PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAA welcome break from the run-of-the-mill Indian curry house, Bukhara is run by a team of French-speaking Indian chefs who hail from Mauritius. The island's mixed colonial past has resulted in an incredibly diverse cuisine - a hotchpotch of Indian, Creole, Chinese and European. It's the Indian component that features most strongly here, with curry leaf and coconut milk perfuming many of the dishes, but hints of rustic Creole spice throughout the menu make dining at Bukhara a unique proposition.
For a true Mauritian experience, start with the crab cakes; zucchini flowers stuffed with crab meat and laced with sprightly Creole spices, and squid marinated with black pepper, mustard seeds and toasted cumin. Mains range from a curry of goat to the French-inspired duck canelle rouge, simmered in five spice, red wine and orange then sauteed with tomato, olives, garlic and thyme. Diners after a more conventional Indian experience will be pleased with their good renditions of butter chicken and seafood masala, and Indian sweets such as chai ice-cream. It's modestly priced too, which in this part of Sydney is a breath of fresh air.
LOCATIONDouble Bay is approximately 8 k's from the CBD in the eastern suburbs.
DETAILSBukhara's decor is unlike most Indian restaurants, spacious and decorated with cane furnishings, soft lighting with the wrap-around windows giving you a view of leafy Cross Street.
FOOD & BEVERAGEBukhara specialises in Southern Indian dishes which emphasises the use of spices, curry leaves and coconut milk, as well as Mauritian cuisine. Choose from a tempting variety of Tandoori dishes from the Tandoori clay oven. Entree specialites include the Ginger Mint Fish, Masala Fish Cake, Crab Creole and the Pan Fried Scallops - a Mauritian special - scallops marinated overnight with chopped ginger, fresh herbs, panfried with white wine, served on a crisp mini puri. Other specialities include for mains the Prawn a La Mauritian, Mauritian Chicken Ladobe and Duck Cannelle Rouge - duck on the bone simmered in five whole spices, red wine with orange, sauteed with tomato, cloves and garlic, touch of thyme and olives.
FUNCTIONSBukhara also welcomes group booking for the restaurant, as well as catering for office parties, birthdays, weddings, and other functions, where Bukhara's own kitchen including Tandoori Oven will be brought so dishes can be cooked fresh on the spot.
Home and office delivery
available
Corkage $5 per bottle