Buddakan

[oakapple]

answering my own question, augieland now has the menu posted for buddakan.

←

Here.

[Vadouvan]

Interesting......very interesting Indeed.

I had become suspicious that Mr Augie is somewhat affiliated in some way with the Starr restaurants due to the repeated expensive meals, mostly glowing reviews and access at Morimoto...

Now he is at The "Family Meal" and has the menu.....at Buddakan.

Just like the congee, the plot thickens......

[augieland]

Interesting......very interesting Indeed.

I had become suspicious that Mr Augie is somewhat affiliated in some way with the Starr restaurants due to the repeated expensive meals, mostly glowing reviews and access at Morimoto...

Now he is at The "Family Meal" and has the menu.....at Buddakan.

Just like the congee, the plot thickens......

←

the answer is in the posts, the answer is in the posts

[philadining]

Interesting menu. As suggested earlier, it is indeed WAY more Chinese than the Buddakan in Philly, and augieland's descriptions and pictures make much of the food seem almost like conventional, traditional dishes, with just a small twist or two, or unusually luxe ingredients. I don't see an obvious Susur influence, beyond the pork belly.

I'll look forward to more reports (not that there's anything wrong with augie's!) Maybe he's hooked-up, but if any of us ate as many omakases at Morimoto as he has, we'd get invited to the friends-and-family dinner at Buddakan too!

[augieland]

Interesting menu. As suggested earlier,  it is indeed WAY more Chinese than the Buddakan in Philly, and augieland's descriptions and pictures make much of the food seem almost like conventional, traditional dishes, with just a small twist or two, or unusually luxe ingredients. I don't see an obvious Susur influence, beyond the pork belly.

I'll look forward to more reports (not that there's anything wrong with augie's!)  Maybe he's hooked-up, but if any of us ate as many omakases at Morimoto as he has, we'd get invited to the friends-and-family dinner at Buddakan too!

←

wish i had been invited to the morimoto friends and family, so far every Mori has been a pay for play affair.

[philadining]

Hey, by the way, welcome to eGullet augieland!

We'll check out your blog, but please come back and update us about your various dining exploits here on eGullet too.

[adamru]

sure, I'm drunk, but I can say that all six cocktails on the menu at buddakan are excellent. or all five plus one as we also tried sin which is on augie's menu but was not on the menu tonight. they made it anyway even though they're still working on it and it was flawless creamy dessert cocktail. earlier I watched the bartenders make drinks at the bar before dinner and they asked for feedback. heat has too much lemon juice. rhyme, one of the best drinks I've ever had is basically alcoholic root beer and I found nothing wrong with that. they're all priced at about $10 each.

another difference between augie's menu and the menu tonight is that the prices are lower. for example, the tuna spring rolls are $12 instead of $14 and the sizzling crab is $51 instead of $57. no complaints and everything was a value. the sizzling dungeness crab, for two, contained about three broken-up crabs in a suace which was more like a rich very hot chili bean ragout that filled a large serving bowl about 1/3 way full. the dish came with one cracker to break the claws for us to share which was awkward but they did bring enough lemon slices and extra napkins for two to clean up afterward. that course could have used smaller forks to pull the meat out but otherwise it worked best eaten with our hands.

the dishes arrive in whatever order they are prepared which is true at fatty crab where I ate saturday night as well but I still find it odd to receive appetizers after my entree. in this case we received the three tuna spring rolls, an abundance of rock chili shrimp (more than you get at bar masa and better and for less money) with two cups of pineapple sauce which is tart, clear and just a little hot, and we ordered a plate of frog legs. both my girlfriend and I thoroughly enjoyed the frog legs which provided about twenty little golden nuggets of meat and which did not taste like chicken, and which were in itself another huge portion, but which tasted like whatever you close your eyes and imagine chinese food tastes like. in a good way but it's the only way we can come to describe it. but there's not a dish we had that we would not repeat.

after our entree came the steamed ribs with chinese mustard though we never tried the mustard. on their own they had a cool, sweet flavor, there are five, maybe six, ribs that are cut at the table. though oddly, they were only cut in half. fortunately they were tender enough that after being cut into two portions we could easily seperate them with our hands. the only ribs that I've had close to being this good were the tea smoked ribs at yauatcha in london.

service was exceptional. and in the starr world best compared to morimoto in philadelphia. at a recent meal at el vez, they were clueless, telling people it was a two hour wait at a half empty restaurant with an overcrowded bar at 6pm whereas in morimoto in philly, they're just friendly, capable and on. they were on here. they're young, they're friendly, they're aware, they're accomodating, at least in that they no had no problem letting us enjoy our drinks past our reservation time in the lounge and then seating us in the grand hall as we requested. there was just something about the morimoto nyc host staff that was off. it's odd too how much older the hosts are at morimoto than here or at del posto, they were just off.

to get to the grand hall, you walk through the lounge, down a flight of stairs to the basement and you're in a two story dining hall - which looks smaller than the pictures I've seen on eater - maybe it seats forty tops. it has a medieval feel yet it's definitely intimate and they had no problem sitting several parties of two at tables for four with parties of four and larger sharing the communal table. through that dining hall is the way to the bathrooms which are defined mens and womens by the adam and eve mural which is similar to the mural behind the hostess desk in a renaissance style. the rest of the murals are chinese influenced. I don't know why there's a disparity as they work against the space making it feel more like a castle than a temple. I do know the bathrooms are very very dark.

having been to all the new neighborhood restaurants now I firmly believe there are three ways to create a new fancy restaurant. you can make it severely modern like morimoto, you can make it old-school luxe like del posto or you can make it so dark you don't notice it's neither modern nor luxe. and that's the buddakan way: it's spare, it's dim, it's rustic if anything, and it works. the only intimidating factor may be the ten foot long hostess desk at check-in which is like that of a luxury hotel check-in counter in front of which a half dozen men in suits and a coat check girl all linger. but unlike morimoto and del posto they're all very down to earth and eager to please. also there are lots of people roaming the floor in ear pieces who are aware of who you are and what your situation is. I see this too though as a boon as they were conversational and helpful.

so dinner for three drinks - we had the first three at the bar - four appetizers and an entree was just under $150 before tax and tip. we left completely full and completely ready to go back. it's not competing with morimoto and it's a class above xing and fatty crab and I think it's the most laid back, service oriented, and most importantly delicious of the three new hot spots in the neighborhood. this seems affordable enough to keep both repeat business and maintain a certain scene. unlike morimoto and del posto the bar scene here seemed fully developed after one night and I'm sure the young skin and smile baring bartenders don't hurt.

to note, there is no tasting menu which seems out of place in new york and when after reading everything today about the importance of letting the reservationist know in which room you'd like to be seated - when we called back to ask for the hall the reservationist had no idea what any of the rooms were called. still, they did when we arrived and it was a joyous experience.

Edited March 7, 2006 by adamru (log)

[carlocheff]

I've read quite a few articles and comments about this new monster"eatery" opened by Stephen Starr .I was curious to try it next week when i'll be visiting NY all the way from Padova (Italy) but first i would like to have the opinion of You ,marvellous members of the e-Gullet society.

Thanks Carlo

[Megan Blocker]

Carlo, I haven't been to Buddakan here in NY, and I haven't been to the one in Philadelphia in years. However, my gut (and the stuff I've heard and read here) tells me that there are a ton of better places to spend your time and money.

But, it all depends on what you're after...would you be going just to see what the place is like? If that's the case, you might be able to get away with just grabbing a cocktail at the bar and then heading somewhere else for dinner...

ETA: Oops, forgot an "are."

Edited April 27, 2006 by Megan Blocker (log)

[cchen]

Andrea Strong seemed to like her meal there....

[Sneakeater]

I'll bet it's the best thing since Morimoto.

[Megan Blocker]

I'll bet it's the best thing since Morimoto.

←

[carlocheff]

Thanks Megan for the tip ,the fact is that i've been away from NY for quite a long time and i don't know when i'll be back and i would really like to keep one of my 5 dinners for a place like that(i mean a place you could find only in New York!)of course the food is important and also to get your money worth but i also need impressions of people that actually tried the place.

ciao

[Megan Blocker]

Thanks Megan for the tip ,the fact is that i've been away from NY for quite a long time and i don't know when i'll be back and i would really like to keep one of my 5 dinners for a place like that(i mean a place you could find only in New York!)of course the food is important and also to get your money worth but i also need impressions of people that actually tried the place.

ciao

←

Well, Buddakan is actually a transplant/offshoot of a place in Philly! However, I know what you mean - big, flashy, and so on...

In case you haven't had a look, here's the Buddakan in NY thread. Complete with reports from people who've been!

[Sethro]

Its totally worth it.

I don't know if I'm alowed to reveal who the menu consultant was, but he is legit. Schulson is also legit, obviously. The food is mostly fun, but surprisingly complicated. The service is "familly style" so its much more managable for a mega-restaurant than the approach they're trying in Morrimoto's dining room.

Also, my friend from high school is the pastry chef, and he's a great guy.

Edited April 28, 2006 by Sethro (log)

[oakapple]

According to Eater, Buddakan will be Frank Bruni's review next Wednesday. Eater's insta-poll shows the smart money's on one star, with a chance for two. I cast my vote for two, because virtually everyone who's tried both has rated Buddakan higher than Morimoto, and Frank already one-starred Morimoto.

[Vadouvan]

I don't know if I'm alowed to reveal who the menu consultant was, but he is legit.

Nothing secret about who the consultants were, it isnt exactly GPS coordinates of US troops in Bahgdad.

At various times, they used Angelo Sosa and Susur Lee was also involved since we saw him in Philadelphia. That being said execution is more important long after consulting chefs are gone. Apparently ,they did not like Susur's food according to the grapevine.

I think Bruni generally detests huge Asian restaurants so i am going to have to agree with the 1 star prediction.

The food is mostly fun, but surprisingly complicated.

The food isnt complicated, it just has complicated presentations, The pekin duck for example was overpriced and not nearly as good as what you would get in chinatown for a third of the price.

Megan is correct, it just seems there are better places to eat in Ny

Good Food

Pan Asian Food

Chinese Food

Whatever.......

I did not regret going there, I just would not go back for food, the drinks are great.

[Sethro]

The peking duck isn't complicated per se, but alot of the hot aps/dim sum are more complicated than one might expect (which I gauged by this thread was in the neighborhood of very little). The food in general is quite good, at least in my experience, and the enormous size of the menu makes it a place I would look foward to dining at a couple more times. Of course you are going to get a more authentic representation of any Chinese dish in Chinatown, but that's not what the mark-up represents at Buddakahn.

Yes the rumor mill has revealed Susur's and Angelo's involvement but one of them asked me specifically not to mention their name in regards to consulting projects. I wasn't trying to be intentionally obtuse, I guess I shouldn't have brought it up at all.

Edited April 29, 2006 by Sethro (log)

[murkcury]

It isn't even a question of 'the rumor mill'. Susur Lee and Angelo Sosa were advertised as consulting chefs. It was in the pre-opening promotional material. I'm sure they were each well compensated for their efforts. They had to know what they were getting into with Starr and I'm sure he wasn't paying them for their anonymity.

[getxo]

The food in general is quite good, at least in my experience, and the enormous size of the menu makes it a place I would look foward to dining at a couple more times. Of course you are going to get a more authentic representation of any Chinese dish in Chinatown, but that's not what the mark-up represents at Buddakahn. 

Sethro,

Thanks for your balanced and realistic opinion on Buddakan. I've been debating whether or not to cancel my reservation, based on the bland reviews to date. You convinced me to give it a try. Will report.

Cheers.

[Vadouvan]

It isn't even a question of 'the rumor mill'. Susur Lee and Angelo Sosa were advertised as consulting chefs. It was in the pre-opening promotional material. I'm sure they were each well compensated for their efforts. They had to know what they were getting into with Starr and I'm sure he wasn't paying them for their anonymity.

ultimately at the end, Susur lee has nothing to do with the food, he just had "discusssions" with them. I guess Starr learned his lesson after the Marcus Samuelsson disaster.

[magic168]

Anyone who's been there...how many orders of the beef filet is this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kidwei/59890222/in/set-1294667/

[ulterior epicure]

Anyone who's been there...how many orders of the beef filet is this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kidwei/59890222/in/set-1294667/

Um, if I'm eating and it's as good as it looks - one?

u.e.

[Eatmywords]

We attempted to get a peek and drink Thursday night around 9:30. Place was mobbed. The bouncer-hosts were maintaining a strict door policy allowing only reservations through. We watched them turn away maybe 20 people like it was Studio 54 in its prime.

Granted, PR and hype shenanigans are expected for super-sceney places but I gotta think they're doing something right to fill a mega space like this…

I can only guess that the food is no stretch past the Ruby Foo's of the world but I am curious

[Vadouvan]

Granted, PR and hype shenanigans are expected for super-sceney places but I gotta think they're doing something right to fill a mega space like this…

Because it's new and hard to get into.

Remember NYC is a big place and the fact that any restaurant is mobbed is no indication of mind blowing food. Its the whole experience.

Same thing happened at spice market.

The simpletons flock there in the early months, things cool down eventually.

The harder you make it to get into, the more people want to come.