Royal Cafe

Lucknow

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Even if you don’t step inside this classy restaurant, don’t miss its exceedingly popular chaat (spicy snack) stand at the front. The sweet and savoury mixed-basket chaat is served in a crispy aloo (potato) basket; eat it on the street for ₹190 or in the restaurant for ₹250. Finish with a foot-long pistachio- and saffron-flavoured kesar pista kulfi (ice cream).

Inside, you'll find it does a mouth-watering job of Mughlai cuisine and everything else, including Chinese, Continental, pizza and shakes, which are whipped out along with classy service to a wildly mixed crowd. Our boneless murg mirch masala (chicken cooked with chilli peppers and ground spices with onion and tomatoes) was fantastic.

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