Buddakan

Reviews 5

LA

Lawrence Miller

Buddakan lives up to the hype. The ambiance is meant to evoke a southeast Asian sensibility; famous for the larger-than-life statue of Buddah, sitting at the head of the largest table in the restaurant, even the foyer is designed with intention, made to resemble a Japanese stone garden. My party was greeted warmly when we arrived, and seated right away. All five of us opted for "Bento box" lunch specials; during Philadelphia Restaurant Week, these are offered at a discount with a free dessert, but are otherwise as they appear on the regular menu. Each diner chooses three options, and they arrive together in individual plates on a single three-slot tray. My dining companions report being very pleased with the Barbeque Ribs and Cashew Chicken, as well as the Miso soup. At the recommendation of our server, I started with the edamame dumplings, which were the star of the meal. The dumpling wrappers were delicate, the filling a tasty bean puree just bursting with umame flavor; I only wish I had more. I moved next to the Tuna Tataki: sushi-grade tuna seared and served atop a chilled, mildly spicy noodle and seaweed salad. The tuna was perfect; a great sear on the outside with barely any of the beautiful raw meat on the inside disturbed. Finally I had the grilled lamb chop, absolutely delicious, served with a white eggplant that I tremendously enjoyed despite not usually liking eggplant. For dessert I chose the white chocolate dome, which was chocolate and peppermint mousse topped with spun sugar and spherified peppermint balls. I enjoyed this presentation immensely; it was easy to control the amount of peppermint in each bite by grabbing a few of the peppermint spheres, each about the size of a peppercorn. Some of the smaller ones had perhaps bathed in the alginate too long, as they had lost most of their flavor. My dining companions report being very pleased with the dim sum donuts and the yuzu cheesecake.

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FE

FELIKSUZY17

The Buddakan used to be one of my favorite restaurants in Philly.....well not anymore. As a matter of fact, I will not go there again! First of all, they took away the best dishes on their menu ( like duck salad, pacific prunes & "pagoda" desert....& many others)! We had a reservation for 10 oclock for 4 people. We used to go there even at midnight & there was no issues with the kitchen! We were there at 10:07. As soon as we walked in, the hostess said: "let me check if they can still serve you"! You are kidding right? I get that for being 7 minutes late on week end? Then with an attitude I was sited. Then the waitress telling us that we have to make up our mind about the food within 2 minutes, because the kitchen wants to go home!!! I was like, if the kitchen need to go home at 10, then why are you taking a reservation for 10???????? Then after just a minute of looking at the menu she was on top of us again, that we should hurry up. many things from the menu were not available. We brought there to dine our friend, who just gave a brilliant performance at Curtis Musical Institute & happened to be one of the best pianist in the world! I was embarrassed for my city........WHEN THE CLIENT IS SITTING & DECIDING WHAT TO EAT, SPECIALLY WITH PRICES SO HIGH, YOU DONT TELL THEM THAT THE STAFF OF THE KITCHEN STANDING THERE & WAITING FOR OUR ORDER, SINCE THEY WANT TO GO HOME!!!!!! IT IS BLS! I WILL NEVER DINE IN BUDDAKAN AGAIN. AND IT IS VERY UPSETTING FOR ME, BECAUSE IT USED TO BE MY FAVORITE FOR MORE THEN A DECADE!!!! STEPHEN STARR SHOULD BE ASHAMED or maybe "aware" OF HIRING A STAFF LIKE THAT & REMOVING THEIR SIGNATURE DISHES FROM THE MENU IN COMBINATION OF THAT KIND OF SERVICE!

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NO

Noel Brinkley

I really wanted to love this place. I hadnt been in years and went in last last week with 2 other people. The service was great and our waitress was very knowledgeable about the menu. The room is wonderful too. Sadly, thats where the compliments stop. Now the bad. First with my reservation. I was told there was nothing available between 6:00 and 9:30 so we went at 6:00 and the restaurant remained 2/3 to 1/3 empty well past 7:30 PM. So we could have gotten a later reso like we wanted. Second, my drink. I ordered an Elderflower Gin Gimlet. I specifically gave the ingredients and measurements to our waitress. The drink calls for Gin, Elderflower liquor and fresh LIME juice. REAL lime juice. NOT Rosies lime juice, which is what they put in my drink. Cmon man, that bush league right there. Lastly, the food. It wasnt awful, not even bad. But it wasnt very good either. My main criticism is that it was too flavorful and not in a good way. Everything was just way too salty for my taste. I do want flavor, bold distinctive flavor but everything we had was just overly salted. I ate it b/c I was starving and had nothing but a smoothie and a Cliff bar all day. But I drank about 6 glasses of water, along with my Rosies Gimlet. So, take my review for what its worth. Maybe some people like their food with overwhelming flavor thing. Like I said, I like bold flavor but more distinctive flavor, not everything tasting similarly salty. Thanks for reading.

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MA

Marco Aviso

Trendy-Loud, A Tad Campy Decor, Moderate to very Tasty food and Service was Impeccable... The trendy spot for the upwardly mobile looking for something different in this Asian inspired themed restaurant. Aside from my 10 minute wait after week in advance reservation, me and a friend were seated close to the kitchen(nice if you want to see more action but bad if you wanted to have a conversation), but the wait staff, bus personnel, and want appeared to be manager were extremely attentive. The food(Asian-Fusion) was delicious but the portions would not fulfill most American diets, include mine, luckily we order enough or each dish and ate family style(best if you want take a bit of everything), each dish was different surprise. We had the Asian Caesar Salad(meh), Kobe Beef Satay(yum), Lobster Fried Rice(eh), Miso Black Cod(cooked perfectly), Five Spice Duck Breast dish(oddly textured but not bad way and its accompaniments were delectable). I didnt know why I had chops sticks since most of food our were best eaten without chop sticks(based on the portions, the plating and textures of the food) but it came handy with the DIm Sum Doughnuts(delicious- my friend who normally hates anything too sweet enjoyed it). If you want to go out and try something new, enjoy some tasty Asian-inspired(but particularly authentic in Asian flavors) food hit up Buddakan in Philly. Be forewarned to dress for the upscale clientele and the loud/hip atmosphere.

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A

A Private User

I went to Buddakan last night (a thursday) with a group of 3 with no reservations and got seated within 5 minutes. The waiter was extremely friendly and informational about the restaurant. I loved the ambiance and the huge gold budda with the red background was an exceptional focal piece. Overall the food was really good. I was not too impressed with the calamari in the Crispy Calamari Salad, but since calamari is my favorite Ive had the best of the best and my palette could be biased. I shared entrees as they recommended and my all time favorite, as well as the best steak I ever had, was their Kobe Strip Steak. Being kobe meat I knew it would be extremely tender and flavorful, but the garlic tetsuya that they used gave it a wow factor that will make that steak ridiculously memorable for the rest of my life. For dessert we got the sorbet trio. The flavors of the day were cherry, chocolate, and mandarin. The cherry and chocolate were scrumptious but the mandarin was by far my favorite and a great, light end to the meal. The restaurant is expensive so I would not recommend going on a budget. The portions could be bigger, but its exactly what I expected for a pricey, fine dining restaurant. Overall great service and wonderful food.

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