I was told by some of my friends in Bangalore that Samarkand is a cool restaurant one should visit.
We decided to go there on a weekend. The ambience was excellent. The food is inspired by NWFP, Afghanistan and Samarkand, but somehow does not come closer to the original. Afghans would laugh at the food served here and yes - at what price?
They have a well-stocked bar with special cocktails like angoori nasha and iran-e-gulbadan besides beer and hard stuff. But then we dont visit places just to drink and crib about the food.
The restaurant’s desserts, such as bakhlava and khubani ka meetha, again overpriced for the "catfood" they serve! The traditional Afghani preparation of gravies is customised and indianized. There is no way one would enjoy a perfect meal looking at the prices.
Samarkand is a one time visit if you want to see the ambience but would you really go to a place just for the ambience. BJN group is already overpriced all over. There are much better alternatives which serve better quantity at a much lesser price!