I love the concept of Buku; street food from all over the world. I also love the feel of the restaurant. It has a beautiful bar, with a waterfall mirror behind the liquor. It has a very hip, downtown feel.
I tried a Hemingway daiquiri (Cruzan light, Luxard, maraschino liqueur, grapefruit, lime) and a strawbeñero sling (Skyy citrus, fresh strawberry, habañero, and lime). Both cocktails were out of this world.
I tried Buku twice. On my first visit, I tried the Buku roll, the Cambodia spring roll, the Viet Cucumber Salad, and Pierogis. I tried the Korean BBQ and the Nahm Prik Tiger Prawns on my second.
I found the food to be just so-so. What Buku is attempting to do – making a lot of varied dishes, and doing them well – is quite difficult. I could not help but compare the sushi to Tokyo House. Buku simply was not as good. Similarly, the prawns do not compare to Sawasdee.
The Korean BBQ dish was a substantial amount of meat, but it was not particularly tasty. The prawns (both of them) were good but left me wanting more for my $16. My only other real complaint is that the cucumber salad was so spicy that it really made the salad the opposite of a refreshing cucumber salad. Oddly, even though there is a distinct Asian emphasis on the menu, the pierogis actually stood out as the best food I tried.
At the end of the day, I’d go there again to meet friends for drink. Dinner? No thank you.