The Funky Buddha — Restaurant in Denver

After having drinks down the street we were hungry and decided to stop in. None of us had been to the Funky Buddha before but it looked like a cool place to try. We were happy to be seated immediately and the menu looked interesting. We ordered edamame to start while we looked over the menu.

When the server brought the edamame to the table she bumped my water and accidentally sent the entire contents of the full glass of ice water directly into my lap. She was very apologetic and I do understand accidents happen, but she kind of seemed at a loss about what to do next. We had to ask her for something to wipe it up. She brought a little stack of the exact same paper napkins that are on the tables. We needed multiple clean kitchen towels and a mop, not paper napkins. We did what we could but I spent the rest of the meal trying to keep my feet out of the puddle under the table. And typically when something like that happens a manager will come to the table, apologize, help clean up, and maybe offer to comp the appetizer. I wasn't loud or irate or anything, I don't believe in treating people like that, but it would have been nice to at least have it acknowledged.

One person's food arrived shortly after that and we urged them to go ahead and eat while it was hot. About ten minutes later my food arrived, the Schezwan chicken. It was nice and hot, interestingly seasoned, but (and I'm not exaggerating here) the chicken was so dry it was actually hard to swallow. I know every culture has its own unique take on the classics, so maybe it's on me that I had a different expectation. I had expected the chili paste to add some moisture to the dish, kind of like a light sauce, but it was just pieces of very dry, chewy chicken jerky with some sauteed peppers and onions.

I would have asked for something else but no one stopped by to check on us for a long time and the third person's food had still not arrived. After some time a server eventually stopped by and asked if everything was ok and we told her we were still waiting on an entree. She disappeared and ten more minutes went by and then a different server came to check on us. We told her never mind about the missing entree, we just want our check so we can leave. She said she would get our check.

We waited some more. By then we were pretty frustrated. My entree was disappointing, one person was finished eating, one person had nothing but edamame, and I was ready to go home and change into dry clothes. The server who was going to bring our check was nowhere to be found and suddenly a different server appeared with the third entree, chicken fried rice.

I understand bringing food out as it is ready so it can be enjoyed while hot but it doesn't seem right to wait so long for an order of fried rice, when the other people at the table are completely finished with their food. We started to send it back but then we decided we'd better keep it because who knew how long it would take to get our check and then our friend would be waiting with nothing to eat. Our friend ate her entree while I and my other friend were munching on the rest of the edamame. Then something really strange happened--a server came and without saying a word, took my plate, the first friend's plate--and then grabbed the half-finished dish of edamame that we were still eating from and carried it away.

We just sat there in shock for half a beat and then my one friend had pretty much had it. They went to the bar and asked to speak to management. I'm not sure who they spoke to, but they told them about our entire disappointing experience and stated that we were still eating the edamame that had just been taken from our table. This person's response was "OK." So we waited again for our check and when it finally came I paid and we could not get out of there fast enough. There seemed to be a lot of servers but no communication among them, a problem in the kitchen causing long delays, some training issues (don't take food that people are still eating), and just an overall feeling that nobody...

First Impression: Why Funky Buddha? Why can’t you leave him alone and not using religious relics in an unrespectful way?!

I’m glad I didn’t let those judgements be in the way of DELICIOUS authentic Tibetan-Nepalese & Pan-Asian food for a great foodie that I am :-D (not saying that it’s okay to use cut-off Buddha head as decoration, but that’s not the discussion here)

First time I had their MoMo; I had a transcendental experience… especially the veggie MoMo… so light and fresh and just mind blowing. They are freshly made in the house, with love and long history of Tibet-Nepal cuisine!!! The ceases of the hand-folded MoMo are BEAUTIFUL, the fried MoMos were crunchy and crispy despite the sauces. And the sauces are uniquely out-of-this-world! They are tangy with spices and a little heat, and doesn’t taste like any other sauces I had in my life (& I’m Chinese-Thai, we love sauces, lol!)

My next favorite is Chow Mein, it is great with or without protein (animal and tofu for vegan/vegetarians) A slightly salty but BOY! It’s lightly oiled, fresh fresh yummy vegetables made me wonder if they just harvested them just to make this dish! It feeds my soul and definitely missed the most when I crave comfort food.

Other menus I tried (with and without the photos) and recommended are: Thai Papaya Salad - fresh, authentic flavor, watch out for the heat if you’re light weighted on that (me too, but it’s still yummy) Korean Fried Chicken - perfectly fried, crispy, sweet salty tangy sticky sauce that makes you wanna lick your fingers after you ate them Masala Fries and Schezwan Chicken: similar to the Chow Mein, they are fried (deep, and pan perspectively) to perfection, accompanied with fresh veggies that my husband and I compete for them (and not just the potato or meat like you normally would). Very inspiring dish! Thukpa Noodle Soup - it is my first time having this Nepalese noodle so I don’t have much to base my experience on. In my opinion, it is light and comforting noodle soup perfect for a rainy day.

All in all, I highly highly recommend Funky Buddha for a freshly-prepared bar food with an authentic Pan-Asia...

Came in at 5:50pm to try the new spot for happy hour. We walked by on our evening dog walk and saw that happy hour went until 6, so we ran back home and drove over to make sure we could get there before 6.

I understand that getting there at 5:50 is a little bit time insensitive, but still. We walked in and sat at the bar — there were two other tables seated at the restaurant and that was all. They gave us a food and drink menu upon sitting down and there was nothing about happy hour listed on either. We asked what was on happy hour and the waiter asked someone else and they looked on a piece of paper they had in their pocket. He came back and said $2 off beers. We said okay and looked at the drink list again, which also listed speciality cocktails, sake, etc. We then had to ask if it was only beer on happy hour and the waiter asked someone else again, then came back saying it was all drinks that were $2 off for HH.

We ordered a dirty martini and large house hot sake. By the time they came out and the waiter came back, I asked if any food was on happy hour and he looked confused again, and then ignored the question and said the happy hour ended at 6:00 (it was 6:01)…. I mean coming within their opening week and the staff not knowing happy hour and then that delaying our order and not honoring the food happy hour deal, was a little disappointing.

But it did not end there. We got the chicken dumplings (8), which I thought were pretty good and actually great portion sized. We got the bill on a hand held device with just the total showing, not an itemized receipt. I ended up texting myself the receipt and finally looked at it when I got home. Neither of our drinks were actually the happy hour price and they also charge a 3% credit card fee that was not disclosed.

Can’t say I’m impressed with the first experience. I will say the full meal menu prices all look pretty reasonably priced. Would probably try this place again since I believe in...