Reviewed: Dinner at Bukhara Grill

Restaurant: Bukhara Grill
Cuisine: Indian
Location: 217 E. 49th Street - NY, NY 10017

Eric, my cousin, who's interning in New York City, and I like to get together once a week for dinner (since his time here is limited). When he told me that he'd never had Indian food before, I knew that I needed to be the person who introduced him to one of my favorite cuisines.

I decided that Bukhara Grill would be the perfect introduction. Having only ordered from the restaurant to my office, I'd never been to the physical restaurant. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the unassuming-looking restaurant (from street view) had two floors and a beautiful outdoor patio.

We started our meal with complimentary pappadum and 3 different homemade "salsas." Next, we ordered the samosa appetizer (pastry-like dough stuffed with potatoes and peas, then deep fried). The potato filling was very tasty and had more of a spicy kick than others I've had.

For our mains, he ordered the Chicken Makhani (similar to Chicken Tikka Masala) and I ordered the Shrimp Kanhari (shrimp grilled in the tandoori oven). The chicken was all white meat breast chunks in a lovely tomato-cream sauce that was full of flavor. My shrimp were almost the size of langoustines (I was a bit nervous when the server told me that there were only going to be 4 shrimp for my entree) and were grilled to perfection; possibly even overly grilled. Had they been cooked for just a little less time, they would have been perfect. We ordered basmati rice and plain naan, and it made for a beautiful meal.

I conclude that I was very impressed with our food and overall service at Bukhara Grill and even more impressed that I have a new Indian food convert...my cousin!

…

Until we eat again,

Lindsay, The Lunch Belle