Manzilat’s upended tawa

My first experience of the place was great. I had been there for the first time in Diwali 2022 and I so loved the food and experience that I booked it again for the occasion of my friends anniversary. As expected the experience was great like before. The staff is very helpful and courteous. And mam is just awesome 😎 she gladly made special arrangements on request for my friends too. I would like to visit again with my special one here again. Thank you.

I heard about the pre booking system of Manzilat's but never got an opportunity to try out this place. On 10th November, morning I called Miss Manzilat and asked if any booking slot is available for that day at night and luckily I got a slot available in the night although it was a Sunday. Went with alot of expectations after hearing alot about them. After reaching there, the ambience just pleased us. Having such food under the open sky with such soothing atmosphere just made our day much more beautiful. Now coming to the food, we ordered: Mutton Awadhi Galawti Kebab (2 pcs, Rs. 380): Two succulent pieces of kebab topped with onion rings just looked like perfect mughlai Kebab. It was properly tendered with the spices, and just got melted in our mouth. It was so soft that we have to make an effort to put it as an whole in our plate. (5/5) Ulta Tawa Paratha (1 pc, Rs. 110): Utterly soft paratha with almost no amount of oil was as soft as the Galawti Kebabs. It was a perfect accompaniment for any kind of kebab items but tasted best with the Galawti Kebab. (5/5) Kalkatta Sahi Mutton Biriyani (2 qty, Rs. 520 each): It was served in a big a serving bowl with 2 big potatoes and 5 chunks of Mutton. One plate contains 1 big size of potato (can be easily shared by 2) and 2 chunks of Mutton. The pieces of mutton were perfectly boiled and have proper aroma of biriyani and the size were also decent. The spices were properly soaked into it. The biriyani was very light not too much overpowered with kewra or gulab jal essence. The rice were not too sticky nor too dry, it was perfectly cooked and were kept in dum for perfect amount of time. It was surely one of the place to have Biriyani in the Town. (5/5) Shahi Badam Phirni (1 qty, Rs. 150): Perfectly topped dry fruits like almonds and pista the phirni tasted beautiful. It was just melt in mouth. One of the best phirni I have had till date. Perfect amount of thickness for the dessert item. (5/5) *Note: 👍🏻 As a complimentary welcome drink they gave us Khas ka Sharbat, which was pretty good but a little heavy tinge of kewra and gulab jal in it. The complementary Burhani with the biryani was a very good combination and helps to digest the food easily. A perfect taste of Bangladeshi burhani. The behaviour of the staffs were very good. They will bring you the ordered food one by one from after few minutes of entering the place. They will took care of you while you are eating. The ambience was also very nice. It was pleasent, soothing, mesmerizing, a perfect place to have your Mughlai food under the open sky. The food quality was also very good. It was not atall oily which is big concern in Mughlai cuisine. 👎🏻 The only thing which can be improved, is the quantity of the food depending on the price they charge. 2 pieces of Galawti Kebab for 380 I think a bit more expensive. It will be ok if it has 4 pieces. The quantity of the Biriyani can improved a little but the mutton pieces were good it can be remained as it is.

Overhyped place with mediocre Kolkata biryani and tasteless chicken rezala. A plate of 2 small sized shammi kababs looked overpriced for Rs 280/-. But apart from the food being unworthy of a second visit , the customer service really sucks. Since one needs to book and choose the menu beforehand, we did so. Our order included mutton yakhni pulao and firni. Halfway through the dinner the server comes and says that they can’t serve it since mutton was not available but Kolkata mutton biryani is available !!!😀But Manzilat didnot let us know of this when we booked. Also though firni was available for other customers she wouldn’t even serve us 1. She said we booked on the same day. If this was the case she should have not taken our booking. Serving something else other than what we went for and not even coming to the table and saying sorry. ! When I went inside to talk to her she said very tartly that it was a late reservation. No apologies! Does she understand that if she accepts a reservation she at least needs to deliver!

After hearing a lot about Manzilat's, I battled an hour-long traffic to sample its fare. Summarizing in one word: disappointing. For someone who regularly visits Lucknow on food trips, the Awadhi items served here were truly not worth the trip. Galauti kebab was the only saving grace, but I have had far better ones from Lucknow and even in Delhi. The Lakhnavi gosht pulao was nothing more than jeera rice, and the chicken rezala was so watered down that it could be had as soup. Not to mention the absolutely ridiculous portion size compared to the price! Tbh, this place thrives only on marketing/publicity, being the home kitchen of a descendant of the royal family—don't understand why it should even be a selling point. The service is horrible. Despite reserving a table and placing the order 15 days in advance, we had to wait 40 mins before even given water. Luckily, I did not 'encounter' the lady herself who is known to be quite unpleasant, not bothering if you do not like the food and definitely not open to suggestions (for more, read the many reviews on Zomato). Surviving purely on hype, Manzilat's is best avoided, unless one wants to go only to announce on social media—which also isn't worth it.