ABOUT

A 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 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.