Even the telephone number ends in 1722. That is the year, as Aktar Islam tells it, that the Nawabs of Lucknow slipped the Mughal leash and began the long, lavish flowering of Awadhi court cooking, and he has named a restaurant after it. Oudh 1722 opened on 1 May 2026 at 66 Union Street in Borough, a short stroll from the market, and it is Islam's first restaurant in London.
A Birmingham chef, finally in London
Islam was born in Birmingham to a Bangladeshi family and started cooking at thirteen in his father's restaurant. He made his name at Lasan, won Gordon Ramsay's The F Word in 2009, then opened Opheem in the Jewellery Quarter, a street that was largely derelict when he arrived. Opheem became one of the very few Indian restaurants in Britain to hold two Michelin stars, and it was, by his own account, meant to open in London in the first place. Oudh 1722 is that London restaurant, a few years late and in a different form. Senior managers spent six months training at Opheem before the doors opened, and Euston to Union Street takes about twenty minutes, which lets Islam split his week between kitchens.
“Even the telephone number ends in 1722.”
The room
From the pavement it looks like a handsome local. Inside, the listed Victorian house, most recently home to Lupins and once a hatter's shop, has a calm, earthy palette: muted tones, plush green chairs and walnut joinery, with an open kitchen close enough to watch. The limewashed walls feel homely against the gold-leaf flourishes on the plates, and there is a top-floor bar and a busy, noisy kitchen. Servers carry silver platters and glide. This is a room for a long table of friends, or for parents you want to impress, more than for a quick bite.
What to order
The cooking is Awadhi, shaped by Persian, Mughal and Central Asian hands in eighteenth-century Lucknow, a city UNESCO lists as a Creative City of Gastronomy. Its signatures are kebabs that dissolve, saffron rice and dum pukht, the sealed-pot method in which a dish cooks low and slow until the flavours have met.
Start with the gol guppas: crisp shells filled with sprouting moong and potato, into which you pour jaljeera, a cooling mint and coriander water, then eat in one bite. Then the kebabs. The mushroom gilawat is the standout starter, a deeply savoury paste almost meaty in character, to be spread onto roti and rolled up like a very good wrap. Do not leave without the malai murgh, a chicken leg gone juicy and creamy, or the lasooni jhinga, generously sized king prawns with garlic and raw mango. The kakori kebab of finely minced lamb shoulder with chilli and rose is on the opening menu too.
For a curry, the machhli qaliya of monkfish is creamy and tender, and the gulnaar, a smoked tomato and cream tandoori chicken, is Islam's Awadhi answer to butter chicken. Then the dum dishes, which are the point of the place: a mutanjan biryani of oxtail that falls off the bone beneath sweet carrot and aged basmati, a serious contender for the best biryani in London. Raan-e-dum pukht, a smoked Wiltshire lamb shoulder baked inside a crust of lamb fat, and a whole turbot cooked slowly in spiced ghee, make the opening menu an argument for patience. Finish with the gulab jamun, an orange-scented sponge with Chantilly cream.
The hedge is scale. Portions are very large, ordering widely can overwhelm, and the theatrical presentation will not be to every taste. The dahi paneer is too sweet and evening tables can be hard to find. Bring a crowd, order in rounds, and plan on leftovers.
Drinks
The mango chutney margarita, with a smoky finish, is the house calling card, and the Itr-e-Aam brings brandy together with curry leaf, sandalwood and white peach. The wine list is wide and curious, with English fizz and a Japanese koshu among the bottles.
London has eaten Mughlai food for generations and mostly flattened it into one idea of North Indian cooking. Oudh 1722 is narrower and bolder: one court, one century, and a chef who has earned the right to be precise.
- The vibe
- Calm listed townhouse, walnut and green, open kitchen, silver platters, gold-leaf flourishes.
- The food
- Awadhi court cooking: mushroom kebab, malai murgh, monkfish qaliya, oxtail dum biryani.
- The drink
- Mango chutney margarita first; the brandy Itr-e-Aam if you like perfume.
- A tip
- Evening tables are often released late, so recheck a couple of days ahead.
