BUDDAKAN.

There are a few restaurants in the city that I had originally overlooked simply because I had already gone to them several times when I went to school in Philadelphia...and because the restaurant was originally from Philadelphia. Stephen Starr's Buddakan and Morimoto are prime examples of these types of restaurants.

Well for our monthly dinner outing, L suggested that we try Buddakan - I was hesitant but L and I had both went to the same school in Philadelphia and had dined at Philly Buddakan several times...so if she was ready, mayhaps it was time to finally take the plunge. T, who had already been to the NY Buddakan before, was more than elated about our restaurant decision, which made me feel a bit more comfortable with our choice.

The Buddakan dining space is incredible. It is completely different from the vibe that you get from Philly Buddakan. The space is large, grand, dark, yet friendly. The long communal dining table on the lower floor, lit by large chandeliers hanging from the lofted ceilings is an impressive gesture. The mood was swanky and the food was SPECTACULAR.


We started off with the Edamame Dumplings. These were superb. The edamame was pureed into a creamy goodness, so this almost was reminiscent of a cheese-filled ravioli!


The Jade Shrimp Dumplings were up next. These buggers were rather enjoyable as well, I liked the extra added crunch from the water chestnuts. Also I should mention that the dumpling wrappers from both dishes were cooked well, and neither too thin nor too thick. Bravo.


I ordered the Steamed Sea Bass Roll for myself. Three large hunks of sea bass wrapped in cabbage, topped with ginger, steamed, then lightly doused with soy sauce. I love cabbage, especially when it is uber MUSHY. Very delicious and reminded me of the steamed ginger fish dishes my mother used to make. I still have two hunks in the fridge...these portions were big!!!!


We then shared an order of the Dungeness Crab Sticky Rice. I will start off with the negative that this is NOT sticky rice. Yes - it is sticky rice in the sense that they used the rice that is used in sticky rice, but it was definitely not prepared the right way. It wasn't gelatinous and didn't clump together at all. Really it should just be called Crab Fried Rice. The menu says it is prepared with X.O. sauce but I never have ANY CLUE what all these sauces are - sweet and sour, orange, X.O.!?!!?!? My parents never used this in any of their cooking. I still ate it, don't get me wrong...but I could have lived without this one.


And finally, our bowl of Chili Crab Longevity Noodles. These noodles really were VERY LONG - I had to stand up to get a clump onto my plate!!! And man, that tamarind sauce really gave it a kick - but these noodles were delicious if you can stand the heat!!! The noodles had this great slick moisture from the sauce, and of course the crab was an added bonus.

The Philadelphia Buddakan and NY Buddakan have completely different menus. I am glad I experienced the NY edition, because...I hate to admit it...but, it was better.