Buddha's Belly

02/02/09

Great Food, Reasonable Price, and Great Ambiance

by IACYOO at Citysearch

Great food. I had the the sour apple soju martini with the albacore avocado spring rolls and the alaskan black cod all reasonably priced without sacrificing quality.

• Pros: Great Food
• Cons: no complaints

08/29/08

Great neighborhood place, allergy aware

by legaleditor at Citysearch

We have lived by Buddha's Belly for three years and had never been in--primarily because I was concerned that my husband, who has a pepper allergy, couldn't survive a place sure to have bell peppers and chili sauce out the yin-yang. However, returning home from a long day at work yesterday, he suggested (to my surprise) we try it out.

It was 9:30 pm on a Thursday and we had our 11-year-old in tow (hey, it's still summer vacation!) and we got seated in a booth right away. The restaurant was busy, but not overly crowded, and the music was definitely not overloud (I noticed someone else said the music was too loud--maybe that's just on the weekend?).

Well, long story short (too late, right?), the wait staff was extremely attentive about my hubby's allergy. They seemed to know most everything in each dish we asked about, and were quick to insist on double-checking with the kitchen for things that they were even a little unsure about. Very refreshing in a city chock full of wannabe actor/waiters who think "allergy" means "dislike." (We once asked a waiter at PF Chang's why my husband's meal came with bell pepper spirals on top of it, and he said, "Oh, it's fine--it's just a garnish.")

Anyway, hubby ordered three generous appetizers (Har gow, simple and super good; chicken lettuce cups, very yummy; and rock shrimp tempura, excellent). My son and I got to order spicy food for a nice change of pace (we basically never go out to Thai or Mexican places because of the allergy). We all enjoyed our food very much and had a really great service experience.

To those complaining that this is not "authentic" Asian food, I would say Buddha's Belly doesn't really sell itself as such. It's kind of like complaining that an action movie wasn't "serious" enough. It's tasty food, nice ambience, and attentive wait staff. For us, that made a great Thursday night dinner.

• Pros: Great service, yummy food, allergy conscious
• Cons: Valet-only parking ($5), can be very busy at times

08/18/08

Bad Food at its Worst

by saulcook27282728 at Citysearch

My friend suggested PF Changs and I in turn suggested Buddha's Belly. And so we went. It was T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E! We had exactly what the waitress suggested and we were completely unimpressed/disgusted by the food. It was the kind of food you would expect from a Food Court at the mall.

It should be called BOOdha's Belly. Or BADha's Belly.