Buddha Garden, Asian Food — Restaurant in Winter Park

My wife and I had intended to try this new restaurant sine it opened a few months ago, and finally got there on a Friday evening ahead of the outdoor live music event. We had reservations, but the 5 PM timing made that unnecessary, and we were seated right away by friendly staff.

We ordered coctails, which were just average, to enjoy while reviewing the menu.

Unfortunately, after a few minutes we realized that having any conversation was quite difficult due to the excessive fan noise in the dining area, apparently coming from the kitchen. I asked about why it was so incredibly loud, but only got an oblique rsponse that it was the kitchen ventilator. When this same space was the Sushi Nama restaurant, we had many enyoyable meals there without this offensive noise level.

We ordered appetisers, endamame (which was served without the usual salting) and Tom Yum soup with Shrimp (a hot and sour soup) thatwould have been quite good, except that it had way, way too much (maybe 4X) citrus for us.

Spice Level Warning: We typically enjoy pretty spicy food, including at other Thai restaurants, but although the soup was orered with a "Medium" spice level, it was so spicy I had to send it back to be replaced by a "Mild" version. I felt bad about that, but the kitchen accomodated my request without a problem. Diners should be aware.

Main courses were Red Curry and Bangkok Stir Fried Rice, also mild, which were of a good size and overall excellent.

Bottom line: Love the food. Hate the noise. We will keep this one on our "Take Out"...

Had heard of Tom Yum soup but had never had any. Ordered a bowl as an appetizer. Wow, delicious! One point of confusion on the menu. You can order no meat (listed as just mushrooms) or add one of two meats for an extra charge. The server asked me if I wanted mushrooms, and I said that I did. Then I noticed a $2 charge that I did not expect. The server was really asking me if I wanted EXTRA mushrooms. So, really, the menu should have a base price with no meat (which has some mushrooms), and show additional charges for meat or extra mushrooms. I'm kinda glad the mistake was made because if you do not order meat, I think the extra mushrooms are an improvement.

For the entree, I had Bangkok stir fried rice with tofu for the protein option. At first I was disappointed that there was no sauce of any kind, but the dish is excellent. They must add some subtle seasonings because the dish is not bland although it does have a light flavor. The rice was very well prepared and is not browned as much as is typically the case. Also, the veggies were perfectly cooked, especially the broccoli. I did add a little chili sauce just to see how that tasted. I think it added a nice flavor but it wasn't necessary. That stuff is hot, so you can't add much. I love all the dishes with the various bold flavors, but this dish is worth trying.

The servers were very friendly, attentive, and efficient.

Overall, I think Buddha Garden is an...

I ordered a 'basil fried rice' with pork. It cost about 20 bucks for that, which is pretty pricey for a medium pork fried rice, but i assumed it was gourmet. This was a togo order, so i can't speak on the restaurants atmosphere. What i will say is that the pork was really spicy. All i could taste was the spice. The veggies weren't diced enough, and it certainly didn't taste like fried rice in the slightest. It turned out to be totally inedible. The next day, i even tried refrying it myself, complete with adding more soy sauce, seasame oil, and oyster sauce. But by then the spicy sausage like pork flavor had seeped into everything and I couldn't dull it at all.

I wasn't warned the pork was so spicy upfront. If i had been, i wouldn't have gotten it. Hell, they didn't even take my name and info on the phone. Very weird. I can't speak for the rest of the food, but at the very least, i wouldn't get the 'fried' rice if i were you. Especially...