Review Bukhara - Cape Town Central

Had a wonder dinner at Bukhara V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. The service was great, the food was delicious, great food presentation and good quantity. We ordered Chicken Tikka boti, chicken and cheese kebab, butter chicken, daal makhani, garlic naan, rice and chicken biryani. Everything was great. Loved it.

Really great service from Brendon the waitor. The curry was absolutely devine; which is charged separately from the expected basmati rice or naan bread. However, once considering the portions of the naan bread and or rice (at additional charge) and considering the area as well as quality of food, it's definitely worth it. The restaurant is also in the corner, great views if you opt for outdoor seating, but if you choose indoor seating, your bound to miss out on the V&A views. The restaurant also makes use of the malls toilets. All COVID-19 compliant. During the autumn and winter seasons, the contracting doors are closed towards the evening, which can make the restaurant feel slightly clostrophic unless sitting in the outside area.

Best Indian restaurant I've been to for a long time. The food was as tasty as in India (and as spicy as you wish). The chicken tikka would almost melt in your mouth. Great service too ! The waiter, Curtis, was both kind and helpful. The Covid menu was restricted but every single dish was a hit ! And as we ordered too much, there was the option to take home. Great culinary experience. To be repeated !

Lovely venue, Asian and Indian menu. Friendly staff ! Softest chops I’ve ever had. Would highly recommend Bukhara 👌🏽

Worth a revisit. There is so much to explore with the food. Excellent service from staff

Best curry ever, food was so tasty and the balance of everything 👌staff amazing and attentive. Ambience toned to perfection

Friendly staff and delicious food at Bukhara. It offers a wonderful feeling by the harbor. The cuisine is mouth watering too. I can recommend it to anyone who wants to relax and have a delicious meal.

CT's premier restaurant for simple and delicious Indian and Asian cuisine. Steep prices but worth every bite 😪

The food was amazing! I cannot understand why the reviews are not that good. We had two veggie Curry’s and two chicken dishes and they were all great! The atmosphere was very nice and the service was good. There were a lot of people inside so I assume it is quite popular although reviews are not 5 stars on google. Would totally recommend!

I never write reviews for restaurants, but I feel like this place deserves it. We booked a place here for New Year’s Eve primarily because the view was great. But I’m not going to lie, the reviews I saw on google for this restaurant had me a little nervous. But I think it’s an understatement to say this restaurant exceeded every expectation I had. They had a special menu for New Year’s, and everything I ate was at worst really good, and at best fantastic. Not only that, the service was top notch. I sadly don’t remember the name of our waiter, but he was incredibly hospitable the entire night. Not a single thing went wrong. I definitely recommend this place for festive occasions. 10/10

We enjoyed the chicken Tikka Masala for lunch. The best part of our experience here was the wonderful view.

We loved it so much. Julienne was our waiter. He was amazing. Explained everything. The food fantastic. I can recommend it to anyone. They have a lunch menu for R99. Will have to try that.

So I went for lunch yesterday at your waterfront branch. We ordered 3 starters a lamb boti, chicken Tika and veg spring rolls. The food was ok. I asked the waiter for a steak knife to cut the boti and he told me they don't have steak knives and I won't be needing one as the lamb boti was tender. It was actually far from tender I could barely break it with my fingers it was so tough. Also it's ridiculous to charge R44 for a 750ml water and R26 for a tin of Coke.

An amazing experience full of delicious food!! I truly recommend it!!

Every time I visit SA I also visit Bukhara. As usual wonderful service and fantastic food. The best curry in Cape Town.

The food was very bland. While it wasn’t expensive but compared to the prices charged by other hotels, felt it was expensive.

Possible card skimming

We have been eating at bhukhara since 2008. The quality has deteriorated drastically. Not worth it anymore.

My family and I visited the restaurant on Saturday 21 September 2019 while on holiday in Cape Town. This was the worst experience I have ever had at a restaurant. The service was poor with only three waiters there of which only one was really working. Service was rushed and prawn curry was nothing like the description (disgusting).<br/><br/>The bill arrived which amounted to R1,400 and the impatient waiter entered R14,000 into the card machine and pressed enter to the next screen to enter pin (this machine did not show the amount to be paid on the “enter pin” screen). <br/><br/>About a half an hour later I realized that an extra “0” had been added to my bill and instead of paying R1,400 I had paid R14,000. A whole additional R12,600 extra. Upon returning to the store to politely explain the error to the manager, Mr FAIZAL JOHNSTONE, and ask for a refund, I was rudely told that their machines can’t refund on a credit card and I should return on Monday. This arrogant, and rude imbecile has no understanding of customer service or respect for a fellow human being and the situation soon turned ugly.<br/><br/>I will never return to this restaurant again and would like to bring this sort of service to the attention of fellow diners.

Unreal bad service. Food is average. Seriously average. Service was extremely bad and the waiter very rude and aggressive. I wish i remembered his name. We were the only customers in there. I can understand why it was empty. Sorry if i sound like a hater.<br/><br/>

Hi I visited Bukhara yesterday 02/01/2019 around Time -19:50 I waited a full hour for my food , as I received my food it was cold and not what I ordered The time I left waterfront was 21:23 on that til. I took pictures of my bill aswel as the time I arrived and left.The funniest thing is when I left I haven't eaten yet! Not even to mention that I paid for something I did not have .The waiter also said if I dont pay for it then he needs to pay for it.WOW factor HEY

The service is good.The staff are very friendly. Management a little stiff The food was good and we had a good time but my choice would still be Town.I would say that it is a great venue but for me the experience at the Main restaurant is unique.

Decent food but lackadaisical service.<br/><br/>Dal makhani and vegetable jalfrezi were pretty yum. Fragrantly spiced yet light on the oil, garam masala and chilli powder.<br/>Was super disappointed that all the parathas and tandoori rotis, though described as being made with whole wheat, were made of maida (refined flour). These breads were rubbery and it was an effort to break them off.<br/><br/>The service was very slow. Had to literally get up from my seat to attract the servers attention. Some tables were set with monogrammed cloth napkins, the others were set with paper napkins. We had to ask twice for quarter plates to put our rotis/parathas in.<br/><br/>Also the restaurant did not serve any of the usual Indian food accompaniments like papad, chutneys, sliced onions, lemon slices, pickle, etc. Neither complimentary, nor a la carte. That was a big minus, IMHO!<br/><br/>We asked for wet wipes at the end of the meal (since SA faces a water crunch and no finger bowls were available). Took the waiter 10 mins just to get us the prepackaged wet wipes.<br/><br/>Definitely needs to improve greatly on service standards.

I’m a big fan of Indian food, and an even bigger fan of hot, spicy food. So, I was keen on trying out this restaurant. Although the service was good, the food was very average. I ordered the ‘hot’ version of a veg curry, but it was pretty mild. I liked the dimly lit ambience of the restaurant, though.

Very tasty, flavourful and powerful (flavour not chilli) . Our table ordered lamb madras, butter chicken, chicken korma, Rogan Josh and some butter naans the naans were very cool tasty and well done. I thoroughly enjoyed their unique take on each of the curries we ordered. Service was very good and food was very speedy. Look forward to visiting again.

Average/good Indian food. We were a group of 4 people and ordered two starters and 4 mains (a dish each). For starters we had the tandoori chicken tikka and prawns which was delicious. For mains we have butter chicken (too creamy, too sweet), Rogan Josh, saag gosh. We ordered garlic naans as well which were the best thing on the table. After spending 10 days in SA, I was craving Indian food and I can’t really say I was satisfied.

Ha.. Ha, <br/>This the only place where there are clauses in ordering your food. Restaurant policies drag you spending maximum from your pocket. Alone or in a group worst place for the vegeterians.

I give it 1 rating as no less than it is possible here. They say that the number of dishes that MUST be ordered should be equal to the number of persons on the table. They are money-hungry hounds and their arrogance knows no bounds. We tried to convince the manager and requested him but he paid no heed to us. We left the place without eating as they don’t have an idea regarding maintaining customer’s integrity. Even the waiters there talk like they do not care and just want money. There are many great places for Indian food like My Favor8 and Jewel of India in Cape town and i see no reason you should go this stupid place Bukhara which goes empty on weekends too and still they want to extract undeserved money from the few customers who make a mistake of going there. NEVER ever visit this place.

My salty lassi was disgusting and the waiter was semi-confused most of the time but I was with family so did not say anything, ignoring the issues...<br/>THE FOOD was PHENOMENAL! I was weary from the drink, but the Aloo potatoes, brown dhal, paneer an dbutter chicken was ....DELICIOUS! Ordered with garlic naan and rice.

This branch of Bukhara did not live up to expectation. We had friends here from the USA and we were looking so forward to going. We were so disappointed and received the complete wrong orders ending up with literally fire in our mouths.

AWESOME.... lamb chops starter and tika chicken was superb. The lamb and chicken Vindaloo was a killer but super tasty. Service was great and speed that the food came out excellent....@Dhiren&family thanks a Mill.

I am currently holidays with my Nephew in Cape town. We felt like having some Indian food and went to Bukhara in the waterfront (found the restaurant after a long time).<br/>The waiter asked us if we would like to sit outside or inside. As my nephew wasn't well we opted for inside.<br/>After a few mins the chef (or whoever he is) asked us if some waiter gave us this table or we just sat on our own. We said that the waiter had helped with this table. Then we give our order to this guy and then he comes back again and says that the table is booked and that we need to finish our food in 45 mins or you can use the table outside. So we said it's fine we will go outside. As soon as we sat the earlier waiter comes and says this table is booked. I told him that now I am here so I have booked it. The waiter was not happy with me and did not come to me again to check if I needed anything nor did any person from their restaurant bothered to come to us. We wait for about 20 mins and then realised that nobody is going to help us and we had to go to another restaurant to eat.<br/> <br/>Very horrible service... the people working out there don't know which tables are booked which are not... looks like they just wanted to pass their day... and if they are in a mood to work they will try to service some clients...

Bukhara has a magnificent atmosphere and even more magnificent Indian Cuisine!<br/> The only critique I can give, is that our waitress did not explain to us that we had the option to split our meals into portions so that everyone at the table can have a variety of dishes to enjoy. <br/>I would definately recommend Bukhara for anyone in the mood for a little spice in their life.

Two menus are available as this is two restaurants in one. There is an Asian menu which includes sushi, dumplings and Peking duck, etc., and an Indian menu offering a variety of curries and Indian dishes. I've only ever had excellent food. The curries are particularly delicious. The service can be variable but is generally good. It is quite pricey for the average person. They do have a bar and an Asian inspired cocktail menu.

Hair in food, mains arriving while eating starters, other main arrived cold...meh...oh and the "angry duck" should be renamed to "duck having a slightly off day"

Service Swift and food as expected for a restaurant with this reputation was good.. What was a surprise are the rip off prices being charged for wine. Perhaps its geared for the dollar guests? Unethical in my opinion<br/>I would not go back

Ordered two of the dishes that are considered in the review as their best: butter chicken and chicken korma. The korma was ordinary and the quality of the butter chicken was not up to the mark especially in comparison to the one and only time I had a good experience at Sandton, Bukhara. Somehow the butter chicken tasted a little 'different' and the chicken wings just tasted "off"<br/><br/>What was satisfactory were the crispy butter naans and the chicken cheese kebab sprinkled with lots of lemon (they were a delight)! What blew my mind was the waiters lack of knowledge about the food he was serving. Educate and train your waiters please!!!

Was here last week with my family and friends for dinner. <br/>The ambiance is modern with an Indian touch. The service is quick and staff is courteous. <br/>The food here is Indian howver slightly bland compared to authentic North Indian food. Limited options for vegetarians how'ver they did customise the Dal tadka and paneer veg with spice for us.<br/>When you wish to have Indian in capetown you can definitely try Bhukara. Have visited their other outlet too in Capetown which had Chaat options too , near Taj hotel Cape Town. <br/>Slightly heavy on the pocket for the portion size they serve. <br/>But overall not bad !

To start off on a good note, I loved the colour scheme, the deep green marble worked well with the dark woods. Feels really warm and relaxing. What I did not like at all was the pendant lightning over each table, very annoying when you are trying to have a conversation and the light blinds you. <br/>The quality of the Lamb was very good and very tender in each of the dishes we ordered. The Vindaloo was crazy hot but still had a good depth of flavour. The Fish Curry had great flavour but tasted a bit more like a Pickled Fish then a curry. The naan bread was excellent! Loved every bit. <br/>The food got to the table way faster then expected so that was great but the service from our waiter was neither here nor there. <br/>Great for cold weather!

Outstanding! We were a party of 20 and ordered several lamb and chicken dishes. I particularly enjoyed the chicken korma and butter chicken. Naan breads were enormous and absolutely delicious.

Went here for a friend's birthday after it being highly recommended. We were disappointed when we asked for a jug of water and the waiter brought bottled of water (R40+ each). After telling him that we implied we wanted tap water, he then followed to say that we had to buy the bottled water (even though we didn't want it) despite him not opening it yet. We had the butter chicken curry, dhal and naan bread. The food portion was good (2 people could share one curry), and I really enjoyed the butter chicken, it tasted very homely. I would've preferred it more spicy but it was still tasty anyway. The naan bread really good, soft and quite big. <br/>

Very bad personal experience at Bukhara restaurant, water front, Cape Town 2/4/17. Shahi Paneer had chicken in it. Vegetarians during Navratri had to bear that n the manager was very casual saying it was human error. I think vegetarians n strict Hindus / Jain going to this restaurant in CT should be very cautious.

It was my hubby birthday so I decided to treat him . And since all the dishes are halaal I assumed bukhara was perfect. We got seated and the waiter disappeared and never came back . We eventually ordered the fried and steamed dim sums. It was very salty and very dissapointing. I had the pad thai and hubby had the signature dish . The pad thai was average and so was the rogan josh. On paying we tipped the waiter. He told us to our face that it wasn't enough and caused such a scene to give him more . I was DISGUSTED !!!!! I have never come across that in my life . 1st and last time at bukhara. Service dissapoints and meals are definitely just average and they are SO OVERPRICED !!!!

This restaurants food and drinks are amazing- we had the strawberry daiquiri cocktail, the sizzling chicken and the palak paneer with garlic naan. We loved our food but unfortunately service ruined the evening for us. It was EXTREMELY slow, hard to get our waiters or any other waiters attention and no one thanked us or said goodbye when we left. Very unfortunate to leave on this note.

Been here before  but this time service was poor. Waited for waiter to serve, waiter only took 1 person in table's order then left, food took longer than normal to come to table, incomplete orders sent, different wording from different waiters. <br/><br/>The naan is was dry and slightly burnt, sushi from Haiku's menu was good especially the Soft shell crab sushi. The butter chicken was  very tasty as always.

The restaurant was recommended by friends who raved about the Chicken Lababdar and although the dish didn't quite live up to their description.<br/><br/>It was nevertheless a pleasant experience, in spite of the rice being cold, the chicken being dry and the service being inattentive. <br/><br/>It's not a bad outing, but definitely not for the penny pinchers.

My husband and I got treated to supper for our anniversary. We had been here before but ate dhal and romali roti so didn't get the full experience. This time we were 4 people and ordered the lamb tikka, romali roti, jeeru rice, garlic naan, palak paneer and chicken murg korma. The waiter misheard when we said Jeeru rice and also brought aloo jeeru which is a separate dish. We ordered a bottle of water for the table and 1 soft drink. The surprise aloo jeeru dish was delicious, the lamb was the best dish and hubby and I can see ourselves ordering that to share. The palak paneer was also tasty but overshadowed by the aloo. The chicken was tasty but very rich and I don't think I would order it again. We ate well and had leftovers of all the dishes except the lamb and carbs (rice, roti etc.) we also ordered 4 masala teas which were not hot enough or strong enough in terms of flavor. Indian people don't mess around with masala chai and I thought it was disappointing. the bill was close to R900 and including a tip it was R1000. I'm still deciding if I would come here again. It is definitely a treat, especially when you are not paying, but there are other places I can get Indian food for less (Bibis Kitchen). Don't order the starters as the portions sound tiny. The main dishes are 200g of meat so plenty for two. A negative is that I didn't think the waiter was too friendly or interested. The atmosphere is nice and the place was packed, view of Table Mountain and the waterfront is always a winner.

I didn't have my own main at this bukhara. I had everyone else's. I had lamb vindaloo, chicken vindaloo, chicken cheese. All were really well cooked and flavourful I wish I'd had more but I was stuffed.

Bukhara service was excellent both times I went, stunning views and the perfect place to go and have a fantastic meal with awesome dessert. I definitely recommend the Chicken Vindaloo for those into strong food and for dessert I would say go with the Caramel Cheesecake. So far the best cheesecake I had so far 👌🏼

For Indian food I enjoy this place you know what u gonna get .Steamed cheesecake is the absolute best .service is good always a hit for me .

I love Indian food and decided to try this place. Booking was easy enough and when we arrived seated almost immediately. The host did augue with the barman in front of me which was uncomfortable. Waited about 10 minutes for a waiter to give a menu. Eventually received the menu which consisted of Bukhara menu items and a menu for Haiku Asian food items. So we ordered sushi as starters and Indian food for mains. The sushi was average. The main curry menu items are quite expensive but is large enough to share between 2. What I didn't like was that you have to order rice separately. The curry does not come with rice. For the price I expected rice. I had a chicken korma which was average. The garlic naan was average too. Service was terrible!!! The waiter never made us feel comfortable and I don't think he smiled once. I will never go back here for Indian food. Rather try Bihari ( at least you get rice with the meal!)

Amazing food and ambience . The manager , Lester was so friendly and hospitable . The butter chicken and sizzling beef is a must !!! Lovely dinner

Lousy lousy lousy<br/>Then place was empty and we had a booking and they made us jump through hoops!!!! We talked to the manager who seemed inattentive and couldn't care less attitude. We walked out and went elsewhere. Would never go back even if they paid me money

The Indian cuisine in this establishment is simply divine. Bukhara is my personal favourite curry restaurant although I do much prefer the ambiance at the city bowl branch as this one is inside a mall, very large and too impersonal for my liking.

Hi I am from Dubai. I have been to this restaurant yesterday. It really good. Their Indian dishes are delicious. We ordered butter chicken and chicken ticks waaaaaaaw it was really good. The stuff we're very friendly. The place and atmosphere were very good. I am serpriced from the unfair rating.<br/><br/>Good luck guy and wish all the best

Went for dinner to this restaurant recently and was terribly disappointed. Was craving for some Indian food after some fantastic steak,seafood and wine in S.A  for over a week.<br/>By far the most pretentious place I've ever been to with the most fake and discourteous staff ever.<br/>A simple dal fry, tandoori chicken, fish tikka and naan cannot go so horribly wrong. The chef had spiced it up with green chillies as if he'd never seen them before!!<br/>There was total lack of communication between service and kitchen staff.<br/>The staff had the audacity to say that the chef doesn't accept his fault of having overly spiced the food and just plonked a fresh portion of dal on the table. We refused to have it as we had finished our dinner by then.<br/>I politely asked him that if at all a recovery was to be done, kindly get the dal off the bill only if he wants to an the answer I got was "THE CHEF HAS SAID HE WILL NOT DO SO".<br/>I had by then lost it and only after insisting that the chef be called did he come to the table along with the manager and said that my feedback was infact not given to the manager/chef.<br/>NEED I SAY MORE??<br/><br/>I would definitely not recommend this place.

We are novices when it comes to Indian Food.  We let Craig, our server, take over the piloting of our choices.  It was an awesome experience.  We had three dishes.  The chicken wings, crayfish in a red sauce, and chicken with a curry type of sauce.  Craig suggested two different styles of South African wines.  He was spot on with both of them.  I am a little picky about my cabernet, being from Northern California, but he impressed.  It was a totally different style cabernet than CA, but it was a perfect compliment to the spice of the food.  We really enjoyed our experience at Bhakkara from wine, food, and the service.

I usually enjoy the food at Bukhara, however this time I was quite disappointed. My family was vegetarian so we thought eating at an Indian Restuarant would be our best option as there will be more variety. Bukhara has a lovely atmosphere and view and the service is also quite good. We were first served complimentary pappadum and a spicy sauce that we enjoyed and requested more. For mains we ordered the dhal makhani and the butter paneer with jeera rice and a garlic naan. We enjoyed the dhal makhani however we felt that the paneer lacked flavour and was bland so we were not very impressed as we were looking forward to eating a good paneer curry.

I must admit I was super excited to try Bukhara out! It's tipped as the best Indian Cuisine in Cape Town and missing my mums food, I decided to give it a try. The venue is beautiful- dark and edgy. The view is also stunning! So far so good, I really love the concept of being able to order from the Chinese and Indian menus. Opting for a bit of both I had sushi as a starter and then the dhal makani and a butter nan for mains. I felt that it was a bit pricey, but given the setting I figured it was worth it. Oh- as a rule I prefer bubbly, but I think it's interesting to put out there that while eating Indian food you are advised to stick to either beer or bubbly as these soothe the tastebuds. I had a glass of the Graham Beck Brut :)

The food here never disappoints but it is very pricey for food I feel you can find at cheaper establishments. I really struggle to go here as the lighting is so beyond bad, it's so disconcerting! It is so dark with awful, low hanging lights. The service is average. There are no descriptions under the vegetarian dishes and the waiter couldn't explain any to me.

Very elegant setting. The curries are North Indian and delicious. Can be pricey, but would recommend ordering a few to share if going in a group. Garlic naan as a side! Haiku menu was disappointing.

I'm really confused as to why Bukhara has such a low rating. We were greeted by very friendly staff and our waiter made sure that we knew exactly what was on the menu. We ordered from both the Chinese, and the Indian menu. He did tell us that the starters would come out as they were made and not all together, which we were fine with. The Tandoor Paneer Tikka didn't have a lot of taste but the flavor of the way it was cooked came out really well. From the Chinese menu we had the fried Mushroom Dim Sum and stuffed mushrooms, which were delicious! Our main course Paneer dish was also made really well but the naan was a bit doughy. I must admit that they are very pricy and you could probably get the same food somewhere else for much less. I really love the set up of the restaurant and the view from it is stunning.

I was a bit skeptical about this restaurant as it has two menus Indian and Chinese/Japanese. However I was pleasantly surprised. The selection of meals were pretty good. I tried the dim sum which was really good, friends had sushi, singapore noodles and navratan curry. Everyone enjoyed their meals. The restaurant is a bit tooo dark for me, the other little irritation is that there are two kitchens so meals don't come out together there was a pretty long wait between us getting our Chinese meals and the Indian meal coming out. Service was at an acceptable level.

After a long time, we decided to visit Bukhara and the food was really good except for a few things.<br/>We ordered a chicken starter dish and it tasted so weird, I'm not even sure if it the exact dish we ordered. <br/>For mains we ordered a chicken biryani, chicken lababada and naan. The chicken curry was not stall great just average but the rest of the dishes were really good.<br/>For dessert my friend order a halwa and it was beyond amazing,truly amazing. <br/>The service was really great.

The chain store (or slowly becoming) has not failed me yet, however there were some issues here which I am not too impressed about. <br/><br/>We enjoyed the butter chicken curry, garlic n'aan, and the vegetarian version of the butter chicken curry too. However, the faults were here:<br/><br/>1. The chicken biryani had close to no chicken<br/>2. Our tea spoons were removed from our table as the 30% full restaurant had run out (come on guys)<br/>3. The chocolate and marshmellow springs rolls were basically all pastry<br/><br/>The short comings do not mean that the food was bad, no. Just that the standard was a bit lower than the store located near green market square - rather go there for the full, and a more wholesome experience. <br/><br/>Service: 3.5/5<br/>Food: 3/5<br/>Atmosphere: 5/5

It is such a pity that their interesting-looking tapas-style set Indian menus are only available for tables of 10 or more patrons. The hubby and I would love to try a variety of dishes. Even half portions of the curry dishes would be great, then we could try out some lesser-known options. But with close to R200 per 7 cubes of meat in sauce, one tends to stick to the tried and tested dishes. We were not at all disappointed as far as the flavour and tenderness of the dishes we chose go. We would just like to be able to try something different.

I'm shocked to see that this Bukhara has such a low Zomato rating... As you can tell from my picture, the experience I had actually left me beaming. <br/><br/>Bukhara is my favourite Indian restaurant in South Africa. Hands down. The food is consistently delicious and full of flavour. My favourite dishes are the lamb tikka masala, the malai tikka kebab and the murg kali mirch. The romali rotis had a beautiful pull-apart texture and the prawns we had were cooked to perfection.<br/><br/>My waiter was extremely professional and pleasant, and the service ran smoothly upon my visit. I appreciated the beautiful view across the waterfront, especially at night. Wonderful!

The only way to get service here is to walk out. I have been a diehard for a couple of years, making excuses for the bad (read nonexistent) service which is the hallmark of this branch. No more. I will never go back.

A friend and I tried getting a reservation at bukhara at the waterfront, however, the lack of service from the reservations desk has made me decide this restaurant will not see me dining there. <br/><br/>Being rude to potential customers, whether your restaurant is busy or not is not the service culture that grows your client base.<br/><br/>You could learn a thing or two on how to handle phone reservations with a fully booked restaurant from Bukhara Church Street

Not satisfied with test, service and most important is delay in bringing food. Though saw rating 2.2 took risk but won't suggest as these people are not expecting return customers they fine as they get new customers always... Very disappointed with money spent vs satisfaction received.<br/><br/>Gulshan

Well I was there tonight and I must say am not impressed at all. we were 4 adults 1 child looking to dine as a family. We placed our order for drinks which came in drips and drabs to start off with. Then we placed the food order. 1 meal arrived and then 10 minutes later the next 2 then another 10 minutes later the next one, and the poor child who was only having some noodles was the last to get her food. The worst service I have ever experienced. We asked to speak to a Manager, well in my opinion any manager that cannot handle a guest and chooses to blame her staff is not a manager and should start back at waitressing or simply be replaced with someone that gives a damn for the restaurant they represent. Debbie was the manager we dealt with, most rude and obnoxious person I have ever dealt with ever. Debbie if you have issues with the owners or how things are run you should seriously take it up with them or find a new job, preferably not in the food industry. (and never take your frustrations out on the guests). You may have knowledge, but certainly do not work well under pressure and therefore are not fitting for that industry at all. Stress is part of the job, you can't handle it, move on!! After sending the cold food back, we requested the bill another 10 minutes I eventually went to find someone that could just give us the bill. Debbie was at the back and in a rude manner shouted, I will bring it to you now!<br/><br/>I am absolutely appalled by our experience at Bukhara and will be posting this review on tripadvisor and many other platforms.<br/><br/>I should have left without paying at all quite frankly. Needless to say we all went over to The Greek Fisherman and had to have dinner there. So we already paid R582.00 to Bukhara and landed up eating elsewhere. <br/><br/>I would most certainly not recommend this place, especially when they are busy, most unorganised establishment I have ever experienced. and we dine out regularly. We are not fussy people at all, but this was ridiculous. <br/><br/>Our food order was as follows:<br/><br/>1 lamb corma, 1 prawn curry (spicy), 1 Butter Chicken, 1 bowl Noodles, and 1 Avo & Prawn dish (which seemed to be prepared in a different kitchen, as Debbie said they don't coordinate the kitchens and it is the waiters fault that he did not explain this to us.)<br/><br/>Highly disgusted!! is all I can say!!

The restaurant is good with a nice ambiance and vibe. Their curry was flavourful but i feel like their sushi let them down. We received good service and over all it was a enjoyable evening

I have been to the Bukhara at V&A waterfront a few times but have been disappointed with the Indian Menu every time. With such a limited choice and premium prices one would expect exemplary cuisine. Instead you get curries that are at best basic. Their chicken starters are good but the quantity is a let down. Somehow we never seemed to get the better waiters at the restaurant and our service was poor and ill informed. As the only Indian food option at V&A I would have liked a better representation of the vibrant and varied Indian cuisine.

This was under my dim sums. Rotten cabbage or dirty cabbage? You tell me! <br/><br/>Overall service and the atmosphere were as bad as usual. My tea arrived much later after my food. Even though I ordered it at the very beginning. It's a tea bag tea btw! <br/>We had to ask 3 times for extra chopsticks and plates which were not set at the table, even though I said in advance that we would have +2 joining. <br/>I like steamed vegetables and normally eat the cabbage which they put under dim sums. This one was just revolting! You can't use food like this in your dishes!!!

The restaurant looks very Indian, warm and welcoming. They have an asian and indian menu which is nice. I ordered a vegetarian vegetable dish with nan bread despite the fact that I'm not vegetarian I really enjoyed it-it was very flavourful. My date ordered slices salmon which was also very nice with soy sauce. <br/><br/>The place is very warm however and also very loud (I had to move my chair right next to my date). I didn't like the fact that the option to sit outside wasn't available either.<br/><br/>Other words than that decent service from our waiter and a decent waiting time.

Disgusting food and service. Will never return to this place. There are many good indian places to visit in Cape Town - most notably The Raj in Campsbay. If you are looking for authentic indian then give this place a miss, you wont be sorry.

By the far the worst restaurant in the country! Everything taste like it comes out of a packet and was defrosted from frozen. Bland, disgusting and ridiculously over-priced concoctions of shit - this is the only way to describe the food. To make it worst, the lighting is very poor - I guess they do this so you can not see the dung that they are putting in front of you!

My food was exceptional I ordered from the Haiku menus and so did one of my friends. We were very pleased with the flavors. The rest of our party ordered from the Bukhara menu and they didn't enjoy their food that much. The bread and butter pudding was divine but I had the chocolate spring rolls which were hard as rock so won't be ordering that again. One of our party also didn't get their dessert

I am an Indian and I know what authentic Indian food is supposed to taste like.. Amazing curries, better than most Indian restaurants back home.. Cherished the Chetinaad and prawns curry.

1.0 Because it's not possible to give less.<br/>By far...the worst meal on Cape Town! Please avoid this restaurant.<br/>All Bad! Noisy...the food very slow and different times on the delivery...the main came before the starter...<br/>Bad service....everything bad!

We had lunch at Bukhara. The restaurant was fairly empty for Sunday lunch. We had 2 portions of Salmon roses. It was delicious but R70 per portion of 2, it is a bit pricy. For main we had Chicken Korma and the Chicken Masala with garlic naan. The naan was ok but a but oily. The chicken korma was good but the chicken masala disappointing. As I have tasted these dishes in Nepal before, the local dishes lacked flavour.

The tapas were delicious and the waiter provided good service. The venue was very noisy which is more suited for group socials than casual conversations. Unfortunately the premium prices outweigh the tastiness of the food. The setting also had minimal lighting which made it hard to read the glossy menu.

Having eaten at Bukhara CBD a few times, one cannot help being disappointed with the V&A experience. I have been there twice. Many of the items on the menu are not available, from a list of approximately 12 vegetarian options, only one was available; none of the paneer dishes were. The mixed veg curry I ordered consisted of canned corn and a handful of frozen peas. When I queried this apparent lack of variety I was told that most diners don't mind..!<br/><br/>Bukhara would do their brand a huge favour by paying attention to these offshoot branches who are doing them a disservice <br/><br/>

The food - excellent. Paying R214 for prawn curry (with 6 prawns - I counted!) - not so excellent.<br/><br/>The waiter - excellent. Paying R100 corkage - not so excellent<br/><br/>All in all, it was an okay experience

Food is really not great at this place! Doesnt taste authentic at all. We served most of the dishes cold. Extremely disappointing. Not worth repeating.

Not the best place and not the worst place. I think I was disappointed because I was expecting to find the Jewel of India in its place. They kept to the Indian menu and also added the Asian. Little bit confused by the combination. Had the chicken Korma, it wasn't exactly mind blowing as I found it to have a very strong tomatoe Base instead of the creamy cashew flavour. It is a lovely looking restaurant although it is rather dark all around the place. I have mixed feelings about this restaurant .

The service was ok, even though the waiter was a bit distracted because of serving perhaps one too many tables.  No poppadums were available, no wet wipes were available, no finger bowl was available.  A real sense of eat, pay us the inflated price, and dont ask for anything additional which will cut into our inflated margins.  The food - the vindaloo was extremely hot.  Vindaloo is a very hot dish traditionally, but this was near unedible, to the point where the dish basically just tasted like chilli.  No dimensionality, no real complex flavour, very little chicken, and a lot of sauce really makes this very poor value.  The fish curry was decent, nothing to write home about but not terrible.  The mango lassi was just some plain yoghurt mixed with some mango juice in the wrong ratio.  Way too thick, way too sour.  One thing they did well was the garlic naan - but to be fair that is not rocket science to prepare, and a far superior naan can be had at a fraction of the cost at a place like Eastern Food Bazaar not too far away .  The vindaloo at Eastern Bazaar is also far superior!  You cannot even compare the two.  If Eastern Bazaar can charge less than R40 for a larger portion of far better quality food - including rice, one really has to question Bukhara's pricing strategy.Probably my 10th or so time i've been to Bukhara's, but I think it was also my final time.

UPDATE:<br/>Went again the other night with a big group of friends. Was extremely busy but waiter coped. They didn't have my usual so ordered the vegetarian jal frezi, was very yummy but not enough sauce for me personally. Everyone was very happy with their dishes, butter chicken, dhal makhani and chicken korma (my friend did say her korma was spicier then usual)<br/><br/>Not sure why the rating is so low because as always Bukhara never disappoints as the best curry place for me. I must admit my favourite is in jhb but the decor here was beautiful and the service was excellent. Food amazing as always. With Steven

Bukhara is one of the best Indian restaurant in SA,far better than the imitate Indian restaurant.This branch is a great place at the v&a shopping,with a great view.The ambience is very nice even though it's not Indian theme decor.food is great and the service.I had tried most of the starters and the tikkas are succulent.

Decided to give this restuarant another chance at redeeming itself from mediocrity - I'm afraid they could not throw this tag in fact they have deteriorated further.<br/>We were seated and then had to wait at least 5 minutes for somebody to take our drinks order - we also had to wait for the correct menus - the drinks took a further 8 minutes to arrive , and then another 5 minutes before the ice which was ordered as the glass of white wine was warm .<br/>When we finally ordered our waiter , then took another large tables order en route to the kitchen with our order.( further delay!!)<br/>Food arrived - rice was stodgy , lamb Korma was tasty with exactly 4 pieces of lamb swimming in sauce and at R169 was very pricey for what arrived.<br/>Had to call for the usual condiments which accompany this dish and had halfway finished the meal before they arrived !<br/>The Garlic Nan bread was superb.<br/>The Tandoori stuffed mushroom was very average and seemed undercooked.<br/>We are a big fan of Bukhara but I'm afraid the V&A branch is terrible and is dragging down the name of this franchise and I would definitely recommend rather going to the Bukhara in central. To top of this terrible meal we were hit by a terrible garbage stench three quarters of the way through the meal and the constant background noise which sounds like drums but I suspect it has something to do with the extractor fans !!<br/>All in all a terrible experience and I will not be back .

Bukhara has a nice location overlooking the V&A Waterfront. The menu has good Indian spread, taste is quite genuine Indian and service is courteous. Paneer and Dal Fried were particularly good

Bukhara usually has really good Indian food but this branch has dropped the ball one too many times. Upon entering the restaurant, there is no host/hostess to welcome you at the front table. We have taken it upon ourselves to enter the restaurant only to have many staff members pass us by without enquiring if we needed a table. This too on a day when they weren't too busy as there were many empty tables around. The food is never consistent. It's either a hit or a miss depending on the day. For the price you pay you would expect way better service and food. It's rather disappointing having to part with money when the experience is dismal. The CBD branch has a far better track record.

I liked the food here after having had bad indian food for few days in South Africa. I would recommend this for all indian travellers. Nice place. Yes the service the average and the food is slightly overpriced but trust me, once in a while you need good food to sustain. Was good fun to be here.

If you like Indian food this is definitely the place to go. Amazing flavours and meat cooked to perfection. The sushi was perfect to, with nice big portions.

Absolutely loved the food out there. To an Indian on a holiday to South Africa finding good Indian food is quite surprising. The hotel has a great ambience on the top floor of Victoria Wharf with a great view to pair with the good food.

When I think of Indian cuisine, I'm usually a bit skeptical as to where I would like to eat. But this place is up to scratch with their hygiene standards. I ordered the butter chicken and garlic naan bread, God bless the chef. It was truly gourmet, portions are large enough to share. The chicken breyani is also a huge treat and recommended. The setting at night is really intimate and cozy with dimmed lights yet perfect for any occasion. But save some space for desserts, their ice creams are saved by the scoop and is fantastic.

Bukhara is one of my favorite restaurants and as such hosted a business dinner here tonight. <br/>It was extremely disappointing that an Indian restaurant staple being Tandoori Chicken want available as it was only put in marinade the day before. To add perspective, this was at 7pm so there is little to no chance that large orders tonight led to this. This restaurant is located in Cape Towns tourist hub. To add insult to injury, we were told tikka chicken is the same, just off the bone. Poor and unbecoming

One of the worst Indian restaurants I visited. Didn't have basics from papadums (waited blamed manager of the restaurant). Although food service was prompt - wasn't that tasty. Asked for paneer to be made hot (was very bland). When it was time for wash hands - requested for a finger bowl - was told that it's against restaurant policy to have finger bowls, even no wet wipes. All in all a terrible experience - won't go back.

It's a cold winters day and you have time to kill before going to the cinema. Let's have lunch!<br/><br/>This restaurant is a little strange. You have a choice of two menus, Indian or Asian. I went Indian for two reasons, I fancied a curry and the Asian menu was priced weirdly. They use a solid and hollow star to indicate price. Solid equals R50, hollow R30. So three solid and one hollow is R180. What an arse! Why should I have to think and add up? <br/><br/>Anyway, I chose the butter chicken with lemon rice. Service was prompt and friendly. The lemon rice looked lovely but was s little oily. I could not taste the lemon. <br/><br/>The butter chicken was delicious. Succulent chunks of tandoori chicken in a tasty sauce just at the right heat level. The chicken so soft it could be cut with a fork. <br/><br/>Tea pot was broken. All in all, if the rice had been better and no broken crockery the score would have been a lot higher. <br/><br/>Worth going back a second time to try the Asian

Food fab as expected but lamb a bit tough. It was a freezing Cape Town day and no gas heaters provided so very cold with glass windows and stark area. Waiter Damien needs a gold star. What a wonderful host. Attentive, knowledgable, friendly. Pity about noisy kitchen staff in background<br/>

Had a very good meal. Lots of good flavour. Lovely setting. Nice buzz. Good wine. Had the tandoori starter. Succulent chicken. And the wok fried calmari which was awsome. The wasabi mayo was perfectly balanced. Would go back!!!

We've been to Bukhara once before but really felt like Indian food on a cold Cape Town evening. <br/><br/>We ordered the butter chicken and vegetable korma with lemon rice and of course, a garlic naan. The food is quite good but the main dishes (already on the expensive side) don't come with a side, this costs more. So although the food was yummy, I'm not entirely sure that it's worth it.<br/><br/>Staff were nice and friendly but not all that clued up on some of the ingredients in the menu "like the Indian cheese" - what exactly is that?<br/><br/>Have yet to try the Asian inspired food on the other side though.

Conceptually brilliant, decor & views to match, Instantly felt teleported to a 5 star Eastern setting upon walking in with the eclectic fusion of Indian & oriental cuisine pulled off quite seamlessly... <br/><br/>Much to my dismay, all of this ambiance & building up of expectations only served to foil the impression the food made, instead of the "symbiotic" effect I was imagining the food & atmosphere to generate.<br/><br/>Myself and my partner were just peckish so opted for starters and drinks, with the premise that a starter should on some level provide for a taste-sensation, without the emphasis on portion size, which would've been more than satisfactory to our expectations. I ordered the Chicken Tikka, and contrary to the sites description of "succulent & saucy meats", I'm relatively certain it was defrosted/microwaved/both... Dry, bland, not even a morsel of any recognition of a "yogurt marinade". Granted, when you order entrees you're not buying for 'Happy Hour' value, But at R80, I was expecting much more.<br/><br/>As a businessman in a very busy/central/'commercially viable' (if you will) retail setting, it always gets my goat a bit when I see branches in large centers like V&A & Canal Walk having THEE poorest all round stds and service out of any of the branches! (particularly prevalent in larger chains). I am aware table-turnaround & overall business is substantially more volume-intensive, but the over-all ethos in the MOST secluded, destination branches is always just so much better in every way, all those considerations aside. (That said, for similar reasons, we've pretty much ruled out large chains almost entirely, baring a few)<br/>. <br/>You would THINK that on some level, this would be remedied by the most intensive management protocols through every layer, & rather than using the business volume/location as an excuse, see it as an opportunity to avoid negative reviews & as a catalyst to generating positive ones (which in today's online foodie climate, has an exponentially growing effect). The turnover & profits generated is a massive blessing, & should in some way be kept proportionate to what goes back in to maintaining standards.

Very average dinner, cold draft through the restaurant, service was authentic and good, food overpriced, everything was additional charge, overall average.

Even if this is your last Indian meal, please don't come here and eat because they might run out of paneer when u order paneer makhani. I will and request Zomato to take this restaurant down from their list as this is a crime. <br/>Friends eat anything but not at this place.<br/>

Bukhara is one of my favourite restaurants for tastey Indian cuisine..but sorry to say V&A falls so short on service which is literally non existent with waitrons who are beyond inattentive and thus i wont be back in a hurry!

Bukhara has always been one of my favorite Indian restaurants, the one in the city though, I can never understand why the quality of the food and service at <br/>Grand West, Stellenbosch and the V&A Waterfront can never match Bukhara City<br/>Had lunch at V&A today and just not Bukhara I got to enjoy over the many years.<br/>Awsum company and view of the the mountain and the harbour made up for not so good service.

Very poor restaurant ... Food taste is average , takes ages to come ... Service is also very poor .. It's a large restaurant and we want in afternoon when only 5 or 6 table were occupied but still could not get service or food on time .. The manager is completely useless and I think the main reason for this poor restaurant ... Location is amazing but that does not help!!!!completely avoid

Horrible experience- we had a table of 8 on a Saturday afternoon. My friend ordered a beer and they took 30mins. They then ran out of coke as well. The waiter hadn't even bothered to inform us that they were out of drinks. When we complained to the manager he was extremely rude and showed no empathy and just walked away. It's unacceptable that a 5 star restaurant cannot adequately plan, cannot be bothered to communicate with client and has such an arrogant attitude.

Extremely good experience. Excellent service and very tasty food. Our waiter was the best ever.

I have always been a fan of Bukhara but the new Waterfront branch is beyond terrible. The service is almost non existent. Our waiter had to be fetched every time we needed a drink and we waited well over an hour for our food. <br/><br/>When we complained to the waiter he said he would send the manager but the manager never arrived, so I decided to email and complain about the terrible service yet my email was ignored. I then called the restaurant and the manager gave me his email address and asked me to email him but he never replied either.<br/><br/>The standard of food has also dropped and is not worth the price being charged.

Just go when are in feel of indian food..nov-vegeterians only go for chicken please don not try mutton/lamb !