by ONEZA TABISH
Resplendent in earthy and vibrant red hues, the interiors at Bukhara offer an authentic view and feel of the royal dining rooms of North India.
The open kitchen showcases the glory and passion involved in curating each dish by the talented chefs, leaving you in awe and delight.
Every Wednesday night, Bukhara hosts a unique ‘all you can eat’ dining experience inspired by the bustling roadside Bazaars of India featuring hearty chaats, succulent kebabs, scrumptious biryani and decadent desserts!
We tried their non-vegetarian menu priced at OMR15 net per head.
A refreshing lemonade welcomed us to this impressive culinary journey. The starters platter comprised pani puri, samosa chaat, dahi papri chaat, keema pav and delectable kebabs.
Pani puri is crispy wheat and semolina shells stuffed with spiced mashed potatoes and spicy tamarind water. These were outright delicious, capturing the essence of India’s street food with perfection.
The crusted samosa chaat, a savoury fried or baked snack stuffed with potatoes, peas or lentils or meat, topped with dried green peas curry, yoghurt, mint and tamarind chutneys. This was beautifully presented in a miniature style and was scrumptious.
Dahi papdi chaat, which is broken pieces of fried Indian flatbread dunked in yoghurt, spices and chutneys yet retained it’s crisp and crunch at every bite. Again, a delicious variant of Indian chaat.
Keema pav presented in slider style and stuffed with a peppery curry of minced lamb and peas made a blissful appetiser. Reminiscent of Mumbai’s must-have street food, the keema pav here at Bukhara was delicately toasted in butter and was one of the best bites from the starters platter.
The kebabs of murgh bhatti tikka, meat kakori seekh, jhinga hara masala and fried fish were aromatic and perfectly juicy. The murgh bhatti tikka were boneless chicken pieces marinated in subtle spices and chargrilled to perfection.
The cylindrically shaped kakori kebabs were also served. Tossed with fragrant hints of Indian spices, these meat kebabs were another feather in the cap of Bukhara’s starter platter.
The Jhinga hara masala kebabs had tiger prawns smothered in a unique green marinade made of green chillies, coriander, yoghurt and cashew powder and grilled. Tawa fried fish was pan-seared boneless king fish fillet with a dash of Indian spices and herbs. Both these fish kebabs were an absolute delight.
For the main course, we were served makki ki roti and sarson ka saag, which is a classic North Indian vegetarian dish of a flatbread made from cornmeal and green mustard leaves, cooked in butter. This was very authentic in taste as if prepared in a dhaba (a roadside diner in India)
We also enjoyed the kachhe gosht ki biryani, a lamb biryani that had a rustic street style punch, zing and aroma. Fluffy rice cooked in apt biryani spices aka masala with meat that just fell off the bone, this was a biryani to be treasured.
The decadent dessert platter had all your favourite Indian classic sweets. We had shahi tukda, mango kulfi, kala jamun and badam kheer, and for drinks, we ordered apple mojito, mango lassi and almond milk.
All of these were refreshing and soothing.
Bukhara establishes an exquisite connection between you and the authentic North Indian kitchen. I promise. It will leave you mesmerised!’
Book a table at Bukhara, Kempinski Hotel Muscat
+968 2498 5000
About the Contributor: Oneza Tabish is a food influencer, blogger, consultant and stylist who has a knack for features writing and food reviews. She is the founder of popular dining Facebook group ‘What’s Cooking Oman’.
