buddha bar

buddha bar
455 massachusetts avenue NW, washington, DC 20001
tel: 202) 377-5555
hours: 11:30am-2am

what was consumed: salt and pepper grilled shishito, rock shrimp tempura, buddha bar hot noodle, mass roll, green papaya salad, seaweed salad (which is not on the menu, but still available - just ask! i love seaweed salad) ... i think this is a representative list of what was consumed. it was really dark, so i didn't take photos of everything ...

i'm not sure when i first heard about buddha bar. was it from some nyc blog/article/post? was it in reference to celebrity endorsements or international presence? no matter. when i saw the construction begin on the buddha bar in DC, my interest was piqued and buddha bar got on the (illustrious and ever lengthening) LIST. what's more, when there was a groupon (or living social, or whatever) option, a few of the girls jumped on it and planned for a night out at buddha bar.

we walked in and were taken right to our reserved seats (yay!). granted, we visited buddha bar on a sort of "off" day, but the nice treatment is still nice. the servers pulled out our chairs for us, brought little stands for our bags (so that we wouldn't have to put them on the ground or on the backs of our chairs), and were attentive regarding our drink orders. yay great first service impressions!

the buddha bar decor, on the other hand, was a huge topic of conversation among the girls. then again, it was really dark inside (as to make the dining area feel more ... intimate? because you have to get closer to see the people you're dining with?) - this also explains why my photos are so ... dark. there is also a huge huge huge buddha in the main dining area, sort of watching over all of the patrons. i still don't know what to think of that ...

about the food ...

buddha bar has a large selection of a variety of asian/asian fusion foods. we started our meal with some of the appetizer like small plates, including a (quite large for what it is) sushi roll and grilled shishito peppers. i also made sure to get some seaweed salad since i, for some reason, can't seem to get enough. and even though the seaweed salad wasn't actually on the menu, we were accommodated as seaweed salad accompanies some meals. and it was totally worth it - delicious seaweed salad. we proceeded to order a few other things from the smaller plate menu (for whatever reason, the entree options were not that appealing to us. but i think maybe we were just in moods? hmmm). the papaya salad was really fresh, noodles were cooked (and seasoned) well, and the rock shrimp was interesting (maybe too mayonnaise-y? well, i felt it was too mayonnaise-y. i don't even know if there is mayonnaise in it) ... but our server said it was one of the most popular things on the menu so we had to try it! haha ...

so, my overall view of buddha bar? i had a good time (thanks k and j! you guys are awesome) and left with some goodies in my belly. if the opportunity presents itself, i'll probably go back. but maybe more for the company and the (potential) ambiance. oh, the parking ticket that i got at the end of the night for not having enough change to cover the last 5 minutes of the metered time was a terrible way to end the night. but then i remembered the good times i had, and it made me feel better - ha!

online: http://www.buddhabardc.com/