Still More Lucknow

Lucknow’s famous kabab’s are not easy to get in Mumbai. I’ve already talked about some restaurants in Lucknow in Mumbai, Lucknow and Smoke and Lucknow Again but a new entrant has now made the list. Of all places, a roadside eatery outside my office catering mainly to Mindspace’s call-centre hordes has started selling Kakori kababs and Lucknow-style mutton biriyani (complete with burhani raita and kewra essence). Though its name screams Punjab, it is Lucknow’s Kakori Kabab that is given top billling on the menu. The man behind the counter is from Lucknow, and was very enthusiastic when we ordered the Kakori. He even made us sample the biriyani, complete with burhani raita, and showed us the (real, not synthetic) kewra extract that went into it (apparently he puts a little less than normal, because Mumbaikars are not entirely used to the taste).

Aroma’s (their misspelling, not mine) pretends to be a roadside stall but is actually a counter of the rather aspirationally-named American Sports Bar behind it. The kababs are made in front of you, but the biriyani and other stuff comes from inside.

And now about how good it was. Three seekhs came for Rs. 120, and was appropriately soft and squishy inside a thin crust. This is not Dum Pukht, but it is indeed recognizably Kakori. The dhaniya chatni was good too and the mutton biriyani combined with the rather authentic raita was quite acceptable.