Mayfair isn’t the first place you’d think of going for an Indian meal, but Lucknow 49 makes its case
Lucknow 49, 49 Maddox Street, London W1S 2PQ (020 7491 9191). Starters £6-£16; mains £12-£17.50; desserts £6; wines from £29
While it would be wrong to argue that most of the Indian subcontinent’s food is brown, it’s easy to see how a meal at Lucknow 49, the second London enterprise from chef Dhruv Mittal, might make you reach that conclusion. It’s a parade of dishes which, on a colour chart, would run the gamut from “dark earth” through “silted river bed” all the way to “ploughed field”. Personally, I have no problem with brown food; some of the most intense, strident dishes I have ever eaten have been brown. In cooking, caramelisation is your friend and caramel is brown. Others feel differently. Which may explain why, half way through dinner, I find myself staring at a lightly sauced cauliflower, dressed with a thin scab of shimmering silver leaf.
The star is the raan masala, lamb in a deep sauce. It’s a boisterous bit of overtly butch cookery. Come for this
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