Tunday Kababi (On road connecting Chowk Gol Darwaza & Akbari Gate, Lucknow)

In a nutshell: A shop owned by the family of the Legend whose kababs became famous asTunday kabab. I am sure he himself used to make it way better to have reached such a Legendary status.

A view of Restaurant from the outside
A view of Restaurant from the outside

Address & other details:  Tunday (the link shows Rahims. Once u reach Rahims, this shop is on opposite side, few shops later). Ask anyone.

Meal for 2: Rs. 50 onwards

Cuisine type :  only nonvegetarian

Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & tips also. http://www.yummraj.com does not have even one featured / sponsored reviews.

YUMMRAJ believes in going to a restaurant in anonymity, as a normal guest, experience everything & give a honest account of the same to you.

We paid Rs. 70 for1 plate kabab,2 parathas & 1 Kinley water. No bill.

I rate all the food items & then give a final overall rating which is a simple average of the individual item ratings. What the ratings stand for: 5 = Excellent, 4 = Very Good, 3 = Good, 2 = Fair, 1 = Disaster.

Short Description – in case u r in a hurry:

This Foodie madness post is a part of a series called Culinary pilgrimage – On a weekend in Jan 15 we decided to travel to Lucknow on Culinary pilgrimage. A 2 day trip to Lucknow just to eat out at the numerous streetfood shops that have survived over time……….We ended up eating at 9 places in a span of 26 hours & spent a total of approx Rs. 1200. The cost of staying at Lucknow & travelling to Lucknow from Delhi was, needless to say, many times more.

The person who got famous as Tunday Kababi was Haji Murad Ali (1877 – 1967) – Amazing feat that he lived for 90 years in a period when average age of Indians was about 50 years.

Haji Murad Ali
Haji Murad Ali

I had read this somewhere earlier, am unable to recollect – The name Tunday has an unfortunate story – Haji Murad Ali as a kid fell from a height & lost his hand. A person without a hand used to be called ‘tunda’ in local dialect. So when he started selling kababs they started being called ‘Tunday kababs’. Who knew that this unfortunate incident wud lead to a name which wud become a brand a century later.

View of the road from inside the restaurant
View of the road from inside the restaurant – look at the meat & spice paste that is being rolled to make the kabab

A notification on the wall says they have no branches. Yet there r many branches of Tunday in Lucknow, Delhi & many other places. It is undoubtedly true that the kababs at the Chowk shop taste very different than the ones at other restaurants with the same name. They look different as well. Click here to find the difference in color of kababs at Tunday shop in Gurgaon.

notification on the wall
notification on the wall

The restaurant does not have a signage outside.

View of the road from inside the restaurant
View of the road from inside the restaurant

It has a relatively small frontage but has a very big sitting area inside. The floor is made of white marble but has a worn out look.

seating area
seating area

The ceilings & walls also look worn out. Lighting is sub optimal etc ………………. By the way who cares for all that when u get to eat some really unique kababs that u remember for a while.

the meat paste that was being made into kabab
the meat paste that was being made into kabab

The waiting staff is very good. They take care & r very efficient. Detailed Description – In case u have the Time to NJOY reading: There r only 2 items on the menu – tunday kabab & parathe (ulte tawa ke parathe). The other restaurants with the same name serve other Mughlai dishes though. Click here to read about Tunday Gurgaon. The kababs were being made in copper vessel on charcoal fire. Last time I had been there, they were using wood as fuel.

kababs being made on copper vessel , heating via charcoal
kababs being made on copper vessel , heating via charcoal

The combination of the charcoal & coal fire gave the kababs a smoky feel. The kababs were soft & tasty within. Taste was beyond ‘good’ but not outstanding. The outer layer was quite crisp – More crisp than I have ever tasted in any Galawati. They had burnt edges as well that I liked a lot.

IMG_4463
tunday kabab

Usually Galawati kababs r so soft that they cannot b picked by hand without breaking. These ones cud b picked maybe in 2 pieces as the outer layer wud hold the center from falling off. The flavor of meat was present but flavor of spices were suboptimal. A Galawati at Kitchen of Awadh, Oudh or Dum Pukht wud b way more flavorful . Well, if we consider the price that Tunday charges, I wud not b that fussy. The whole neighbourhood can taste Tunday kababs at the price of 1 plate Galawati at Dum Puhkt.

tunday kabab
tunday kabab

Rate the kababs 3.5/5 As we waited for the bill , we saw the residual fat on our plate condense into white vaseline lookalike patches. They gave us torn newspaper as substitute for tissue paper. Paratha was soft, not rubbery & was good to taste on its own. It was a bit greasy though.

paratha
paratha

Rate it 3/5. Overall rating of Kabab parathe at Tunday averages out to 3.25/5. I wud go there again for that unique smoky flavor, if I am in Lucknow for a week. For a short trip of 1-2 days I wud avoid coz I have found better options.

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