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All Reader Reviews of...

Buddakan

75 Ninth Ave., New York, NY, 10011
nr. 16th St.
212-989-6699

Avg. Rating

6
Food: 6
Service: 6
Décor: 8
"Mixed Reviews"

Average Reader Rating on a Scale of 10.

58% would go back.

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not worth the price

By Pefac on 4/4/2012

  • Overall Rating: 6
  • Food: 8
  • Service: 1
  • Décor: 10
  • No, I would not go back!

Ok so i have been here twice, and i dont plan on going back. Not b/c of the food. I found the food wonderful and the dining room stunning. However the service was atrocious. Extremely rushed, unhelpful, uninformative, and fake. My party of 5 did a tasting menu. normally when you do a tasting no more than 2 or 3 dishes come out at a time and the servers explain each dish. Not at buddakan. they plop everything all at once on the table where there is not enough room for everything. they mumble the descriptions and run off never to be seen. we mentioned to the waitress that they were sending too much out at once and requested for the main courses to be sent out at a more paced speed. She said absolutely...after about 20 minutes the servers came with 8 dishes threw them on the table mumbled descriptions and left. we had no idea what we were eating, which dishes were which and had plates hanging of the edge of table in our laps, etc. for a $1000 dinner i expect a little more than diner service. maybe the experience would have been better if we ordered a la carte. who knows...i dont plan on going back to find out.

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29 out of 59 people found this review helpful.

spectacular meal!! :)

By tschwa on 8/2/2011

  • Overall Rating: 10
  • Food: 10
  • Service: 10
  • Décor: 10
  • Yes, I would go back!

I got to the restaurant right on time for my 8:15 reservation and had to wait about 10 minutes in the lounge. I didnt mind since they had gr8 drinks. When I got to the table I ordered a lamb shank entree which was perfectly seasoned with a sweet kick (it could have been the best shank I've ever had). I also ordered peanut noodles which was absolutely fantastic. In addition, for an appetizer I got dumplings which were incredible. The service was lovely. Overall, a gr8 dining experience in the heart of Chelsea.

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59 out of 102 people found this review helpful.

Excellent

By JennyPenny on 8/20/2010

  • Overall Rating: 9
  • Food: 9
  • Service: 9
  • Décor: 10
  • Yes, I would go back!

I brought a friend from out of town to Buddakan. She loves SATC, but I wasn't expecting the food or service to be too hot. Wow was I wrong. It is one of the best meals I've had in 10 years in NYC. Everyone was wonderful from the server who sat us downstairs at our request (infinintely more impressive design wise than upstairs) to the several servers that took care of us.

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53 out of 108 people found this review helpful.

Loved it, and keep going back

By Euphorbia on 3/3/2010

  • Overall Rating: 9
  • Food: 9
  • Service: 9
  • Décor: 10
  • Yes, I would go back!

My family (eleven of us) celebrated my 70th birthday at Buddakan. We had an early reservation (pre-theater), so had no trouble getting in and getting served in good time. We ordered the tasting menu, with vegetarian options, and everyone loved it. Service was attentive, courteous, and prompt. We had two children in the group, ages 9 and 6, and while I wouldn't say it's a child-oriented place, they did fine and they loved it....staff were especially attentive to them. Of course everyone was wowed by the decor, which made my birthday feel even more like a special occasion. I will be taking my son there for his birthday next weekend--it's a great place to celebrate.

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97 out of 176 people found this review helpful.

Awesome Appetizers

By krodster on 2/17/2010

  • Overall Rating: 8
  • Food: 8
  • Service: 8
  • Décor: 7
  • Yes, I would go back!

I found the decor impressive, but I'm glad they sat us in the back away from the enormous open space, it was so loud in that part. We had an intimate table in a back corner which was nice. The appetizers here are amazing, and the drinks are fabulous, but I was a little disappointed by the entrees, they just didn't live up to the amazing-ness of the apps. The edamame dumplings are divine, it's amazing how they melt in your mouth, and the duck spring rolls were fabulous. I had a tofu dish for dinner that was really bland, my date had veal cheeks which didn't interest me but he seemed to really enjoy. Overall I would go again if only just for the drinks and apps.

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84 out of 162 people found this review helpful.

Buddah-CON! is more like it!

By lindie on 12/27/2009

  • Overall Rating: 3
  • Food: 3
  • Service: 1
  • Décor: 7
  • No, I would not go back!

I had the worst restaurant experience of my life tonight at Buddakan. Several of us went for birthday. While the decor was impressive, the food was average at best and certainly not worth the high prices they charge. The service was terrible and at the end of the night management tried to take advantage of the size of the party. Despite the pre-fix menu, the service deliberately added desserts and drinks we did not order, claimed we had more people in our party than we did and charged us for them, and added bogus service charges to our bill. Our party spent over an hour fighting with management to get them to correct their own deliberate over charges on our account (which seems like theft in my opinion). ABSOLUTELY THE WORST RESTAURANT EVER - NEVER EVER GO THERE!

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101 out of 202 people found this review helpful.

It's a One Time Deal

By Kerita on 8/10/2009

  • Overall Rating: 7
  • Food: 6
  • Service: 9
  • Décor: 10
  • No, I would not go back!

We had a delicious sake recommended by our waiter, but strangely, it was served in these ikea-type drinking glasses. We got the lollipops (be careful, very hot when you bite into them). I would skip these as they really tasted nothing special. We got the pot stickers- yummy, but you might have to add more soy sauce into the chili sauce as it was super spicy. Make sure you order the boneless ribs with mustard- probably the best thing there. For an entree, we got the charred steak in butter sauce. I was expecting more of a flank steak but it was very finely seared pieces of meat with a to-die-for sauce on top. Highly recommended but not for the 250 lb mid western dad.. If you're a party of two, hope for a table on the balcony overlooking the downstairs or they might stick you at the 75 seat communal long table!

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135 out of 235 people found this review helpful.

What you'd expect from a trendy Stephen Starr

By lulu32 on 7/12/2009

  • Overall Rating: 7
  • Food: 9
  • Service: 3
  • Décor: 10
  • Yes, I would go back!

I love the fried rice here, the tuna tartare spring rolls, and the scallops. I think the food is great Asian fusion - BUT it is all overshadowed by the horrific service. When you arrive, you have to stand in the overcrowded bar and wait for about an hour, with nowhere to sit. Finally when they seat you - the decor is very impressive as well - but they refuse to bring out the food in the order you want. What kind of restaurant won't let you choose an appetizer and entree? Last time I came, they brought out my friend's entree before any of our appetizers, which just makes for awkward timing. If this was a take-out place I'd order all the time, but the food isn't worth all the hassle.

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87 out of 176 people found this review helpful.

What you might expect...

By Nox123 on 11/19/2008

  • Overall Rating: 9
  • Food: 8
  • Service: 10
  • Décor: 10
  • Yes, I would go back!

We ate here on strong recommendations, but honestly, we found it a bit more style than substance. It does look stunning inside, but the night we went, it seemed more nightclub than restaurant, and I wanted to dine not schmooze. The staff were all remarkably friendly, not at all snobbish, which I feared they might be, given how attractive they were. The food was well-presented - cleverly served "lollipops", standing upright on sticks, and there was intelligent use of the limited tablespace. The mushroom chow fun and peking duck were fine, however, the food did not wow. It was good...but just good. Best part of the meal were the recommended (by friends and waitstaff alike) edamame dumplings - a light and tasty soy bean puree in translucent dumpling cases. It might be a favourite restaurant of mine if they halved the prices.

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105 out of 181 people found this review helpful.

How can you not love this place?

By Rick_Green on 9/17/2008

  • Overall Rating: 9
  • Food: 8
  • Service: 9
  • Décor: 10
  • Yes, I would go back!

All around great expierence. Stephen out did himself this time around. I can only think of one of his restaurants that hit the mark like this one, Parc in Rittenhouse Square!

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97 out of 180 people found this review helpful.

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