Samarkand Noida - Restaurant Review

I recently visited my brother who lives in Noida and he took me for lunch at Samarkand, a posh restaurant near his flat. This restaurant is located in Ganga Shopping Complex, at Sector 29 in Noida. Samarkand is fully air conditioned and is open from 11.00 am to 11.00 pm. The name of the restaurant sounded familiar, so I did a quick search on Google and learned that Samarkand is the name of a city in Uzbekistan. It is one of the oldest inhabitated cities of the world and is the same city from where Babar, the founder of the Mughal Empire in India hailed from. Well anyway, here is my review of this restaurant -

Samarkand, Noida - 6/10 - Samarkand is located on the first floor and has two separate seating areas, both of which are air conditioned. The first thing you notice about the restaurant is the glass windows carved with figures of royalty in romantic poses. The warmth of the rich red upholstery, polished wood interiors and mirrors all worked to emphasize a regal ambiance, which was somehow ruined by the appearance of modern table fans placed about at random. Samarkand specializes in Mughlai cuisine and also serves standard North Indian fare, Chinese food and Continental grub. The restaurant also has a bar and serves alcoholic drinks.


The clientèle at Samarkand is mostly senior male office executives who were grouped over tables discussing business over glasses of beer. Occasionally, one or two guys went out on to the balcony for a smoke. The place is quite clean and comfortable though a bit dark. The rates are quite moderate. An order of chilly paneer, aloo jeera, six rotis and 3 lime sodas came up to around Rs.670. The food is well cooked, fresh and not too oily or rich. The lime juice, though, is not mixed well. The first sip had a strong sourness that went right to my nose while the last slurp was just plain water.

The classical music being played is soft and soothing. When it comes to service, the waiters are not too intrusive and the food did not take long to be served. Portions are quite large and we packed up the remaining food to have for dinner at home. The food experience was good. However, I would not recommend eating out at Samarkhand with your family, as the loud men drinking at nearby tables may make them feel uncomfortable.

Have you eaten out at Samarkand Noida? What was your experience there?