Sale
Harbour Lane Smash Burger
Two smashed short-rib patties, aged cheddar, burnt onion jam and house pickles in a milk bun.
$14.50$17.00
On Harbour Lane since 1998
Fire cooked food and proper hospitality
Babuka is a harbour side restaurant built around one open kitchen. Everything is cooked to order with fresh ingredients bought that morning, whether you are here for a slow dinner or a fast lunch.
4.9 out of 5 from 2,480 guest reviews
18 min
Average kitchen time
28 years
Of harbour side cooking
Our restaurant
A kitchen that never learned to cut corners
We started with twelve seats, one grill and a chalkboard menu rewritten every morning. Almost three decades later the room is bigger, the menu is longer and the routine is exactly the same: buy the best of what the harbour market has, cook it over real fire and send it out while it is still singing.
Market first menus
Specials are written after the morning market run, never before it.
Cooked over fire
Coal, wood and cast iron. No shortcuts, no heat lamps, no reheating.
Our full story
Marcus Adeyemi
Founder & Executive Chef
Browse the menu
Popular food categories
Eight sections, one kitchen. Start where you are hungriest and let the chef do the rest.
Signature selection
Dishes our guests come back for
A short list of the plates that built our reputation, all available to eat in, collect or have delivered.
Chef's Pick
Coal-Fired Ribeye
Thirty-day dry aged ribeye over white coals, finished with rosemary butter and sea salt.
$32.00
Napoli Garden Pizza
Slow proved dough, San Marzano tomato, buffalo mozzarella and basil from our rooftop garden.
$18.00
New
Truffle Cream Rigatoni
Bronze cut rigatoni folded through black truffle cream, aged parmesan and toasted hazelnut.
$19.50
Chef's Pick
Portside Seafood Platter
Day boat prawns, oysters, dressed crab and smoked mussels with lemon and sea herbs.
$38.00
Maple Glazed Salmon
Line caught salmon lacquered in maple and soy, served with charred greens and miso butter.
$26.00
Chef's Pick
Burnt Honey Cheesecake
Basque style baked cheesecake with wildflower honey and a pinch of smoked salt.
$9.00
Smoked Chili Wings
Smoked for three hours, fried to order and tossed in our twelve day fermented chili butter.
$11.00
Why choose us
Four reasons this room stays full
We are not the cheapest kitchen in the quarter and we have never tried to be. What we offer instead is consistency, honest sourcing and a team that has largely been here for years.
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Guests who would return
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Local suppliers we buy from
Fresh ingredients
Produce arrives daily from the harbour market and our own rooftop herb garden.
A settled team
Most of our chefs and hosts have been with Babuka for more than five years.
Fast food delivery
Our own riders cover every district in the city, usually inside forty minutes.
Allergy confident
Every dish carries a full ingredient record so our team can answer honestly.
Meet the kitchen
The chefs behind every plate
Six section heads, one pass, and a handover meeting before every single service.
Marcus Adeyemi
Executive Chef
Lena Sorokina
Head of Grill
Tobias Rune
Sous Chef
Amara Okonkwo
Pastry Chef
The Babuka experience
One kitchen, two speeds, zero compromise
Dining room service runs at its own pace while the express counter turns out the same food in minutes. Both are cooked by the same brigade, on the same equipment, with the same ingredients.
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Serving since
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Dishes on the menu
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People in the team
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Average guest rating
Guest reviews
What our guests tell us
We have marked every birthday in our family at Babuka for nine years. The kitchen has grown, the welcome has not changed one bit.
Priya Raghunathan
Regular guest since 2016
The ribeye is cooked with real confidence and the wine list is refreshingly free of ego. This is a kitchen that knows exactly what it is.
Daniel Okoro
Food writer, Newhaven Post
Twenty two guests, one long table, and not a single detail out of place. The team handled dietary requirements without any fuss at all.
Sofia Marchetti
Booked a private dinner
The express counter gets me back to the office in half an hour with something that actually tastes cooked to order. Rare combination.
Ethan Brooks
Orders lunch every week
They took our rough idea and turned it into a menu that felt personal. Guests are still talking about the burnt honey cheesecake.
Amelia Hart
Wedding rehearsal dinner
I have hosted client dinners here for six years. Consistent service, honest pricing and a room that lets you actually hold a conversation.
Kwame Mensah
Local business owner
Inside Babuka
A look around the restaurant
The room, the pass and the people, photographed during a normal week of service.
Reserve a table
Book your table at Babuka
Tell us when you are coming and how many of you there will be. We hold every reservation for fifteen minutes and will always try to honour a seating preference.
- Monday - Thursday11:00 - 23:00
- Friday - Saturday11:00 - 01:00
- Sunday12:00 - 22:00
- Public HolidaysClosed