Called Oudh 1722, the restaurant will open on 1 May in Borough bringing Awadhi cuisine – a historic style shaped in the royal courts of Lucknow – to the capital.
It will be set across three floors of a listed Victorian building and have space for 80 covers across the main dining room, with an upstairs bar and lounge.
The new restaurant will explore Awadhi cuisine in depth, a style which Islam says is seldom given dedicated focus in the UK, with a wide reaching menu that takes in street food style snacks, kebabs, slow-cooked ‘dum’ dishes and curries designed for sharing.
Snacks will include nargisi kofta - soft egg yolk and spiced venison; and gol guppas with jaljeera, while kebabs on offer will include a kakori kebab made with finely minced lamb shoulder with chilli and rose; a lasooni jinga of king prawn with garlic and raw mango; and a dahi paneer made with cultured cream and fenugreek.
Dum cooking – the slow, dough-sealed technique synonymous with the region – will form a key pillar of the menu with dishes such as raan-e-dum pukht (pictured), smoked Wiltshire lamb shoulder baked in a lamb-fat crust; a mutanjan dum biryani of oxtail and aged basmati; and zameen doz machli - whole turbot slow-cooked in spiced ghee with brown shrimp and saalan (main image).
A range of curries shaped by Hindu, Mughal, Persian and Arab influences will also be available, ranging from tandoori poussin with smoked tomato and cream; Aylesbury duck with beetroot curry; to gobhi mussalam – roasted cauliflower in toasted poppy seed korma with seasonal truffle.
Breads, meanwhile, will include saffron-scented sheermal, layered paratha and hand-stretched roomali roti.
Desserts will revisit Lucknowi classics, including awadhi nimish, an aerated saffron soft serve enriched with almonds, alongside shahi tukda, the region’s take on bread pudding.
Alongside an à la carte menu, Oudh 1722 will also offer a feasting-style ‘dawaat e khas’ menu.
Expansion beyond Birmingham
Born in Birmingham to a Bangladeshi family, Islam is chef patron at Indian restaurant Opheem in Birmingham, one of just two Indian restaurants in the UK to hold two Michelin stars.
As well as Oudh 1722, Islam is working on a separate project in Bristol, although an opening date is yet to be established.
Called Kush, which means happiness in Hindi and Urdu, the Bristol restaurant will be located in the former site of Indian restaurant The Mint Room in the city’s Clifton area and will be the most casual of Islam’s three restaurants.
