Dining Awadhi Style- Oudhyana

Rating: 3/5
Price points: Rs 2500 for two (including drinks)
Date of visit: June 1, 2009

The "Oudhyana" is the Awadh cuisine restaurant at the Taj Residency, Lucknow. And what is Awadh cuisine? Good question. Well Wikipedia says that " it is the cuisine from Lucknow". Similar to Mughlai and Hyderabadi food, it includes kebabs and biryani. Cooked using the "dum style" (on slow fire) it has generous helpings of spices and cardamom and saffron.

Ah ha! so are we set for a feast? I thought I was when I headed to the Oudhyana. We ordered mixed vegetable and meat kebab platters, dals and mul mul rotis (supposed to be very very soft).

The food was average. The vegetables etc. could have been marinated better. The dal was OK too and the rotis not that soft. We finished of with a kulfi which was good. So what was exactly wrong with the meal? There are times you head off for a meal, expecting it to be finger licking. And when it is not, you cannot help but be a tad disappointed. Well, that's how I felt about the place.

The service was good, if a bit intruding at times. All in all, I would not repeat a visit here. Unless I was staying at the Taj and it was simply convenient. Instead, I would head to Falak-Numa at the Clarks.