1111 Fulton St

A long overdue review!! I have been coming to Buka for a few years it is an absolute gem. After visiting Nigeria I was craving nigerian food and buka answered my calling. Their food is 100% authentic and the service was lovely. Upon entering you are greeted politely and seated if you are dining in or given the menu if you are getting food to go. I had the suya and the fufu with pounded yam and egusi and I left no crumbs on my plate!! The flavors were yummy. I love the african music they play in the establishment also. The prices were reasonable and I do plan on returning.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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 :)

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.

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

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!

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!

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.

This restaurant is a joke! I have given numerous feedback on the poor excuse for buka sauce! They falsely advertise assorted meat them send you this bull! Portion is small! 1 meat no shaki as advertised. AN OILY MESS!! A $17.25 rip off!!!

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)

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.

Excellent west Afrikan food. Make sure you call before traveling to the one in Manhattan they maybe closed. The one in Brooklyn will not disappoint.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Honestly this place is more like 3.5 stars but I'm feeling generous and rounding up to 4. Came here with a group of 7. Was seated right away for dinner around 5. Felt like forever (~20 mins) before we were offered a menu and some water. Ordered the suya, fufu, dun dun, goat with different sauces (I honestly don't remember the names), and the jollif rice. Food is good and SPICY. However the food always came out cold and the meat was quite tough, especially the goat. Also, it took FOREVER for the food to come out. Anyway, although food was cold, it was still flavorful and so it was still worth eating. I really enjoyed the fufu and the sauces of the goat stews. Fufu is pounded yam, light and fluffy, mild flavor. Also enjoyed the pepper sauce that came with the suya. Had the ginger juice and it is potent. Literally can feel the heat from within as the ginger goes down your throat. If you don't like strong ginger flavors, this is not for you. But I loved it! My only dislike for this place is the TERRRRRIBLEEEEE service and food being served cold. We think they gave our jollof rice to another table so we waited forever. However waitress gave us a complimentary goat stew with rice and spinach so that was nice. Per my Nigerian friend, this place is usually good so I would recommend to try it out if you've never had Nigerian food before.

Went with friends to the Manhattan location and the food and service were excellent! The staff was so kind, especially since we were new to the food and they made the experience so nice and helpful! Had the Beef Stew with the Pounded Yam Fufu and it was delicious! Definitely some spice to it but I am sensitive to spice and still loved it! They also had great music!

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.

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

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.

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.

Came here off a recommendation from one of my Nigerian friends. I ordered the goat with fugu and sauce, and I ordered a Buka mojito. The goat and sauce was delicious and spicy just how I like it. Will definitely be back to try some more options on the menu. The mojito was good had a real strong mint flavor

My friend and I decided to try Nigerian food for the first time and someone suggested trying Buka. We drove back to Philly and the food was still warm. OH MY GOD, this meal was so amazing. We ordered a chicken in tomato sauce, salmon, jollof, fufu and plantains. Everything tasted great. The salmon was spicy but flavorful. We have no complaints!

Now I understand the hype! & I have to say... I'm a fan! As a Nigerian foodie and someone who prides themself as being a great cook. I was really impressed. I mean, I've heard great things about Buka but did not have any expectations. Tried a few things from their menu but the most memorable was definitely the "Egusi Soup and Pounded Yams." Their "Beans" was amazing... very nostalgic... reminded me on the authentic local beans made back home. The "Jollof Rice" was also pretty good. At first I was disappointed but as I continued eating I was impressed. The "Suya" was also tasty. Service could be a little better... food could come out a bit faster...but overall, I was happy!

This was an AMAZING experience. As a Nigerian, I am always on the hunt for authentic Nigerian food in an atmosphere truly reflective of my culture. This place DID NOT disappoint. The music, the incredible food, the Nigerian men talking loudly (ha ha), reminded me so much of my beloved culture. I'm so glad I decided to come to the place and I cannot wait to come again.

Great Nigerian food. I'm Nigerian American and have been looking for good Nigerian food in NYC that reminds me of home cooked meals. The jollof rice, pounded yam with egusi soup, suya, goat pepper soup, red stew and shrimp were excellent. Music playing was great Nigerian music. Bummer that they don't currently have a liquor license yet. Otherwise fantastic meal!

Buka on a good day is super tasty. I've been here several times-- including way back in the day for a Yelp event and for a date or two, as well as for take out a few times recently. I've sampled a bunch of dishes, some of which I don't remember given others ordered for me and lots of time as passed. But recently, the fish soup really blew me away. It is served deliciously spicy and flavorful. Just what I needed when I was getting over the flu. The yam fufu is delicious. The goat pepper stew is amazing. The plantains are fried to perfect. The egusi sauce is hit or miss. It's been excellent one time and the other it came in two separate containers and though I combined them, it wasn't as good. This place is pricy, so I don't do takeout from here often. The service is hit or miss as well, but with some extra patience and some double checking, takeout from Buka makes for a happy belly.

Had a great time at this location. I met some great people and the staff was amazing!

I'm so disappointed with this restaurant. My expectations were too high. I ordered eba with mixed me and ogbono sauce. The serving that came was for a child. The tripe was in long pieces almost impossible to enjoy. The suya was over cooked and chewy like gum. The service was. 2/5 the atmosphere 1/5 food 1/5. The owner put no effort into the decor aside from the few paintings on the walls. I gave them a two star because they are taking your temperatures upon arrival, providing hand sanitizer and collecting your information I assume if someone is infected with COVID-19 they can contact you. I definitely will not be returning Because of the poor quality of the food.

Outright 3 star. Food remains authentic and flavorful, however that is not all there is to dining. In order to be reckoned as a fine dining authentic African restaurant and not a hole in the wall, there needs to be a certain ambiance and decorum. Unfortunately since the last time I was here five years ago, this joint has gone the way of other Nigerian restaurants. At least from my observation this time around. Gone is the vibe, vibrancy and ambiance. Arrived are 'bros' arguing African politics at the tops of their voices while sitting for endless hours at the bar, sipping water, buying nothing. It's jarring, unwelcoming, and it is a perennial bad habit by Nigerians in Nigerian restaurants. Also a staff member was sitting in the seating area for over one hour, melancholically moping at his phone!. It's all un-appealing. The server mixed me a monstrous cocktail that was meant to contain Cointreau, which was the reason for my choice. There was not a drop of Cointreau in that cocktail!. I complained and had her add the appropriate drink. She grabbed my plates before I finished eating without asking. I had to protest so I could finish my meal. Overall this restaurant has lost the class I believed it had. Verdict: Food authenticity and flavor: 5/5 Presentation 3/5 Ambiance 2/5 Atmosphere 2/5 Service 1/5.

I couldn't have been more excited to check this place out, but even with it being nearly empty, the service was so awful and the table I was given so dirty, that I left before ordering. ‍ I'm actually embarrassed as a Nigerian-American that some people will visit and think that this level of hospitality is representative of our culture.

Joloff rice was fine... usually defines a spot... sorely disappointed not much flavor... decent portion though for the side Okra soup... I will never ever ever get this again. I do not know whose idea it was to put olives in the soup and also literally give you a spoon full of soup in the middle of about a bowl of red stew. Literally got no okra at all. But either way olives? Like I have never seen that and I grew up only eating this... need to go back to the drawing board

We were out walking in the neighborhood on Sunday afternoon when we passed Buka's open door, with good music coming from inside and a menu including zobo. Hibiscus iced tea sounded great on such a warm day, so we went in and were greeted by the friendly and knowledgeable bartender who gave us options for spiking our zobo and a cocktail menu. We ended up having two delicious drinks while chatting about the restaurant and upcoming events. The prices were shockingly good, especially for such thoughtfully-made, balanced drinks with fun garnishes and yummy rims. We can't wait to come back for a meal or an open mic night.

The food was omg God so amazing so tasty it was the best I ever tasted from this restaurant I give you guys a five star it was great I can't get over how tasty it is and flavorful the best Africa restaurant