I’m not a big fan of Tunde Kabab, a Lucknow specialty. This put me at odds with Lucknowee, Dubai’s newest Lucknow cuisine restaurant, before I even set foot in the place. And what a place it is – small but handsomely decorated with a definite hint of shahi. Pride of place is taken by an expansive window display which looks into the buzzing kitchen.
The tables themselves are ordinary but the chairs, upholstered in blue felt fabric, are colour coordinated with the staff uniforms and tableware – cute. Speaking of which, I particularly appreciated the matching cutlery, glassware and serving dishes. Little touches make a BIG difference.
I didn’t have the heart to tell our enthusiastic waiter that I don’t particularly like Tunde Kabab, so it wasn’t a surprise when it was the first starter brought to our table. I like the taste but not the fact that it’s soft and crumbly on the inside, like a Shami Kabab gone wrong. The delightful Hari Mirch Murgh went some way towards making up for this though.
Tunde Kabab 
Hari Mirch Murgh
Rara Gosht is one of my favourites Indian dishes and I order it when/wherever I find it on a menu. It’s an unusual dish which combines mutton keema with mutton pieces in a tomato sauce spiced with mace, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon sticks, cardamom and bay leaf among other spices – oof. The best Rara I have had in Dubai has been at Sthan and I was interested to see how theirs would fare in comparison. It was really good, a very close second.
Our waiter recommended we try the Lucknowee Dal Tadka, to which we added a delicious Tawa Fried Bhindi and a fragrant Biriyani Rice. I am on this infernal low carb diet so no rice or bread for me. What I do in situations like this is use my vegetable in place of my carb (rice/bread); it’s not ideal but the bhindi worked well with both the Rara and Dal. BTW, the bhindi was amazing.
Service at Lucknowee was excellent, the waiters and staff friendly and hugely accommodating. This is a restaurant which deserves all the praise, raving reviews, high ratings and packed lunchtime and weekends it is receiving. I, for sure, am going back…although maybe this time I will tell my waiter not to serve me their Tunde Kabab.
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Xerxes physically dines at, or orders from, each and every venue he reviews. He pays in full for whatever he and his companions eat, drink, take away or occasionally throw at each other. Xerxes accepts no money, gifts, discounts or free meals in return for reviews or favouritism. What you have read was NOT influenced in any way by the venue. Join me on Instagram @ravenousxerxes or email me on xerxes@dellara.com.