Cayenne Bistro and Grill — Restaurant in Burnaby

Cayenne Bistro and Grill is a newish African/Indian fusion restaurant that opened up recently along 6th Street in New Westminster, taking over the space by the former Malaysian eatery known as Makan Place.

The renovations done to the interior is a nice upgrade from the prior looks. On my visit, the host was quite friendly and made an effort to explain the different types of dishes (probably because he assumed because of my Asian background that I had no experience with African or Indian cuisine).

I decided on the Zanzibar Kuku Paka ($14.95) which comes with naan and he up-sold me on a bowl of rice ($2.75) which was a good idea since this dish is very saucy. I also paired it with a Rubicon Passion Fruit Sparking Soda ($2.25) which is a canned soft drink.

This dish includes bone-in chicken cooked in a creamy yellow curry milk base with East African spices and includes a hard-boiled egg with large chunks of potatoes. I really enjoyed the curry sauce in this dish. Served with a medium-heat, the intensity of the heat grows over time in your mouth.

I returned about a week later and ordered their Beef Ribs with Salad and Naan ($16.95) which was served with a tangy tamarind sauce and hot sauce to customize your dish. I found the “medium” level of spiciness had a good kick and the plentiful amount of ribs were tender and juicy.

A couple of weeks later, I tried their Cayenne Sheekh Kebabs ($14.95). As with my other visits, the food does take a while to come out (this dish took about 20 minutes even though the place was relatively quiet). The marinated ground beef in these kebabs was a bit dry on the inside but the dish did come with some dipping sauce which made it better. I also noticed that the naan here is a bit chewier than I’m used to (with a bit more browning on one side) but it’s not a deal breaker.

A few things to note if you decide to visit… the specials for the day are written on a small board hanging on the wall near the front door (unless you’re seated near there, it’s difficult to see), tables have individual cayenne pepper shakers (as well as salt shakers) if you want to customize your dish, and the food does take a while to come out (especially if...

We came here for lunch and waited more than 1hour to get our foods.(we were the only table waiting for the foods🤨) Seriously, who is going to wait for an hour for food ? If it was to-go, I would have already canceled. Because of this delay, we became starving hungry, so when the first dish arrived, we were tricked into thinking that it was so delicious. However, the prawn one was just boiled prawn with sweet Chilli which was so simple I could make it easily by myself. Afterwards, food taste from average to terrible. Specifically, the dish that resembled fish inside potato lasagna was bad idea. The fish and potato layer did not go well at all. And the fish was tasteless.

My friend later said that the chef might have been changed because everything was different from last time. So disappointing😔. The best one among the food was the deep fried tapioca. It was crispy and savory. And the portion of choma platter was much smaller than the picture on the menu. Lentil soup taste very weird. We hardly touched after one spoon. It tasted like barley tea in weird texture. And roti and naan-like thing was obviously super market grade. I don't think this place is operated by the professionals.. must be casual family business.. And one more thing, we found a strand of hair in the bowl of rice, and we requested to change to another one. And new one had another strand of hair. But we were tired of telling the staff. Anyway we were so full. What is worse, we ordered Masala potato, but we didn't get it. So we told the staff that we don't want it anymore but when my friend saw the bill, it was included. And some other foods that we were not aware of ordering were added to the bill. We were the only table and what can be possibly confusing? Anyway it was not a big deal for my friend so they paid without further complaint and we never heard from him saying "Sorry" after the long waiting. We will never...

I’m upgrading my rating to 5 stars as I am so satisfied after my recent visit for the weekend dinner buffet. We visited this restaurant every weekend in August after trying their food through online delivery. This clearly shows how much we enjoyed Cayenne Bistro's food, and their hospitality. I appreciated how they took our feedback seriously and made adjustments to the buffet menu. I highly recommend their Beef kabab, Chicken Rafiki, well-balanced sweet Gulab Jamun, and house-made soft naan. It’s a great spot for hanging out with friends and family. The owners are fantastic—they treat you like family and ensure you're comfortable with both the food and service. I also value a clean restroom, and Cayenne meets that standard. I definitely plan to return for their beef kabab.

4 star review from August 18: We enjoyed the Sunday Brunch buffet on 08/18. Food was fresh, coming hot from the kitchen to our plates. I loved the spring rolls, puri with bateta, kashmiri chicken and sev. Aloo paratha and raita, pickles were ok. I wish they added tea to the buffet. But I must admit the buffet was neat, fresh, non greasy, made my tongue and tummy feel good. This was the third time I had their food. First time we ordered online the Zanjibar Kuku paka platter, a chicken curry with coconut milk comes with boiled egg and naan. It was tasty,but a bit pricier compared to the qty. Next we visited on a weekend to try the Choma platter. Taste was good, but the amount of rice was very little for this platter. They could have added few slices of naan/roti to complete the platter if not increasing the rice portion. Overall good experience. The ambience was nice, saw many people picking up big orders for family gatherings. I must appreciate the hosts -the lady and gentleman, both the owners. They made us felt welcomed, a good host indeed. Hope to visit again to try the appy...