Buddha Lounge
| Address: | 1504 E North Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53202, USA |
| Phone: | +1 414-283-8400 |
| Site: | buddhaloungemke.com |
| Rating: | 3.4 |
| Working: | 11AM–12AM 11AM–12AM 11AM–12AM 11AM–2AM 11AM–2AM 11AM–2AM 11AM–12AM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 6
RA
Ray Nolden
I was advised by mother before enter that results would vary, unfortunately, she was spot on. Initial impressions The outside was clean and welcoming but coming through what appeared to be the side door was different but nothing to be alarmed. The parking situation leaves much to be desired, however, its great if youre walking or biking. We went on a Sunday afternoon, when the streets were clear and parking was accessible. I wonder how its like on a Friday or Saturday evening with increased foot traffic or when the UWM dorms are full, there maybe issues. We were greeted friendly and seated promptly. The decor is an interesting Asian theme with numerous Buddha statues and dragons with large flat screens that had sports game on them. I personally like the theme, It reminded me of an Asian style bar Food I ordered the birds nest while my mother had brown fried rice with shrimp appetizers and Pina Colada . The food was great, I really enjoyed the birds nest platter, the seafood was flavorful and plenty in proportion to the ramen that outlined it, not to mention, the presentation was good. The brown rice, seasoned properly and flavorful. I like the wrapped shrimp which were crunchy and fresh. The second pina colada was great and mixed well. Service This was the part that needed the most improvement and wish it was better. After we were seated, we place out beverage order; a Pina Colada and water. The water arrived quickly but the Pina Colada took some time, but when it arrived it looked more like a Long Island Iced Tea and was overpowering with rum. We found out the waitress attempted to make the drink with the assistance of Google because the bartender have not arrived. Her efforts were appreciated it but we questioned why did she have to resort to Google for directions, should there be a master drink list that explains the ingredients or process? The wait time from the time we ordered to the time the food was received was about 50 mins that includes the appetizer, which was caused by a faulty printer, still not acceptable based on the frequency the waitress came over the check on us. The chef, I can only assume he was, delivered our food, however, he didnt appear to be an employee especially with the lack of uniform. It was disappointing to have the appetizer arrive after the entrees. Overall, the food is great but the service just needs to be better. I will return to see if the service has improved. What a shame, good food but inconsistent service.
KA
Kal Lo
A few friends and I went here on New Years Eve only to get bubble tea. We were greeted by a guy who was obviously on drugs or something, trust me he wasnt just "chill" he was out of his mind. The place was empty, which struck me as strange. We ordered our tea and the guy said it would 7-10 minutes...try more like 45. We waited around for a while and while the tea was being made he brang out our receipts. They were out of quarters, which was no big deal, but he repeated to each of us "were...out of quarters..." In a very spaced out voice. He must be the manager because if I were his boss and he showed up to my restaurant (on one of this busiest nights of the year) high out of his mind, he would have been fired on the spot. Not sure what they are thinking letting the manager and the first person you talk to, get high. The tea was good but the tapioca beads were half uncooked and hard on the inside, super gross. We waited 45 minutes for mediocre drinks...thats not exactly how I wanted to spend my night on New Years Eve. I bet our service would have been 3 times faster if that guy wasnt high out of his mind.
BR
Bryon Olsen
Loved the variety of Asian dishes. My friends and I had each tried different dishes. My favorite was the Thai Curry with red sauce. They offered three different sides of rice, I never heard of "Black" rice. The server explained that its like a cross between wild rice and white rice with a fuller flavor and a bit more crunch. So I tried it. First of all, Ive never seen a larger "Side" of rice, this could be a meal by itself! The waitress was right, a little less crunch than wild rice with more rice flavor. The Red Curry was also a huge portion and loaded with veggies. Although, I would have wanted more heat! I asked the server if there was something they had that I could heat it up a bit. Expecting a Sirracha or sweet chili oil. What I got was exactly what I wanted a very spicy chili oil, just the right amount of heat, more than I expected... Parking was easy along North Ave, as Cambridge Ave has a UW dorm, it was fairly crowded. We all had a great night, great food selection, ample portions, good service, and a really cool décor, if youre into that!
KE
Ken Adams
Food was disgusting. All our items tasted so weird and gross. And they were all dishes that have a "standard flavor" of what they should taste like. For example our crab rangoon. Of course it will have a tweaked taste from restaurant to restaurant, but they all generally taste the same and at the very least taste like crab and cream cheese. The ones we got here had absolutely no crab, cream cheese, or "crab rangoon" taste to them whatsoever. So much so that I had to open it to see what was on the inside. The inside looked like spinach artichoke dip and quite frankly tasted more like that too... even though it was supposed to be crab and cream cheese... so super weird and gross. And thats exactly how it went for our other dishes of beef and broccoli, pad thai, and tom yum soup. Completely not the flavors youre expecting when you order these dishes and the flavors you do get are just weird, bland, and definitely not worth the money. On a side note, the server was great and the decor was cool. Just gotta work on the actual food.
VE
Veronica R.
I am giving this place a 5 star only because the sushi was really good, But this was my first time here, we (My Mom, My two kids, and myself) got here when they opened. well it should have been open at least 15 mins before we got there, but the staff didnt know how to open the door. once we got in we order within 15 mins. we had places to be before 1pm we got there at 11:15am but it took about an hour and a half to get any kind of anything. our app came after our sushi. when asked why it was taking so long she told us they had an order come in so they decided to handle that first before the customers inside having lunch 3 other tables had complained about the time it was taking as well. needless to say we didnt get out of there until well after 1pm which made me late to my prior engagements. (no apologies were offered nor a discount for our inconvenience) But the food was great. hopefully this was only a one time thing. next time I am in Milwaukee I might try this place over again. decor was very lovely as well.
JE
Jennifer Parr
I was very disappointed in the spicy tuna gyoza. It was drenched in some kind of sweet mango sauce and the tuna inside was bland. It was like eating deepfried Bumble Bee tuna. It was also the worst bowl of ramen Ive ever had. Not only was it missing several ingredients that the menu said it should include, it was poorly made. The noodles were not cooked correctly and were just one big clump. The egg was soft boiled, not poached, and the whole thing was the color of dirty dish water. It tasted like watery pork grease and I couldnt eat it. Fortunately, my dates red curry was made well and tasted good, even though it was not spicey at all. Im really disappointed because we rarely have the chance to go out and it feels like we wasted an opportunity. We could have gone to one of our tried and true places, but we took a chance on Buddha Lounge because it has good reviews and a few friends of ours said it was good. I hope our experience was just a fluke, but we wont be going there again.
