Buddakan (Philadelphia, New York City, & Atlantic City)

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price , & Staff

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Positive: Delicious Non-Alcoholic Drinks with Extraordinary dessert in a fine dining restaurant.

Negative: Small, expensive portion sizes without the quality expected in a high end restaurant

Overall: Good place for a fine dining experience if you only want to have their non-alcoholic drinks with dessert.

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Update (10/9/2011):

Upon visiting Buddakan again for dessert and non-alcoholic drinks I realized that they do not always keep the same drinks as they had changed them.  The two non-alcoholic drinks they had were Pink Lemonade and Ginger Soda.  I tried the ginger soda which was definitely a little too weird for me (I miss the Spirit and Passion Juice from my last trip).  However, the five spice cinnamon donuts and the soft, warm chocolate cake hit the spot!

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A Uniquely expensive Pan Asian Chain restaurant in New york, southern nj, and philly.

Buddakan is a high-end, Pan Asian restaurant situated in New York, Philadelphia, and Atlantic City.   I had the chance to visit the Philadelphia location in Olde City on Chestnut Street. I would definitely recommend having a reservation before coming here as it was very busy when we came. The service was exceptional and the server was also kind and tried her best in helping us pick the drinks and dishes.  The ambiance was extraordinary. The restaurant has two floors with various types of seating areas and booths to satisfy everyone. The upstairs portion seems more secluded and quiet, although there is a bar there as well.  The downstairs portion has a huge buddha statue.

This restaurant has various nonalcoholic drinks, including “spirit” consisting of thyme and a carbonated beverage, and “passion juice” (made of

pomegranate juice, cherries, blueberries, etc).  The drinks were a delightful addition to the restaurant and reminded me of Sushi Samba.

Reluctantly, the food here was ordinary and not excellent. The portion
sizes were pretty small and although the shrimp toast was unique, the
main shrimp entrée did not have enough seasoning to the core of the
shrimp and the Pad Thai was too rubbery for my taste. I didn’t try
their wide fish selection however.  Despite the main course not being that good, the desserts truly made up for it.  The five spice cinnamon donuts with various dipping sauces (chocolate, blackberry jam, and ginger cream cheese) and the warm chocolate cake were delicious.

Overall I would say that Buddakan is a great place to go if you are looking for a fine dining experience  and want to have some non-alcoholic drinks with

appetizers and dessert (I would probably leave out the appetizers
too).   The main entree are just not worth it.

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Buddakan’s Philadelphia Website

Buddakan’s NYC Website

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The Bistro at Cherry Hill Mall (Southern New Jersey)

Rating: 

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price , & Staff

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Positive: Unique, delicious seafood and vegetarian food in the mall.

Negative: Located in the center of the mall.

Overall: Tasty seafood and vegetarian dishes served in a unique setting in the middle of Cherry Hill Mall.

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Unique food at the mall

The bistro at Cherry Hill Mall is located in the center of the mall with a bar like sitting arrangement and seats arranged on the outside facing into the center of the kitchen. There are also adjacent tables if you do not like that seating arrangement. The chairs are overall comfortable but there’s no place to rest your legs or put up your legs to make yourself more comfortable.

The menus are very appealing for those who may be vegetarian of especially seafood lovers. They have a great variety of menu selections including salads, pizzas, pastas, sandwiches, and wraps.  Among the appetizers I definitely recommend the Buffalo calamari and the buffalo shrimp.  The calamari here do not have that rubbery and gooey texture you may find at other places. The salad section overall looks appealing by their descriptions.

There are also multiple pizzas that you can order which sound unique by the way they are described. The sandwiches are excellent including the lightly fried shrimp and flounder po’boy sandwiches with special sauce. They also have multiple wraps with a variety of fish and shrimp combos.The sandwiches/wraps come with a good helping of french fries which are very tasty as well as a side of coleslaw and a sauce. You can replace the fries with any of the other side orders they offer including baked potatoes, loaded baked potato, soups, etc.

The waiters/waitresses were very nice and were on top of getting everything that we needed. I think this is a great spot to check out if you are at Cherry Hill Mall and want to get a quick bite to eat. It is a very unique idea and location which gives a nice restaurant feel in an open setting of the mall.  Not everyone will like this seating arrangement and style but they’ll definitely enjoy the unique mall food.

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Surf Taco (Southern NJ)

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price , & Staff

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Positive: Variety of seafood/vegetarian tacos and burritos with distinct sauces and tasty fillings that you won’t find anywhere else but California.

Negative: Located by the shore so it may not be as fun in the winter.

Overall: Good Restaurant to try if you like seafood and Mexican food.  (and you are tired of the typical Mexican food chains)

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update:  I went back a few times to the restaurant and had the burrito.  It was not as good as I was hoping.  Nonetheless the remainder of the food was still excellent, just as I remembered it.

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Tired of Taco Bell?

Want to try something similar but with more variety? Try Surf Taco, located in Long Branch, NJ and other beach towns along the Jersey Shore (such as Jackson, Belmar, Point Pleasant, etc).

Upon going there I didn’t know what to order as there were so many options for people that eat seafood and vegetarian dishes. They offer many shrimp and fish tacos, different types of burritos, quesadillas, and much more. I tried the Surf Taco and thought it was decent but not great because of the large amount of fish they put in it.  With that said, the fillings in it were delicious. I also tried one of their specials, a mango coconut shrimp taco which was just too delicious…I would go back just for that.  I have never had a taco like that before and have been tired of eating tacos with beans all the time.

You can also add some flavor to your tacos by adding the 4 different sauces that they have available, similar to Chipotle and Qdoba, but located outside the counter so that you can add as much and as little as you want. A mistake my friend and I made when we went is that we ordered additional nachos. All the tacos come with nachos already but we also ordered the Max dip loaded nachos. Even though they were amazing, our stomachs were way too full after eating 2 tacos each plus the extra order of nachos. I suggest you eat one taco if you want to get an order of loaded nachos.

I love Mexican food and this definitely is one of the top on my list for Mexican food. I will go back soon to try their burritos and update my review then. Another plus about Surf Taco is that it is located on the Jersey shore, so its a good place to go eat in the spring/summer and hang out at the beach afterwords. All in all, make sure you try this wonderful restaurant.

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Surf Taco Website

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