Bukhara, Delhi

While the ambience and surroundings seemed nice and we had heard such wonderful things about this restaurant that we decided to splurge and try it out while visiting Delhi in late November 2008. While the food was decent, definitely not worth the price paid for the quality as we ate much better and for much less at quite a few other restaurants. Our biggest mistake was ordering one single bottle of wine. Upon arriving we were given the wine menu. We asked for a couple different bottles, but each time they would come back and tell us they were out. The waiter kept telling us to try the "Cloudy Sauvignon". Finally, we said, "Ok, we'll try it." The wine was decent nothing to write home about. At the end of our "average" dinner we received our check and were shocked to find out the cost. They had charged us 6,700 rupees ($134 US) for the one, single bottle of Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2008 (a New Zealand wine). Upon seeing this, we promptly called the waiter over who was not helpful and who told us, "We had the seen the price in the menu." Not satisfied with his answer we asked him to bring the manager over. The manager was also less than helpful and said the same thing. He was not willing to budge or even apologize for the mishap. We felt completely duped and scammed and at of all places the nice, fancy restaurant at ITC Maurya Sheraton Hotel. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone solely on principal and the way we were treated just for asking about the price. They need to take better care of their guests in the future. By the way, you can buy a bottle of Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2008 in the United States and online for approximately $24.99 US and I recently went to a restaurant in Las Vegas that had it on the menu and sold it for $55 per bottle.

Favorite Dish: None. See above on why I do not recommend Bukhara.

WIth rave reviews, I went to Bukhara on a recent trip to Delhi. First and foremost, the sitting arrangement is really uncomfortable as you are required to sit below the usual table height. Secondly, if you are caucasian, you are lucky as you are well served, otherwise being of any other nationality will not get you top service. The wait staff is not well trained and do not live up to the hype. The food was okay, nothing to rave about, especially if you have eaten around. For a party of 4 people, we paid well over Rs. 25,000 or about $600 for 3 dishes, 2 bottles of Red wine and 3 pegs of whisky.

Honestly, for that kind of money, we could have got better service, lots of food and drinks in Delhi, or for that matter anywhere in the world!

Favorite Dish: Lamb

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Best Tandoorie restaurant in the woeld.Bukhara which serves food from the North-West Frontier has featured in Time and Newsweek magazines for its cuisine.A place where you are encouraged to eat with your fingers.

Favorite Dish: Two of us, Naan, Tandoore Chicken, Black Dal, Rasmalai.

Staff - Very presentable and articulate and attentive. Probably the highlight of the experience for me since I eat that kind of food on a daily basis.

Ambience - Mostly Europeans and Americans who looked like business travelers and Diplomats, and were feasting on their company's money or the Tax payer's money. Most people were grumpy, boring and business like even though they were at such cool place. This place fails to attract the young and fun crowd.

Drinks - A 700% markup for a beer, but do not lose the sight of the fact that you are after all eating at the 14th best restaurant in the world. So, $7 for 600 ml of good Indian beer (that tastes better than Heineken) is dirt cheap from that point of view. A lousy bar in US would charge $5 for 300 ml of beer.

Bad - The menu was made out of wood and was too heavy to lift ( probably 2-3 lbs) and I just did not want to lift it any more and gave up on the drinks. The open display of meat was a huge turnoff.

Food - The dal was good, but I being a Punjabi, it will be hard for Bukhara to make any food that I have not had before and that did not taste as good or better. The parathas and Naan were actually very impressive and in fact quite cheap (Rs 200).

Utensils - Now that had the wow factor. The food is served in copper utensils and you must know that copper is hard to maintain and that is why most people do not use copper in homes. Loved it.

Value - You will probably spend anywhere from $25 to $50 per head conservatively. In Delhi, you can have a great and clean meal for $1 (especially south Indian places), but Bukhara has value to it since I would compare it to the top restaurants in the world. Imagine a top restaurant in Tokyo and New Your or London, they will easily cost you $150 per head and upwards, which makes Bukhara as a great value.

Overall, go here for the experience rather than food.

For the absolutely best Indian food, well for that, you will have to be invited to someone's house, the restaurants just can not make the best Indian food.

Rating - I think part of the reason the restaurant got to the 14th rank in the world is because the magazine that ranked it at 14th is English and we all know how much English love the Indian food. I would doubt that an American or some other magazine would have rated it this high.

Favorite Dish: The parathas and Nans were well done.

The UK Magazine, Restaurant, recently rated the world’s 50 best restaurants. Among the prestigious few Bukhara stood at number 14 in the world, and has also been voted as the Best Indian restaurant in the world. The restaurant serves up cuisine from the north-west frontier, prepared in a clay ‘tandoor’ oven, in a kitchen area which is visible to customers, and which adds to the experience of dining here.
Meals here are expensive, but the food is amazing! Bill Clinton, on his trips to India, often visits the restaurant... apparently he said he wished he had two stomachs!

Favorite Dish: I`d say everything! I love everything - from their nans to the dal to the kebabs...

One of the best restaurants in India-if not the best.Guests usually eat with your hands-silverware available upon request.A must for anyone wishing to experience the best.

Favorite Dish: The leg of lamb and the grilled prawns are spectacular.The dahl is simmered for 48 hours and is extraordinary.

BUKHARA

World famous for its North-West Frontier cuisine, Bukhara brings alive the rustic flavors of North-West Frontier cuisine traditionally prepared in a clay oven (tandoor). The ambience is decidedly rugged and you can even watch your meal being prepared through the open display kitchen, visual treat not to be missed. Rated amongst the top 15 restaurants in the world and the finest Indian restaurant by “Restaurants" magazine.
Open for Lunch and Dinner.
Bite into the succulent lamb kebabs, freshly baked 'naan' and 'rotis', an impressive array of mutton and chicken delicacies from the rugged north - west corner of the subcontinent.

Favorite Dish: Chicken tandoori in a variety of flavors served with naan.

This restaurant, which the magazine "Restaurant" for some reason considers to be the 14th best in the world, was a total disaster.

Compared to other restaurants in Delhi, this served average food at five times the price. The waiters were amazingly lazy.

When we finally got a table (after waiting an hour), one of the (uncomfortable) stools were wet. We asked our waiter for a new one. First he refused, simply turning the stool around, so I wouldn't have to sit directly on the wet spot. Then, when we asked again for a dry stool, he switched our stool with one from the next table. 5 minutes later, when some new guests arrived at the next table, one of them were forced to sit on the wet stool instead.

The waiters just dropped the glasses and cutlery on the table, and our dishes were not served at the same time.

The food was good, but nothing amazing, and definitely not worth the price. The Sheraton Hotel, where the restaurant is situated, is apparently the place where top politicians come to stay when they're in India, so they should definitely give the waiters some schooling in manners and behaviour before someone important accidentally enters the restaurant.