Lucknow doesn't really do casual opinions about kebabs. Ask someone which shop makes the best one and you're not getting a recommendation, you're getting a small speech, usually inherited from a father or grandfather who felt just as strongly. Tunday is for the galawati, Sakhawat is for the shami, Mubeen's is for the pasanda, and everyone treats their pick like a family name to be defended, not a preference to be reconsidered.What makes this list interesting is how little these places have in common besides the meat. There's a garage-turned-restaurant now run by its fifth generation, a home kitchen that borrowed its entire menu from the city's best cooks, a shop with six chairs where eating out of your car is a real possibility, and a rooftop with a ghazal singer for the nights you want your kebab with a view attached. Old Lucknow and new Lucknow, basically, arguing over the same plate.
The Kebab Loyalties Lucknow Was Born Into
DistrictSep 16, 2026
·6 min
In this city, ordering the "wrong" kebab in front of the wrong person is basically a declaration of war.
At a glance
Perfect ForA Quiet, Intimate Lunch Tracing Heirloom Nawabi Recipes Inside A Peaceful BungalowYour Kebab PickPatili Ke Kebab
Perfect ForChecking Off The City’s Most Iconic, Mandatory Food Bucket-List ItemYour Kebab PickMutton Galawati Kabab Paratha Combo
Perfect ForCelebrating Special Occasions With Live Ghazals And Sweeping ViewsYour Kebab PickKakori Kebab
Perfect ForLate-Night Car-Dining And Hidden-Alley Culinary DiscoveriesYour Kebab PickShami Kebeb
Perfect ForHunting Down Rare, Slow-Cooked Royal Delicacies Outside The Standard Tourist TrailYour Kebab PickMutton Majlisi Kabab
Perfect ForChaotic, High-Energy Group Feasts Over Massive Platters Of Meat And ParathasYour Kebab PickSeekh Kebab
Perfect ForDie-Hard Meat Purists Who Prioritize A 100-Year-Old Spice Legacy Over Modern DecorYour Kebab PickShaami Kebab
Perfect ForBackpackers Exploring Old Lucknow On Foot Who Want A Satisfying, Heavy Street-Side SnackYour Kebab PickChicken Galouti Kebab
Perfect ForA Legendary, Heavy Morning Breakfast Of Rich Stews After Navigating Through Akbari GateYour Kebab PickBuff Boti Kabab
Naimat Khana
4.6
Kaiserbagh, Lucknow
Set inside a 70-year-old bungalow in Qaiser Bagh, Naimat Khana was built on the idea that Lucknow's best Awadhi food has always come from home kitchens, not restaurants. The menu draws recipes straight from some of the city's finest home cooks, right down to using a bhagona for the gravies and a mahi tawa for the kebabs. The space still feels warm and homely rather than formal.Perfect For: A Quiet, Intimate Lunch Tracing Heirloom Nawabi Recipes Inside A Peaceful BungalowYour Kebab Pick: Patili Ke Kebab
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Tunday Kababi
3.9
Aliganj, Lucknow
The story behind Tunday Kababi begins in 1905, with a nawab who could no longer chew his food and a chef determined to fix that. Haji Murad Ali's answer, a kebab built on a blend of over a hundred spices and soft enough to melt on the tongue, became the galawati kebab the city is now famous for. Three generations later, the family still guards the exact recipe closely.Perfect For: Checking Off The City’s Most Iconic, Mandatory Food Bucket-List ItemYour Kebab Pick: Mutton Galawati Kabab Paratha Combo
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Falak Numa Restaurant - Hotel Clarks Avadh
4.0
Clarks Avadh, Hazratganj
Set nine floors up in Hazratganj, with views of the Gomti river and Chhatar Manzil, Falak Numa brings Awadhi food to a proper fine dining table. Housed inside Clarks Avadh, one of the city's oldest hotels. There kebabs are often enjoyed alongside live ghazal music in the evenings. It's the pick for a slower, more dressed-up kebab night.Perfect For: Celebrating Special Occasions With Live Ghazals And Sweeping ViewsYour Kebab Pick: Kakori Kebab
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Daal Mein Kala
4.0
Hazratganj, Lucknow
Behind Tulsi Cinema, in a lane packed with some of Lucknow's most loved kebab addresses, sits a tiny six-table spot that holds its own against every big name around it. The galawati kebab here is famously soft, and the shami kebab has quietly built its own loyal following. Space is limited, so regulars know to get here a little early on busy evenings.Perfect For: Late-Night Car-Dining And Hidden-Alley Culinary DiscoveriesYour Kebab Pick: Shami Kebeb
Naushijaan
3.9
Lalbagh, Lucknow
Naushijaan opened in 1999, started almost as a passion project, and grew into one of the city's most loved kebab kitchens within a few years. Its majlisi kebab, a centuries-old Awadhi dish once made to feed large gatherings, is still served on earthen platters, usually later in the evening. It's a slow-cooked mince kebab that's hard to find elsewhere in the city, and reason enough to plan your evening around it.Perfect For: Hunting Down Rare, Slow-Cooked Royal Delicacies Outside The Standard Tourist TrailYour Kebab Pick: Mutton Majlisi Kabab
Dastarkhwan
4.2
Kaiserbagh, Lucknow
Dastarkhwan takes its name from the Persian word for a shared dining spread, which fits the communal, everyone-digs-in energy of the place. This Kaiserbagh branch, on Wala Qadar Road, has been serving its boti kebab and masala chicken since 1989, long before the name became common across the city. The mutton boti kebab, paired with an ulte tawe ka paratha, is the order most regulars swear by.Perfect For: Chaotic, High-Energy Group Feasts Over Massive Platters Of Meat And ParathasYour Kebab Pick: Seekh Kebab
Sakhawat Restaurant
3.7
Kaiserbagh, Lucknow
Sakhawat's story goes back to 1911, when Haji Wahid Ali set up a small kebab and biryani stall near the Oudh Gymkhana Club and named it after his son. Five generations later, the family still runs the place, known today for a shami kebab that has its own devoted following in a city otherwise obsessed with galawati. The setting is simple and the service quick, but the flavour has clearly been the priority here for over a century.Perfect For: Die-Hard Meat Purists Who Prioritize A 100-Year-Old Spice Legacy Over Modern DecorYour Kebab Pick: Shaami Kebab
Kareem Kababi
4.0
Aminabad, Lucknow
Sitting in a busy lane in Maulviganj, Aminabad, Kareem Kababi has been around for over a hundred years, well before bun kebab became a citywide favourite. It started out serving only buffalo meat, and has since added mutton and chicken to the menu, with the mutton bun kebab now the most popular order. The lane gets busy, so it's an easy one to explore on foot.Perfect For: Backpackers Exploring Old Lucknow On Foot Who Want A Satisfying, Heavy Street-Side SnackYour Kebab Pick: Chicken Galouti Kebab
Mubeen's
3.9
Chowk, Lucknow
Mubeen's story starts in 1973, when Mohammad Mubeen began selling pasanda and nihari from a small footpath stall near Nakkhas police station. The business later moved into a permanent spot inside a mosque compound at Akbari Gate, where it still operates today. The beef pasanda kebab, thin and delicately pounded, remains the dish people travel into old Lucknow for, usually paired with a kulcha nihari.Perfect For: A Legendary, Heavy Morning Breakfast Of Rich Stews After Navigating Through Akbari GateYour Kebab Pick: Buff Boti Kabab
One Thing Before You GoDaal Mein Kala seats about six people on a good day, so don't rule out eating dinner from the driver's seat.Sakhawat's Kakori kebab isn't on the menu every single day, so check before you plan a whole trip around it.Naushijaan tends to bring out the majlisi kebab close to closing time, so don't rush the visit if that's what you're there for.Nobody at Tunday will confirm the exact spice count, so save your breath and just enjoy not knowing.Falak Numa gets booked out fast on ghazal nights, so call ahead if the music is half the reason you're going.Download the District App to reserve your table, unlock exclusive offers, and discover your next favourite spot.