Knocksense Discovery: Saute in Aliganj is where you should go for your next family dinner

With the massive number of cafes and bistros popping up across Lucknow’s cityscape, it can be easy to lose track of fine dining restaurants that we all love and adore. Such restaurants are great for a soft and quiet family affair, which is something that we all yearn for once in a while. If you’re tired of the garish and loud bistros, you have to pay a visit to Saute, a fine dining restaurant that serves the best of Mughlai, Oriental and Continental cuisine. Since there is something here to satiate everyone’s palette, Saute in Aliganj is the place to be at for a fun filled family outing.

The place is tastefully and subtly done, with off white walls and a few muted paintings here and there, it gives a casual yet refined vibe. The lighting here is also rather plain and makes for good looking photos- which you’ll obviously be taking. At its core, it offers a stark contrast to the cafe culture in the city and makes for a different kind of outing. Also, if you’re here with your entire family, there won’t be a problem as there’s ample seating for everyone, including seating for toddlers.

Since the place starts crowding up the weekend approaches, it is best if you book a table in advance.

On to the food, there’s really a lot to talk about here. The food is a major step above the decor and interiors. In fact we tried at least 9 dishes and each of them left a memorable taste. For the starters, we went with the BBQ Potatoes- which were cheese and potato filled balls of heaven and the lovely corn, which was lovely indeed and the fish hariyali tikka.

The potatoes had a neat texture to them- crispy yet soft on the outside and yummy from the inside. Though the BBQ potatoes had a somewhat oriental taste to them, it was rather muted and not very in your face. The corn too was somewhat similar and served as a great appetizer for the coming main course. As for the fish tikka, it had a peppy and minty flavour with explosions in the mouth. This one is a must try if you’re looking for a light non vegetarian appetizer.

The main course here is delectable and there’s loads of options to choose from. We tried the red sauce pasta- to get a taste of the continental cuisine. The red sauce pasta was well prepared with a nice tomato flavour while not being too hard on the taste buds. The pasta itself was well done and served with a side of crispy garlic bread, which perfectly complemented the melt in your mouth pasta.

On to the Mughali and North Indian cuisine, we tried the chicken korma, kadai paneer (both paired with naans and tandoori rotis) chicken biryani and the veg sizzler . Since the meat in the chicken korma was soft, juicy and tender, the curry went well along with it. However, the flavours in the dish itself left a bit to be desired. The kadhai paneer, on the other hand had a number of varied flavours- both aromatic and smokey- which perfectly complemented the soft paneer making for a lasting taste.

The chicken biryani we tried had a classic awadhi taste to it. The rice was well infused in the various spices, each of which left different flavours in your mouth. As for the chicken, it was nicely done and on the whole, the dish lived up to its age old history.

There’s nothing that complements your perfect dinner better than a few drinks. The mocktails are prepared in house, which give them a refreshing taste. The Virgin Mojito was minty and peppered, the fruit punch really did have a punch to it and the blue lagoon was a sweet aftertaste. All in all, the drinks made the food taste even better.

Essentially, Saute stands as a testament to what a quiet and peaceful dining experience should be. Everything here makes you question why you don’t visit it more often. Next time you’re looking for a family friendly place, you know where to go.

Where: Hotel Sandstone Inn, A 1/6, Sector H, Near Puraniya Chauraha, Aliganj, Lucknow

* All the photos in this article are clicked by Knocksense photographer Ranil Vikram Singh. All the photos are unedited!