This is our 2nd African restaurant experience and the first Nigerian restaurant and is fantastic! Our server, a beautiful young lady Aliyah was patient, she explained the different dishes and made great recommendations. We started with the Goat pepper soup, hot, spicy and delicious. Fur my main I had the Tilapia with egusi and ponded yam, hubby had the stew goat with Eba and Efo (cassava and savory spinach). Everything was delicious amazing flavors and textures. For the beverage we had Gunness Malta. The restaurant has nice art on the walls and the vibe is simple low key. I minused one star for the restrooms. It needed to be cleaned. read more

See all

According to my Nigerian friend, there aren't a lot of authentic Nigerian food in the city but Buka is one. I was excited to come to this place. It's no frills, seat yourself and order from the QR code. While we each placed orders individually, they end up messing each order and unclear on who ordered what. Not sure how's that's possible. There weren't that many customers in the store that day either. The experience was honestly quite mid. read more

Buka - Bars Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

My experience was so bad I had to look them up on here, no surprise someone else had an experience so similar I was wondering if I wrote the review. Unfortunate I'd seen it after the damage had been done. I'm writing this to reinforce the warning. You're better off digging around in a random trash bin in Brooklyn for an unfinished burger or some fries, than eating from this restaurant. It's not personal because that was my first time, we drove 40 minutes to find a good "Nigerian" restaurant for a taste of home, no, it's personal because what I ate was disrespect, served as undercooked egusi drenched in stale palm oil. I was so mad I was in shock, my girlfriend wanted to comment on the food we barely touched, but I asked her not to, because what's there to say except close the entire business and find other exploits. How are we supposed to beat the scam allegations when I feel like I paid to eat literal trash? And if there's a slight chance that the business owners actually read these things, know this, this shouldn't be a review I'm writing on yelp, this should be a report forwarded to the FDA. Owning and operating a restaurant requires actual culinary skills, passion and dedication, more so an international one. Sustenance exists at every other turn in a big city like New York, what the traveler seeks when they go to their countrymen is nostalgia, and that should be kept sacred. read more

DO NOT EAT HERE! I wish I could give this place 0 stars! I ordered the ​family deal , Egusi ​and ginger juice. The food is nasty, undercooked and flavorless! First thing- The family deal states that it feeds a family of 4 (which is a complete lie because it feeds 1 person!) and comes with all of these things. My order was missing the jollof rice, suya, puff puff, and the 2 sides of spinach! Second thing- They lied and said that the fish is Tilapia fish but it is NOT!!! The fish that they used is cheap and nasty Swai fish. It has a completely different taste from Tilapia fish as it is fishy tasting with a really soft soft texture. The "Tilapia ​" was disgusting! It was flavorless and barely cooked. Third thing- The ​Egusi was the worst that I ever had in my life! It did not even taste like egusi! There was no maggi, crayfish, or flavors added and it was drenched in palm oil. They also did not cook the Egusi all the way through and it had huge huge chunks in it. Fourth thing- The sauce or "stew" that they put on this fish was also terrible as well! I completely wasted $70 on this restaurant! I would NOT recommend ever buying anything from this restaurant. They lied about the portion size and what came with the meal and the food is gross! I don't know how this restaurant is in operation. I'm not even sure if the people who made this food is Nigerian because none of this food tasted right! DO NOT ORDER FROM HERE! You've been warned!!!! BTW - I threw everything in the trash! Disgusting I made this purchase on Uber read more

See all

My egusi was 10/10, I would recommend. A big portion of poundo too. Great meal will be going here again. read more

Buka - Egusi - Bars Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

The worst customer service I have ever seen. I had a simple misunderstanding and instead of talking normally and explaining to me, the staff swore at me and was yelling. They give Nigerians a very bad name and his excuse was that Africans are passionate. After I complained about being spoken to rudely, they sent me an email doubling down on their attitude. No one should ever patronize this restaurant. Absolutely disgusting. read more

Buka - Bars Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

The food I ordered was ok !! I love the agusi but the mixed meat was a bit under cook for me ..

I'm glad to experience the food and try a new cuisine out of my usual rotation! The waiter was helpful in our ordering process since everything was so new to my group. My favorite dish was the goat stew. The meat was so tender and fell off the bone. The flavors complemented each other well, and dipping the fufu in the goat stew was a delicious combo (although I'm not entirely sure if that's how you're supposed to eat it). There's a lot of spice in the dishes though, so be cautious if you're unable to tolerate spice. read more

Buka - Goat stew, pof pof, side of fufu and rice - Bars Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

Joloff rice with roast chicken lunch to go $11. Good flavors, could have used more spice and veggies (a carrot or two would go a long way.) they finally got an A from the health department but I still wouldn't sit in to eat. read more

Buka has a vibe like no other however the food falls flat. Our group of three ordered okra soup and jollof rice. The jollof rice was really hard and dry. The okra soup was separated from the tomato base which was new. The pounded yam was perfected. I loved the African art on the walls! The service was really good. read more

3.5 stars. This is my first time trying egusi with pounded yam. The egusi was tasty and very flavorful. I ordered the mixed meat and while the egusi was tasty the meat was very very tough. I'd definitely order egusi with the pounded yam minus the meat. read more

Buka - Mixed Meat with Egusi & Pounded yam - Bars Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

This restaurant was so fun, they were playing some awesome music and the servers were dancing and having a great time. The food was delicious and most of it was way way too spicy for my palate. There wasn't much to help tone it down a few notches. Lots of unique spices and ingredients which had my tongue guessing what was what. Enjoyed the meal and want to try many more dishes, my favorite was the goat on top of the jollof rice. The freshly made ginger and honey drink was so potent I had 3rd degree burns in my esophagus. LOL Can't wait to come back and order more family style meals. read more

See all

I haven't been to Buka since they changed the location and we went to the new spot with a friend to celebrate her birthday. My friend arrived before we did and they were generous enough to give her a complimentary drink, which she appreciated. Thumbs up for that! The food was good. The portions were good. However, my Tilapia fish was not seasoned like the sauce and that was a disappointment because the sauce was delicious. *Note to chef, please season the fish even if/when you cook separately from the sauce. The birthday girl enjoyed her Okra dish with pounded yam But my sister was not super thrilled with her Edikaikong dish . Lookman or Lukeman, (pardon my spelling of your name if wrong) our server was a delight and attended to us as needed. *Overpriced Poland spring bottled water The owner was nice and hospitable. Good music. Lovely pictures/portraits on the wall! We will return! We recommend visiting this spot! read more

See all

So I ordered takeout from this place and it was extremely salty. I was afraid to eat anymore because it might get high blood pressure. It took a really long time to be delivered overall it's disgusting. It's not edible because it's extremely salty. read more

Don't waste your time and energy very poor service and food is terrible quality. I was served pretty much a big bone head of catfish and the egusi sauce was not even close to that egusi taste. read more

Absolutely awful. I feel bad leaving this review given that this is a family owned location. I got charged $15 for two pieces of chicken and stew. The jollof was barely different from a rice and stew mix, and poorly delivered. I went in wanting a taste of home and was severely disappointed. We also were not offered water until asking, and this location we would go from having three people trying to help us to none at all. If you're looking for something authentic, try something else. My friend got the Ogbono and pounded yam and was wrongfully advised to get two. The singular portion was more than enough for the portion of pounder team she got. read more

See all

I absolutely luv luv luv this place. What I have had the courage to try so far via Uber eats has been so tasty. I've had to restrain myself from licking the plate. I'm gonna make it there soon to sit down and eat for another experience. The Ghanaian beer was really good that I tried to find it to order a case. See you soon Buka can't wait to try more dishes. read more

Buka - Mixed Meat stew, Egusi and fufu. Washed down with a Ghanaian beer named Club. - Bars Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

The fufu was so freshly made and the service was great and the Egusi with beef was so spicy and the meat was so tender. My son Mason ate most of the Egusi lol and the ambience was so clean. read more

Buka quickly became one of my go to spots for Nigerian food while in Brooklyn. Granted the service is meh but the location, ambiance, and menu make up for it all. The quality of the food feels authentic and they serve all of the most popular/common dishes such as fufu and stew, jollof rice, pepper soup, etc. Sad I'm no longer in Brooklyn to keep enjoying this place but will visit once I'm back! read more

Buka - Menu - Bars Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

See all

Ordered beef suya (tastes great!), Tiger shrimp suya (not my fav at all), Okra soup (delicious!) OHA soup (tasted okay but way way! too much oil that I had to drain some out...no seriously). Love the design of the place, the art on the wall, Nigerian bus, and bicycle. Love it! However, the place needs lightening, I feel like it's too dark (but hey that's my opinion). The people who work there are nice and friendly. I'll come back to try different food and hope for a better experience read more

See all

Fantastic food, excellent service, big backyard area in spring/summer/fall. We got the fish pepper soup and the goat with fufu and egusi and the Akara fritters and everything was DELICIOUS. read more

Roaches and long hairs in the food + they commit fraud by falsely claiming the grey shrimp is "Tiger Shrimp" after grilling it.

I came here last night with two friends. We didn't know what to Choose from so we ordered several food items. Ambience: dimly lit, with artwork on the walls, and a yellow old school bus with seating inside which was pretty cool. Noise level is decent you are able to hear whoever you are with at the table. Music was low but loud enough. Food: I ordered the efo (spinach, onion, fried fish), spicy and tasty. suya( lamb with dried spicy seasoning), small piece nothing to rave about. Jollof rice had better didn't have much flavor and pof pof (Nigerian dried doughnuts) similar to Caribbean fried dumpling with a hint of sweetness( will order his again). My friend had the stewed chicken with egusi (spinach, with ground melon seeds and dried fish). This was very good. She also had the fu fu( pounded yam) but she didn't care for it so I had it. Nothing special no flavor but it's perfect to eat with the sauces egusi or efo since it will tame the spiciness. The stew chicken was lacking in flavor. I almost forgot the dun dun was really especially the tomato sauce to dip the fried yam. My other friend had the fish pepper soup. I love spicy but this right here you may not be able to handle. The soup was pretty much a very spicy broth and small whole fish. My friend had to eat the fish with the broth and have it with wheats rice. This is a soup you must have if you have a bad cold it will clear your congestion. We other two alcoholic beverages but not too crazy my was flavorful but lacking in liquor. But I waiter did tell us she doesn't drink alcohol and she was the one that made it. Service: when we first came in we were quickly seated but midway I waitress didn't really check on us and forgot one of our food items. Also they ran out of shrimp. Which was really good the first time I came here. read more

See all

The waiter is a sweetheart. He's very attentive and explained everything that was in each dish to us. The ambience is really cool. we had a bunch of appetizers and they all were delicious. it was really nice to try a new cuisine. I wanted to try Fufu for a while and was able to experience some dipping fun with it! read more

See all

The beef, fufu, and sauce (I choose egusi) entree was amazing! The egusi paired very well with the sauces and beef. I also had the okra sauce as a side but the egusi was definitely better. The okra by itself was lacking flavor in my opinion. The beef could have been a little more tender but it was still delicious! Will definitely get the entree again :) read more

Been coming here for years. Delicious food. Egusi is my favorite. Grab a drink at the bar and get some pepper soup

I'm not one to write a bad review but boy oh boy this was the worst experience I've ever encountered in a restaurant. My friend who is Liberian wanted us to come and try Nigerian food so we looked on Yelp and say the 3.5 star red flag review but wanted to come and support n e ways because of the pandemic etc. We ordered so many dishes but only a few came out. We had to ask for plates and utensils three times and the last time we had to go to the front dish to get. It was awkward the waiter told us they don't have extra plates and will give us plastics. (ANOTHER RED FLAG) what kind of restaurant doesn't have extra plates? I don't get it but fine...we were okay with that but he didn't even bring it out until we asked again.. The food was extremely spicy, which is fine I love spicy food but I needed water that we've been asking for over 10mins that never came. I was coughing so much because of the spice and the waitress gave me a dirty look and said "YOU sure coughing a lot there.there's still a pandemic." Mind you I'm Asian (#stopasianhate) so I'm going to be extremely sensitive. Is he trying to say I have covid? I was so upset that I mention it to him that if he was so worried, why didn't they take my temperature when I came in. He said he was joking but I don't think that's something you joke about. The other tables had like their food and extra plates and stuff, I don't get why we were having such horrible service. Is it because we aren't Nigerian? Because now I think he was racist. N e ways so some of the food never came or took a million years to come...and the waiter have the serve to charge us for the food that never came. He said "u didn't want it n e more" like bro that shit never came and we ordered it twice. He then said "Well since its part of this I have to charge u for it since it's part of this meal." I'm like wtf? At first I'm like okay he probably just a chilll dude and just not the type of person who wanna give u the best customer service so my group was letting him slide because the dude look like he hated his job or his mood was not it. And I understand because sometimes, we might be having a bad day you know? But it just kept going down down down hill. He forgot our orders, our orders never came in, we ordered the same dishes three times because they never came out. The food was good just very small portions but it was fine too..idk..I really tired to be fine with everything but it just really disappoint me. The waiter then wanted to "charge" us a "mandatory" tip. Dude BY STATE IT IS NOT REQUIRED TO TIP. Trust me, I love to be a 75% off bill tipper even if u gave me half blahh service but this was a no. The bathroom was also clogged and there was a long line and of course they took forever to fix it so I said I lol just grab the plunger myself and it only took me 2 mins. Of course I didn't want to and I didn't have gloves but I ended up washing my hands but that was embarrassing. We even asked someone to come help but god who knows how long that would take. The manager there I forgot her name, she was so sweet and helpful but she could only do so much because the owner wasn't there. I heard comments someone made saying the owner doesn't care about his store anymore and I felt so bad... Owner if u reading this, remember the first day you open your shop? I'm sure you were so happy, your family was there to uplift you and praise you for success..but what is happening? I understand owning a business is hard to and finding ppl to work hard is tough too. Idk what it is but ur store has so much potential and it probably did before because Naomi Campbell was there! What happened?? As bad as that experience was, the manager girl made us feel better. I'd love to give a second try. read more

I've finally satisfied my Nigerian food craving for the year. This local neighborhood spot was well worth the travel from downtown Manhattan. It was empty, maybe a few ppl when I arrived but after 30 mins, the placed filled up fast. My meal was everything! It took me back to my childhood when I used to eat this type of food all the time. The egusi and okra was so good paired with the pounded yam. My friend asked, are you gonna eat that with your hands!? YOU DAMN RIGHT! I sopped that soup up with perfection! Lol and folks who know me, knows I don't like getting my hands dirty. The catfish was really good. I just wish they didn't drown It in the sauce. It was just tooooo much. Other than that, I was pleased with my meal and the service was good. read more

See all

I've eaten here like 7 times and haven't been able to write a review cause I'm sooo on the fence, and my experience is so inconsistent. I've been reluctant to give them a mediocre review because the Nigerian restaurants in my area are few, and I want them to stay in business. But, in order to make improvements, they need honest feedback. Soooo... t's fine. I'm not Nigerian and can't say I've had a whole lot of Authentic Nigerian food, but I've really grown to like it over the years and have eaten a good amount of it, so I know enough to know that while some of the food here is good, it's not the best. The ambience is fun, they have cool art on the walls, and pre Covid, live performances like stand up. The first time I got my favorite Nigerian dish, Egusi with goat. It was omg. This was 2 years ago, and I still remember how good it was. But since then, it's been hit or miss. The food is usually heated rather than freshly made, and sometimes they're stingy with the meat, or it's over cooked and tough. The past few times I've ordered from here the portions have been smaller (I'm guessing that due to Covid they have to conserve since business is down). The last time I got delivery from here they missed part of my order, and the egusi I ordered didnt actually have egusi. How does this work? For those not familiar, egusi is a stew with a tomato base, topped with ground egusi seeds. So, you can clearly see if there's no egusi. Anyway, yeah. I mainly go here because of limited options. But I recently got a car, and may be willing to drive to get better food. read more

Disappointed. Highly disappointed. I am 1/2 Nigerian so I know Nigerian flavors and taste. I don't know what happened this night I visited Buka. Ordered beef suya and it was tasty. Chewy and not as spicy as I would have liked but tasty nonetheless. The moi moi was just okay. The okra sauce with pounded yam left me wanting more. This is my absolute favorite to eat but Buka did not deliver for me. Finely diced okra in the center of red stew left me stunned. I had never seen that presentation before that night, and it is definitely something I would not order again. I wanted more. More salt, more pepper, more okra. Just more. read more

Food here was awful and the meat was the toughest meat I ever ate. Server wasn't helpful in getting our order right and the ambiance is dirty. read more

My first time ever trying Nigerian food and WOW!!!! Amazing. I ordered the Grilled Tiger Shrimp and Jollof Rice. My taste buds definitely appreciated the new flavors and spices. I am looking forward to trying other items off of the menu. The staff was hospitable and made me feel at home. I ordered the featured drink for the Tippler event, the Okada. The drink was strong and had a little spice to it. I've never tasted anything like it ( unique in a good way). I would highly recommend for any one passing in the neighborhood. read more

See all

Delicious food love the egusi got the shrimp appetizer as well both really goods. I recommend trying if you're in the area

This is probably the easiest review I've ever written. If you like spicy food, if you love African food--this place is IT! And not fake-like spicy, but for real. I am SO HAPPY, this is one of the FEW NY restaurants not watering down the authenticity of their products/offerings because of local taste. I have been having to/222 season food at restaurants and that's just not the case here. The flavor is divine. It was such a blessing 222 get some authentic food that I loved. I've ordered twice. Pretty big orders each time because WHY NOT? Once take out and the other dine in. BOMB each time. As in THE BEST FOOD I HAD IN NEW YORK I DON'T CARE so amazing!!! I had the Jollof, Fish and Goat Egusi, Suya, Red Snapper with Fufu and Sauce, fish pepper soup, And Zobo. I'm giving 5 stars 222 everything I had. That fish pepper ain't nothing 222 play with. Lol When I eat here, I just wanna cry. I feel like my ancestors sit and eat with me. My soul has ascended. It's perfect in my opinion. Love the staff. Food comes out in a decent time. The decor/artwork is absolutely beautiful. I just love it here. My heart is with BUKA (sorry i didn't take pics of everything, 222 busy devouring it 222 be honest) read more

Buka - Egusi, Goat, Jollof Rice - Bars Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

I give Five stars for the young, male server in this apparent family-=owned restaurant. Other than the food cooked by my ex-Nigerian girlfriend, I had better food at other restaurants serving Nigerian food where I had greater menu choices. I would have preferred my chicken without sauces and served on the same plate as the rice, beans, and plantains at reasonable price. Even the bar was limited in terms of drinks. read more

The food here...amazing. Having tried many Nigerian restaurants in Maryland, this surpasses most of them. Great portion sizes at a reasonable cost. The service was good and the staff was very friendly. No complaints on the food from anyone in my party. We all left satisfied. Proper Nigerian restaurant (though the inside isn't lavish, the food makes up for it). read more

Buka - Amala with ewedu, gbegiri, and beef - Bars Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

The goat, fufu, and pounded yam was delightful. I am a huge fan of the goat peppered soup, it was tender and a filled with meat and spicy broth and it never disappoints. The jolloff rice was spicy and authentic. Dodo was delivered to our table piping hot. The Buka Mojito was smaller than I expected but decorative, deep, and rich in flavor. The room was dimly lit and I mean void of light and sparsely lit, I would highly recommend on nights that are heavy with clouds and overcast that the staff reevaluate the lightning. The Nigerian music was low, at a dull whisper. I would have loved to hear more. Service is slow. There was one very attentive and courteous young lady who served as hostess and waitress between us and about four other parties, we had to hunt her down to our bill. Good experience. Authentic and locally own and operated by native Nigerians. This is a date night must. read more

Buka - Nigerian bus. - Bars Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

See all

Yum! We just went here for a hearty dinner and left stuffed and satisfied. Strong drinks and flavorful food, can't wait to come back! Food we tried: Chicken Stew Fufu Edikaikong read more

Buka is great hands down. Loved the okra, smoked catfish, shrimp, fufu everything is good here.

Terrible!!!!!!! They have several chefs on rotation so the food here is no longer good. We ordered egusi which tasted like burnt beans, so we decided to order efo riro instead. The efo riro (dry vegetable stew) was watery and tasteless. The pounded yam was grainy! We weren't able to eat a quarter of our food and since there is no management (the owners who are rarely there are the "managers") we had to pay for our food in full $200+ for trash. The pictures shared were taken before the server cleared our plates, we barely ate anything. The third person in our party ordered efo riro with snapper and received a snapper and pieces of tilapia! The moi moi was watery and bland. The AC never works. If you want to waste your time and money dine here, but only order white rice with buka sauce. White rice seems to be their specialty. Our server actually encouraged us to write a review because the owner usually yells at her when she shares feedback from customers. My last time dining here. read more

See all