Bukhara Grill Indian Restaurant, NYC
Bukhara Grill
217 E. 49th St
(Btw 2nd and 3rd Ave)
(212) 888-2839
Reservation: In my experience it isn’t necessary unless you have a large group. There are two floors and when I went at 7pm, there wasn’t a lot of people.
Price: Expensive
After hearing such rave reviews about Bukhara Grill, I decided to bring my friends here for dinner to celebrate Sally’s birthday! I know Sally loves Indian food and I figure why not bring her to the “best indian city in the city for it’s value” as my Indian co-worker would say. I will later learn that good reviews don’t necessarily reflect a good experience every time!
Bukhara Grill Restaurant
Bukhara Grill Menu
Bukhara Grill Apron
Complimentary Bread and Indian Chip
I have no idea what this is called! Can someone help me? The “chip” almost tastes like corn chips but with a different texture. This is strangely addictive to eat! The best part is that it’s for free! Instead of giving bread like at most restaurants, you get this!
Please click to see more!
Inside of Bukhara Grill - 2nd Fl
Bukhara dipping sauces
I am still very new to Indian Cuisine, and unfortunately I cannot tell you the names of these sauces. All I can say is that the green sauce tastes like mint; adjacent to that one tastes very sweet and tangy like peaches, and the bottom one, which is purple tastes sweet.
Complimentary Appetizer
Cold, tangy, and disgustingly minty are the words I would use to describe this appetizer. Loaded with chickpeas, yogurt, chutney sauce, and paprika, this is the most unusual dish I have ever tried. Perhaps if it was warm, it might taste better? I don’t know the name of this dish, but I think there’s a reason why this is complimentary. Hands down, none of my friends like this. And does anyone know the name of this dish?
Potli Samosa - $8.00
I am always won over by samosas! I have never had one at an Indian restaurant, but I definitely had to try. Samosas are basically fried dumplings stuff with whatever you want in it. In this case it is filled with peas and potatoes. I did not find a problem with this dish, but unfortunately it did not wow me. I guess I expected more Indian flavors in this, but regardless it’s a good comfort food dish. If you want something Indian, I don’t think I would order this.
Inside of Potli Samosa
Garlic Nan - $6.50
You can never go wrong with Garlic Nan! I enjoyed it and would order it each time!
Basmati Rice Pulao - $6.00
Yes, six dollars for rice, but you’ll need it when you’re eating curry. The rice is nothing out of the ordinary, but it’s expensive though.
Mal Mal Kabab
This is a chicken sausage. The meat is moist and it’s slightly spicy which I liked. When it was first served out, I thought it would be all in one dish, but unfortunately it was served into four pieces to each person on the table, family style. That kind of irked me, but not like I could have finished it myself. Now I know, Indian food at Bukhara Grill is best eaten family style.
Tandoori Chicken
The tandoori chicken looks and taste the same every where else with the exception that is it moist. I personally did not think it was a great dish, but my friend managed to eat the whole chicken.
Ok, so that’s the food portion of the post. Let’s talk about the service. I’m not sure if it’s the matter of cultural differences, but the waiters kept coming every couple of seconds/minutes! It is incredibly annoying to have the staff bombard you with a million questions to see if you need anything at all. If I wanted something, of course I would call for them and ask. But once one waiter ask if we needed anything and we say no, he leaves and another one would immediately come to ask the same thing. It definitely disrupts the flow of the dining experience.
Now, the made up for the nuisance by providing my dear friend a birthday cake! We didn’t even tell the waiters that it was our friend’s birthday, but somehow they knew! They must have overheard our conversation and it was a very nice gesture!
Anyways to conclude, my expectations was way too high and it’s definitely no Devi. I did not have such a great experience as I would like to have. Maybe I need to order other specialty dishes? We did order 3 other items, but the pictures came out bad. The total came out to be $156.60 for 4 people. Is that not insane? Very expensive and this isn’t including tips!
Now I will leave you with the city’s health inspection report!
BUKHARA GRILL
217 EAST 49 STREET, MANHATTAN 10017
212-888-2839Violation points: 17
Inspection Date: 12/18/2008 Violations were cited in the following area(s) and those requiring immediate action were addressed.
Sanitary Violations 1.) Non-food contact surface improperly constructed. Unacceptable material used. Non-food contact surface or equipment improperly maintained. 2.) Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored. 3.) Hot food not held at or above 140°F. Previous Inspection Results
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3 Responses to “Bukhara Grill Indian Restaurant, NYC”
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Thanks!!! You guys rocked. =)
There is a link above to one of my favorite sites that actually did a video with Vicky Vij @ Bukhara Grill that looked delicious. Your dining experience was a bit unfortunate, but very informative! I’ll have to use both to make my decision to visit. Thanks!
I should also probably mention that the video is from Behind the Burner. I’m a bit scatterbrained today!