Chocolate Buddha — Restaurant in Melbourne

A Hit and a Miss I think this place has a lot of things going for it. The staff were lovely and the atmosphere and vibe is phenomenal. The only issue was inconsistency of the food.

The good: sushi and sashimi plate - their signature sushi was unique and amazing. The spice from the jalopeno to the welcoming texture from the scallop was a joyful journey. Their other sushi selection were good, nothing spectacular but it did not need to be. From sashimi selection, the Ocean trout was a stand out and made the rest of the sashimi experience delightful.

The bad: Sushi train sushi had a huge fall in quality. The rice was dry and had weird texture to it. There are two ways to fix this issue, either find the train to people equilibrium or do not serve sushi train during non-peak hours.

The ugly: Nebeyaki udon here was one of the worst Nebeyaki udon I ever had. The weird part is that by tasting the egg and the tempura, I can see there are obviously skilled chefs in the kitchen. The broth of the udon was dull and honestly prefer instant Nebeyaki udon over this. In their defence, it is not easy to make "clear" broth taste great and it is one of most difficult things (if not the most difficult) to do in cooking.

My 2 cents: There are things that I loved and disliked from this place. To me, at least, the pattern seems to be the things that are unique and different seems to be amazing and things that are standard or imitations of traditional Japanese cuisine seemed to be average, dull or outright bad. My recommendation, if you go to Chocolate Buddha is go there for the unique cuisine they offer rather than pick up your "goto"...

given the price, I was not expecting rude and sarcastic service. I clicked "order with others" (or something similar) on my phone, while my friend clicked "order by myself", without realising that this might have cancelled my order, as a result, my order never went through (but I thought it did since the interface on my phone indicated so). so, I was worried as my friend already finished her dish and mine haven't arrived, and I look for and talk to the cashier with the red hair. I said, "excuse me, I want to check if my order went through?" but he replied very condescendingly, "try not to interrupt me while I'm dealing with another customer, will you?" like jeez, I know I made a mistake, bc I assumed he was already done with the other customer (I was already waiting then), but he could have told me normally such as, "give me one second" (like how normal people talk, instead of being aggressive for no reason). then, after I went to pay my bill, I just paid and left, and he said to me sarcastically, "Have a nice day to you, TOO!" bc I didn't say have a nice day to him. Like, of course, he was very unpleasant and I really just wanted to get out and go. but he really had to be unnecessarily aggressive. basically, for the price, I was not expecting sarcasm and condescencion. I know I made a mistake, and I apologized, but the aggression from his part was wholly...

EXCELLENT FOOD, SERVICE AND LOCATION Chocolate Buddha is a Japanese restaurant right in the middle of Federation Square with great views out from the full length windows. Access is easy from trains at the adjacent Flinders Street Train Station and trams from Swanston St - StKilda Road. You know it's going to be a great experience from the moment you enter: very warm welcome from staff, ultra-modern decor and spacious seating. Four of us booked a lunch on a Friday. We wanted a restaurant that offered vegan and gluten free options in addition to regular fare and the menu catered for us very well. The menu is designed more as share plate meals but you can also choose more substantial dishes for one. Our food and drinks arrived promptly and were served very professionally. Make sure you start off with a dish of edamame!! Desserts are surprisingly good.. If I had to choose, it would be either the apple crumble or the chocolate mousse but they were all delicious. People with mobility issues will be fine inside the restaurant as it is all one level, however the walk up from the street may be bit challenging as Fed Square has quite a few steps and an...