Tiger Trail

The Verdict

Tiger Trail is a dedicated North Indian Awadhi restaurant that operates alongside Shikari within the Royal Orchid Metropole complex. The restaurant was opened in 2012 under the direction of a Lucknow-trained chef who had previously worked at the Taj Lucknow and the ITC Mughal Agra, and it remains the most technically serious Indian restaurant in Mysore — the kitchen's specific focus is the Awadhi court tradition that the Mysore royal court culturally aligned with in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The menu is the Awadhi canon — dum biryanis cooked in sealed-lid vessels, slow-simmered kormas (the Lucknowi chicken korma is the reference order), seekh and galouti kebabs from the charcoal grill, and a breads programme anchored by the sheermal and the taftan. The dal makhani is slow-cooked overnight in the traditional Awadhi method. The vegetarian menu — particularly the dum aloo and the paneer lazeez — is the equal of the meat section.

The room is a modern Awadhi-themed dining space — Lucknow-style chikan-embroidery artwork, copper-and-brass tableware, and a dining room that seats approximately 60 in a quieter register than the main Shikari hall. Service is in the North Indian fine-dining mode — slow, technical, anchored in the chef's pacing of the multi-course meal.

Tiger Trail is the most ambitious Indian kitchen in Mysore. For the dinner that needs to demonstrate the technical depth of North Indian cooking at a register equivalent to the Taj or ITC properties in the larger Indian cities, it is the only answer in Mysore. The Friday-night Awadhi tasting menu — a six-course degustation that rotates quarterly — is the single most interesting meal in the city and a reason in itself to visit Mysore for a diner coming from Bangalore.

Why It Works for Impress Clients

Tiger Trail is the Mysore table for a client who values cuisine-first serious cooking over pure architectural context. A dedicated North Indian Awadhi kitchen run by a Lucknow-trained chef, a menu that runs to the court-style dum biryanis and the slow-cooked kormas that most hotel restaurants do not attempt, and a dining room designed around the cuisine rather than the architectural heritage. For the client who recognises the Awadhi cuisine and values technical seriousness, this is the Mysore answer.

Also in Mysore

For diners planning a broader Mysore itinerary: Sapphire offers indian and continental at a different register; Shikari is the alternative for a second-night booking; and The Elephant Bar anchors the city's impress clients map. The full grid is on the Mysore index, and the broader Impress Clients occasion page collects the most relevant peers globally.