Buddakan — Restaurant in Philadelphia

FYI I tried working this out directly with the restaurant but I was promised a return phone call over 2 weeks ago & never happened

My partner and I drove up from Maryland (2.5 hour drive to be exact) to celebrate our anniversary. Buddakan in NYC was one of first dates and most memorable one. We took a leap of faith with the Philadelphia location because it was slightly closer. The evening began with the host stand which was very warm and pleasant. The first table they sat us at was by an entry way and in the back corner. Not much of an ambience so I requested if we can be moved somewhere, anywhere that has more of the ambience we were looking for. That was fulfilled very easily and the new table fit our needs perfectly. The sever came over maybe after 5 minutes, no greeting, just “what are y’all drinking, bottled or tap?” Well hello nice to meet you too, not the best first impression to say the least. We advised we wanted bottled and he literally just walked away. Initially I thought maybe that’s just a server assistant or somebody helping out, no way that’s our actual server. After that I went to the bathroom, came back and waited approximately 20 minutes. No water has yet to touch the table, let alone have we been formally welcomed to the the restaurant by the known server. I look around and tables that sat after us, larger tables at that, have not only water but cocktails and are even putting in appetizers.

I see a gentleman monitoring the floor in a tuxedo that I could assume was a manager of some sort. Interestingly, he was doing table touches in our section but intentionally avoided our table. That would’ve been the opportunity for us to say hey it’s 20+ minutes can we please just get a glass of water but nope I guess we’re too black and gay for that.

The server eventually did return with the water but had to leave abruptly, I didn’t even have a change to ask for a straw. Transparently he did come back shortly after that because if not I was prepared to walk out. We instantly put in all our orders because we saw the trend. Now the speed to get our items was relatively swift from there, from the drinks to the food orders. My complaint furthers when we saw him jot things down with a pen and notepad but unfortunately not just one but two items were completely forgotten. The first item was dumplings and it wasn’t that big of a deal to me because I know that comes out quick. The second item forgotten was the main item we came for, the crab fried rice. It wasn’t until all the food was on the table and practically gone I inquired on the status. He said “yeah it should be out momentarily”. That was in fact a lie. Moments later he comes over shows us his notepad and said he’ll put it now and just walked away. No apology, or confirmation if we’re even still interested.

Once confirmed with my partner if something they still be interested in. He expressed he just felt uncomfortable with the lack of service. Considering it’s our anniversary and the server has yet to even acknowledge that though it was marked on the reservation I understood exactly what he meant by uncomfortable. I tried flagging staff down there to let them know we no longer want the order since all our food is gone now and we had intended eating it with our other items. Unfortunately the order came before we could let them know. I declined the order from the food runner and told them we no longer wanted it due to the delay.

Moments later the server comes with the same order and tries to drop it on the table. Completely disregarding our complaint and didn’t even bother to confirm if everything was still alright. At that point I was defeated and wanted to leave.

I called the restaurant the next day after processing what just happened. I spoke with the FOH manager who was definitely empathetic and validated there were steps missed. She expressed her disappointment and needed to speak with their General Manager to ensure it’s properly addressed. Once done, she promised she will reach back out to me. It never happened… If you’re black and...

The best Asian fusion I've had in Philadelphia, and by far the best new restaurant I've visited in the past few years! If you weren't aware, Buddhakan has a location here and in NYC. I tried the one in NYC my last trip there (it was also excellent) and had to stop in on the business trip I was on to Philly.

This is an upscale restaurant with the phenomenal service you'd expect from any place with that description. It is very popular, so reservations are HIGHLY recommended and expect it to be busy (and to have a commiserate level of noise/buzz from the dining crowd. The ambiance is on point - the lighting is on the lower end, there is music at an appropriate volume (you can hear it but you don't have to shout over it to talk), and interior design ties the whole modern Asian experience together.

Their cocktails are excellent, but if you want to drink alcohol, I highly recommend trying the Sake (especially if you haven't tried it before). Their selection of traditional Japanese fermented-rice "wine" is excellent. (I put wine in quotes because despite using fermented rice, it isn't fermented like wine or distilled like western alcohol, but actually brewed like beer - but the experience of drinking it is closer to wine than beer.) Your waiter can help you find something for your pallet, but I'll encourage you to explore a bit and try a flight.

You won't go wrong ordering from the menu, but here are some things you should absolutely try: the steamed pork bun appetizer is excellent, and you should make sure a bit of everything on the plate in each bite. The dim sum is my favorite, and the chicken ginger dumplings and the edamame dumplings are both wonderful here. The General Tso's soup dumplings are also good, but contain a surprising amount of protein in them (you should still eat them the same way you would other soup dumplings, but don't expect it to contain mostly liquid.

Remember the meals are family style: you order entrees that come out on a flow basis, are placed in the center of the table, and everyone shares them.

Finally, I'll say that one of the best things about this location is how cheap this amazing meal was compared to what I spent at Buddhakan in NYC. Granted not everyone got drinks, but with apps and entrees, we split the check evenly and it was less than. $50 a person!

Speaking of payment, there is a great app they use that allows people to pick only what they got and pay for it, or pay for one or more shares of the check (e.g. pay for one of 7, 2 of 7, etc.). You just scan the QR code at the top of the check and pick what you pay for.

TLDR: make a reservation and dress up, drink sake, eat dumplings and steamed buns,...

I always wanted to visit this restaurant in NYC but never had time. Bumped in to it in PHILLY and I made time and let me tell you I was not disappointed. As always joined by my wife we made the visit heads up make reservations this place gets packed and quick! Call them in faster and safer 😉. We got in a couple minutes late due to parking restaurant offers valet but I found something on the streets. Walked in got greeted instantly and sat down pretty quick. Me wife and I had a corner seat next to the bar not to bad 👍. Our waiter came through introduce him self and right away offer drinks and appetizers for starter I had the pork belly bao buns my wife had the chicken ginger dumplings. Both were very tasty bao buns were soft and pork belly was seared to perfection, dumplings were probably the best we’ve had in a while 👌🏻. For the main coarse I had the Barbecue Pork Tenderloin (chinese broccoli, giant panko onion rings) tenderloins were juices and tenders onion rings were crispy love my decision on choosing this dish my wife had the Crispy Calamari Salad sweet miso dressing and she loved it said that salad had the right amount of freshness and crunch. I also had a couple beers kirin light definitely was feeling kind of a light afternoon so no complaints here very refreshing. My wife had the non-alcoholic sunrise (passion fruit, peach, lemon, grenadine) she enjoyed that drink had the perfect freshness and tangy hit very good. Lastly dessert we usually share one dessert but since the meals were amazingly great I ordered two the dim sum donuts with three different dippings chocolate/cream cheese & passion fruit strawberry donuts were super soft 👍 all dippings were good but the one that got me was the cream cheese our next dessert was the The Winding Road(chocolate cake, banana buttercream, caramel peanut) now that right there was truly amazing I’m a peanut butter feen this hit the spot the combination of the peanut caramel and banana cream was of the chain. This is literally my favorite spot starting today can’t wait for my next visit thanks staff for taking care of us so well and thanks chefs for giving us amazingly tasty food. Till...