The downtown Indian restaurant LUFU NOLA (310 St. Charles Ave., 504-354-1104) is impressive for the regional variety represented on its menu, going way beyond the standard curry house offerings. Last year, the three local chefs who created it expanded by going in a very different direction, opening Cajun Flames, a restaurant for oysters, po-boys and other traditional Louisiana flavors in the French Quarter.
The French Quarter location of LUFU NOLA serves a large menu of regional Indian dishes in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
It did not exactly set the world on fire, so the chefs have now doubled down on what they do best. They’ve converted the former Cajun Flames to a second LUFU NOLA, and are reaching even deeper into the vast repertoire of possibilities that resides under the idea of Indian cooking.
This LUFU NOLA French Quarter (1117 Decatur St., 504-354-1214) officially opened July 3.
Crunchy thin noodles are spun around yogurt, onions and nuts for the dahi ke kebab dish at LUFU NOLA, an Indian restaurant in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
It has a much larger menu (see below), including dishes many heretofore unfamiliar on the local scene, and a cocktail list heavily imbued with Indian flavors too.
Doubling down
“We heard from the neighborhood, people know us from downtown, asked us why we weren’t bringing an Indian restaurant,” said Shan Samantray, who runs the restaurants with co-chefs Aman Kota and Sachin Darade.
“You have to accept that. We listen. We’re young and we can learn,” he said.
LUFU NOLA is an Indian restaurant created by the chefs (from left) Sachin Darade, Aman Kota and Shan Samantray. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
This restaurant space by the French Market has had many lives. Some will remember it as the Italian restaurant Maximo’s. It was most recently home to Saint John, which relocated last year to the CBD, now at 715 St. Charles Ave.
It still presents a long room with a large, marble-topped bar, great for solo dining or drop-in visits, and a bank of deep booths in back, which feel like cozy nooks. Upstairs, there’s a second dining room and a balcony for outdoor tables.
Cocktails made with Indian flavors are part of the menu at the French Quarter location of LUFU NOLA. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
In one big change, the open kitchen has been enclosed. This addresses an issue with air conditioning for the dining room that had been interfering with cooking, the chefs said. It also makes the new LUFU kitchen much larger, and easily twice the size of the downtown location, enabling that larger menu here.
Kulcha stuffed bread from the tandoor oven is topped with house-made white butter at LUFU NOLA, an Indian restaurant in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Evidence of this rises in an aroma of spice when you walk in, and I tried a few dishes as the restaurant was preparing to open.
First tastes
The dahi ke kebab is showstopping as a first course, and a much more elegant version of a dish I first tried at the downtown LUFU. It’s still based on fried onions, nuts and a thick-as-cream yogurt, this time encased in nest of crispy, thin kunafa rice noodles.
Mutton chukka, made with goat, is a hearty dish on the menu at LUFU NOLA, an Indian restaurant in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
The mutton chukka, made with goat, gives a texture tamed by pressure cooking but retaining its full flavor, with more of a thick coating than a sauce, singing with ginger and anise.
Chole kulcha, a hearty garbanzo bean dish served with stuffed bread, is on the menu at LUFU NOLA, an Indian restaurant in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
The chole kulcha has chickpeas cooked down to a deeply comforting, sneakily spicy dish to pair with hot stuffed bread, the kulcha, filled with potato and heavily dabbed with white butter they’re making in house.
Dessert, cocktails
For dessert, the pineapple rava halwa is a semolina pudding, a bit like a juicy bread pudding. And if you jones for mango freeze from Jazz Fest, you will love the mango kulfi, creamier nut still craving adjacent, served in an adorable terracotta pot.
Mango kulfi is a cool, light dessert at the Indian restaurant LUFU NOLA. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Pineapple rava halwa is a sweet semolina pudding for dessert at LUFU NOLA, an Indian restaurant in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
LUFU stands for “let us feed u,” a name that goes back to the concept’s start as a pop-up. You should, and also let them mix you a drink while they’re at it.
The “coco-ke monk” is a riff on a pina colada made with palm sugar (jaggery), grated nutmeg and a rum from India, Old Monk, that’s been a favorite since I tasted it at the first LUFU. And a sip of the “curry uprita,” laced with curry leaf and chile pepper syrup, was the single spiciest taste on this visit.
LUFU NOLA French Quarter
1117 Decatur St., 504-354-1214
Mon., Tue. 5-10 p.m., Thu.-Sun. noon-10 p.m. (closed Wed.)
And
LUFU NOLA
310 St. Charles Ave., 504-354-1104
Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. (closed Wed.)
The opening menu for LUFU NOLA French Quarter, July 2025.