Fat Buddha — Restaurant in New York

I didn't eat here so please take this review with a grain of salt. Consider it only as far as the nightlife goes.

Celebrating a friend's going party I was asked to quickly find a spot that we could all go to and have no problem getting the group in. I looked at the specs and decided to give a shot to Fat Buddha. I'll tell you right off that bat, that I took one star away because there was a cover charge when so many of the other nearby venues didn't have one. By the time I realized this it was too late as half my group had already gone in before I could guide the other half over. I pulled the second star because the door staff was slightly abrasive in personality. We brought an even (1:1 ratio of males to females) mixed crown of ~20+ people but they seemed as though we were a nuisance for coming over.

Admission charge and issues notwithstanding, we had a great time. The music was solid old school urban genres (Hip-Hop, Dancehall/Reggae, Reggaeton, R&B, Pop etc). If you're 25 and older, you'll love it. The crowd was good looking. I could tell that the bar area was a little bit of a pick up scene (Beware of the sharks). It's oval shaped and accessible from all sides but congestion still occurs along the sides of the place so be ready to bob and weave a little bit to get a drink.

I would recommend the spot but with an admission asterisk. In the future, I hope they relax a little at the door (Especially if one brings 20+ people to them for...

The mood inside was very cool and laid back. DJ inside playing (spinning?) all kinds of music, hip-hop, house, mashups (mashitup!). The food is a Korean-mix style with chicken wings, different types of fries, buns, desserts and of course there is a bar.

My friends and I don't drink much and came for the music and some food. We shared an order of sweet potato fries and got a side of spicy mayo for dipping. We enjoyed ourselves. We also got an order of buns which gets you three pieces of either pork, beef, or soy chicken (not actual chicken, soy based faux chicken). I don't eat for legged animals so we shared the soy chicken buns. They were very tasty and though they didn't need it I added some of the delicious and liquidy spicy mayo.

They do card you when you go so, I'm guessing you gotta be 21+ to get in, maybe you can still partake in just eating?

We also shared the honey garlic chicken wings. Tasty and messy. I'd like some carrots and celery to add to the value of the wings. 6 pieces for $10? hmm. They were good I'll say that.

We did do some dancing as there was space and my friends make their living shaking their bonbons (friend for candy, American for booties).

Slip in eat, dance and be merry. Oh and I will return they have some interesting desserts that I want to...

I have been going to Fat Buddha consistently over the last year and a half and would recommend to anyone looking for a casual bar hangout with great Korean/asian food.

When you walk in the bar is gigantic and occupies the vast majority of the space with some seating scattered all around. On Fridays and the weekend their is usually a DJ playing music. If you want to go to a place and hangout this is a great spot, but if you are on a first date this will probably be a little to loud.

Let's talk about the food, I really enjoy going to fat Buddha because the food and the good pricing during happy hour. I usually eat the dolsot bimbimbap and shrimp mandoos. Both are always amazing and they always leave me wanting more. I have tried the Buddha bun and dragon fries which are also very good. I've been wanting to try the wings and calamari but have not gotten around to it yet because I love the other options so much.

In terms of drinks, they have decent drink specials and the bar tenders make strong drinks. I tend to get pretty good service whenever I go to fat Buddha with the caveat I tend to go early and aren't here when going out crowd has arrived.

Overall, this is just a nice hangout spot with surprisingly good food.

#happyhour...