the best in Leicester – the Grand Dubar, ran by Abdul (Billy) and sons. Billy has served most curry eaters in town from the first Indian restaurant in Leicester, the Regent in Waterloo St in the early 1960s, through the Kohinoor years, Conduit Street, to his own family’s Grand Dubar on Melton Road. Great food.
Trying to compete and combine both pub local and curry house was an uphill task. Part of the Owl & Pussycat became the Daman Curry House operating out of the kitchen, but in 2010 it fell foul of environmental health. Decomposing rodents found under the seating, urine and faeces found in the kitchen – owner Vijay Mehta blamed the customers for leaving windows open.
The pub was temporarily closed. Since then attempts have been made to tidy it up, including naming it the Original Owl & Pussycat.