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Buddha Bodai
Categories: Restaurants Vegetarian Restaurants Chinese Dim Sum Vegetarian, Dim Sum [Edit]
5 Mott St(between Chatham Sq & Mosco St)
New York, NY 10013
Neighborhoods: Chinatown, Civic Center
(212) 566-8388
- Nearest Transit:
-
Chambers St (J, Z)
Brooklyn Bridge - City Hall (4, 5, 6, 6X)
Canal St (J, N, Q, Z)
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 10 am - 10 pm
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
253 reviews for Buddha Bodai
Review Highlights
-
"Ribs with Black Bean Sauce - Wonderful." In 9 reviews -
"The best fake meat I've had outside the bay area." In 28 reviews -
"And omg, the Pan Fried Turnip Cake." In 6 reviews
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- A Yelpy Insight: Vegetarians go nuts for this spot. See more places they like.
253 reviews in English
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Review from Felicia K.
Bloomfield, NJ
5/16/2012 1 Check-in Here
Not much in the way of atmosphere unless you enjoy fluorescent lighting, but the food, oh the food. Service is fine but not stellar, but really, once again, the food is so good that they can get away with it.
While everything here is vegetarian, do not be fooled into thinking that that means healthy. There are plenty of healthy items, but you can also be easily accommodated if you're looking for tasty fried things. Good for smaller groups of up to 6 or 7 people. -
Review from El H.
Brooklyn, NY
5/15/2012 1 Check-in Here
If you are vegan or vegetarian and like Chinese food, this is a place to visit. No meat is served here and they utilized seitan (wheat meat or wheat gluten). I usually come here for lunch and the lunch is a great value. The owner is a Buddhist and seems to be always there attending to customers. He is very pleasant. This place is kosher and halal too.
You cannot confuse this type meal with the same type you prepare with meat, chicken, fish, and dairy products. No doubt, the flavors are going to be different, but I know this going in. You have to tweak your perspective. The flavors are not as pungent.
This is not a "fancy" restaurant, but is decor is very pleasant and you can comfortably enjoy your food. My favorite dish is the "chicken" chow fun. They have a tremendous variety of dishes and they also have dim sum. They have a Health Department "B" rating right now, hopefully it will get an "A" soon (I still go anyway). Call to pickup or takeout. I think it is best to go either before the lunch rush or right after. The service can be spotty sometimes. -
Review from Tiffany T.
Los Angeles, CA
4/19/2012
Super yummy! Its hard to find good places near FiDi that are open past 9PM. I usually order dinner from Buddha Bodai when I want some hearty comfort food but don't want to go to bed with a bunch of heavy meat rotting away in my stomach.
The menu is pretty extensive so it can be hard to choose. I really like their tofu veggie soup because its light and brothy but still full of flavor. My favorite entree is the bbq meat over rice (a steal at $5.95). The portion is enough to stuff me like a thanksgiving turkey. All the dishes come in pretty big portions which is great for sharing. I'm not sure how healthy this place really is since they are almost as saucy and greasy as regular chinese comfort food places. However, I'm not complaining since that's what I'm craving when I order from here. This place gets a solid 4 stars for being a great alternative to the usual vegetarian sandwich/salad/falafel options out there. -
Review from Paul S.
KNICKERBOCKER, NY
5/19/2012
Deep fried stuffs
Fake meat ( either made with flour or wheat and artificial flavor ) this is cheaper than conventional meat- seriously why the dish tastes like real meat b/c of Artifical flavor
artificial color such as the red pork
MSG such as the jellyfish that they served you first
Plenty of oily foods
High in salt and sugar such as the dish itself and the sweet sauce that they served you on the side
This is a vegetarian restaurant, but nothing here is healthy at all. -
Review from AA g.
New York, NY
5/14/2012
Been there several times food is usually good, though a bit heavy. It seems more recently, service is becoming an issue. Went there, only to observe the waiter fighting with the customers, not just one table, all of them, ours included. Bad Chi. Had to leave.
I expect dinner out to be enjoyable and relaxing, or at the very least not an argument. Ended up going to another vegetarian restaurant in Chinatown, there are several, every bit as good. -
Review from Fran R.
Brooklyn, NY
5/21/2012
"Speaking Chinese dining Kosher." So good! Even meat eaters will be fooled. I highly recommend going there for dim sum!
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Review from Dawn K.
4/25/2012
Really great, if you are a vegetarian.
MMMMEAT FOREVERRRR -
Review from Melissa B.
Manhattan, NY
Yummy, Buddha Bodai has THE BEST mock meats I've ever tasted.
Seeing that I eat a 95% vegan diet, I'm typically always looking for new places to enjoy food, as the vegan diet could get boring (but not in NYC).
I ordered delivery, but I looked at the website and it's quite authentic looking.
One of my new favorites for sure. -
Review from Rubun D.
Manhattan, NY
4/10/2012
I went here late one weekend for dim sum. There were two or three other groups of people there, but the place with pretty empty.
The turnip cake was straight up ridiculous. Crispy edges, lightly pan-fried, and delicious cakey goodness. Everything else was kind of mediocre to bland... disappointing my high hopes. The vegetarian meat tasted weird (saying this as someone who generally just eats chicken and was raised vegetarian). Shrimp dumplings were bleh. Other food ordered were the shrimp rice roll and the ribs with black bean sauce.
I know that there aren't a ton of dim sum options out there for vegs, but it's probably just best to pick through your friends' food at other dim sum spots, for now. -
Review from Melanie B.
Brooklyn, NY
3/12/2012 1 Check-in Here
Mega yum. Mega mega mega super deliciousness in my moouuthhh. All thanks to Yelp and my lovely roommate's new iphone. I thought I hated Chinese food, but Buddha Bodai has changed my mind (seriously). I will be taking others here and returning in the near future, ASAP.
Four of us came here after the Jack Halberstam talk at Bluestockings - one vegan, one vegetarian, and two omnivores who lean toward vegetarianism. We unanimously agreed that all of the dishes we tried (we shared everything) were outstanding.
We did come here late-ish, around 8:30, and were informed that the kitchen closed at 9, and because of this, I think our service suffered. No one was very happy about having to help us, even though there were several other groups of diners in the restuarant at the time. Our server barely talked to us and seemed at times annoyed. Fortunately the food was so delicious and the company so amazing that it didn't matter. I do feel bad walking in a bit late, but I also know that this is sort of how it goes at restaurants. It seemed to be fine ultimately, as we ordered a good deal of food and tipped well.
The menu is insanely extensive, and sort of overwhelming. Everything sounds delicious, though. We had to get the spinach/corn soup, because it comes with a yin yang design that looks EXACTLY like the picture in the menu - we were so excited about that. It was delicious, fresh, and hot. The steamed and panfried dumplings we ordered were also excellent - I loved that the panfried ones weren't soaked in grease or oily.
We got three main dishes to share amongst the four of us - the lettuce song, which we saw another table eating and had to try, a curry with fake meat (which had the most incredible texture), and ginger rice. All of them were awesome. I am very much looking forward to my leftofters for lunch. We had such a great food experience here! We all left full but had to try the lotus seed buns first, which one of my friends insisted were heavenly (and they were). None of us could stop talking about how wonderfully satisfied we were.
The only reason I am giving Buddha Bodai four and not five stars is because the service was at times a bummer. I don't like feeling like I'm burdening people, and I'm sorry it was so close to kitchen closing time, but the restaurant was still open... sigh...
Anyway, I'll be back and bringing people here for sure, I'll just make sure to come by for lunch or earlier in the evening. God I'm ready for those leftovers... *slinks toward kitchen*Listed in: Adventures in Chinatown, Vegetarian winning
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Review from Maureen D.
Manhattan, NY
3/4/2012 1 Check-in Here
YOU MUST GO HERE. every item we ordered was so incredibly good. I'm a huge fan of dim sum and this place definitely did not disappoint. It's all vegetarian too which was a huge plus.
Their menu had a lot of options but not to the point where it was overwhelming. A small place, but there wasn't a wait when me and two friends went.
Delicious food at a cheap price! Will definitely be coming back! -
Review from Patty T.
New York, NY
3/18/2012
Love this place the minute I walked in for lunch. I knew it had to be good, if there were a group of Buddhist monks chowing down on some tasty goodness. Seriously, how many times does that happen?
Anyway, I went with a co-worker for lunch. I read all the amazing reviews and had to try it out. I had the veggie lamb with mix veggies... yum and for $6.95! What a steal! Totally recommend this place for anyone looking to try vegetarian. Love the fact that the "meat" is made with mushrooms. -
Review from Lisa Jane C.
Brooklyn, NY
Kosher vegetarian Chinese - and it's all truly yummy.
Ordered the vegetarian prawns with walnuts, and it was a magical experience. The prawns tasted like the shrimp I remembered from my non-vegetarian days - much better than I thought it would be. The broccoli was just slightly firm - in other words, perfect. The walnuts were sweet and crispy. The "tartar" sauce was better than those sauces in a jar that my mother used to buy.
This place is good - no, great - for groups, if you can convince a bunch of friends to join you. Soups serve four, so best for sharing. Huge menu, and vegan desserts are available (ice cream and cheesecake).
The place was crowded during my visit, but as noted, the restaurant is great for groups. However, everybody was pretty mellow here, so it was still fairly quiet.
Now all I have to do is find three friends who want to join me on my next visit so I can try a soup.....Listed in: Go Vegan!
-
Review from s. c.
Brookline, MA
3/5/2012
YES.
On a recent trip to NYC, we wanted to find some vegetarian dim sum. Since usually a dim sum trip involves me trying to special order dishes that are luck luster or just flat out refused due to my bad Cantonese, finding a place that was all vegetarian was a god send. We were excited, and I was doubly excited when the staff greeted us in clear, friendly English.
We ordered treats that I haven't eaten since my meat-eating days. Beef cheong fun (veg beef in a rice noodle wrap) was just as I remembered it. Eggplant stuffed with chicken, mmhmm. Everything was spot on. We had more than enough to eat (took some home) with a bill of ~$20 for 2 people. We walked around the city for ~5 hrs before feeling hungry again.
I would come back to this place on future trips to the city for sure! -
Review from Jaison G.
Manhattan, NY
1/19/2012
If you've ever found yourself hungry in Chinatown, the sheer volume of near-identical looking places to eat can be daunting to say the least.
So when you find a vegatarian spot that serves tasty food not without the requisite grease or run of the mill soy-based "un", "fake" meat in every dish. They use mushrooms (with or instead of soy) in dishes and that's a really good sign... on second though, It's actually a really great sign!
I mean vegetarian fillet mignon...really? Really!
NOTE: Avoid the appetizers as they are either fried or wrapped in a wheat-based dumpling.
Veg. = Vegetarian meat
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Soups
Triple Mushrooms Spinach Soup $ 18.95
Triple Mushrooms Spinach Soup $12.95
Spinach & Corn Soup $12.95
Hot & Sour Soup $ 8.95
Seaweed Bean Curd Soup $ 8.95
Mixed Vegetables Tofu Clear Soup $8.95
Main Courses
Stir Fried Baby Bok Choy $ 8.95
Veg. Fish in Yellow Ginger Sauce $ 12.95
Steamed Winter Melon in Light Brown Sauce $ 12.95
Sliced Veg. Fish in Black Bean Sauce $ 12.95
Portebalo Mushroom in Black Pepper Sauce $ 10.95
Veg. Prawn in Garlic $ 12.95
Lunch Special
Monday - Friday 11:00 - 3:00 pm ( Except Public Holidays )
All dishes $ 6.75
Veg. Chicken with Chinese Green Vegetable in Black Pepper Sauce
Veg. Steak with Chinese Broccoli
Veg. Lamb with Mixed Vegetable in Garlic Sauce
Shredded Shitaki Mushroom with Broccoli
Shitaki Mushroom in Black Bean Sauce
Bean Curd in Cedar Sauce
Bean Curd with Organic Mushroom & Basil
Veg. Chicken in Curry Sauce
Sliced Veg. Fish in Black Bean Sauce
Veg. Beef & Turnip in Brown Sauce
Veg. Lamb Stew
Braised Bean Curd Skin
Sliced Veg. Fish with Mixed Vegetable
Drinks
Water
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*DETOX APPROVED = NO sugar, dairy, wheat, wheat-gluten, non-organic tofu, deep fried foods, red meat, coffee or alcohol.
As always, give me shout if this worked out for you...or if for some reason it didn't. -
Review from Kristine S.
Jersey City, NJ
1/27/2012 1 Check-in Here
I was initially attracted to this Chinese restaurant for the mere fact that it's vegetarian/vegan friendly. Did you know that Buddha Bodai also has a large gluten free selection, and that the restaurant is kosher, too? A vegan/vegetarian + gluten free + kosher friendly Chinese restaurant.
The question was: Would I miss the meat?
With help from different types of substitutes: mushrooms, tofu, and wheat gluten... it wasn't missed. In fact, I felt the dishes my boyfriend and I shared were hearty and full of flavor. The entrees are really large for one person; you'll most likely have leftovers to take home or have plenty to share with the rest of your party.
I'm honestly not surprised why this place was busy right up until closing time. I'm happy to have found a great authentic Chinese restaurant to take my different friends to, whether they're vegan/vegetarian, gluten free, or kosher. Yum! -
Review from Karin C.
Queens, NY
2/4/2012
my favorite restaurant in china town and I'm not even a vegetarian. you won't miss the meat here and the staff is super friendly. I recommend their dim sum - spinach rolls, turnip cake, buddha beancurd roll, steamed watercress dumpling, fried sticky rice, jelly fish, fried turnip pastry and congee...
other food is also good -such as bee chi mushroom and pea pod leaves, cedar fried rice, roast pork, house special tofu, triple mushrooms with basil, sweet and sour chicken and pumpkin soup. I've become a regular here. -
Review from Nathaniel C.
New York, NY
2/24/2012
My favorite dim sum in NYC and that's including the non-vegetarian options. The dim sum is only served in the afternoons, sadly. I like their non-dim sum stuff as well, but not nearly as much. Their dumplings are amazing and they have some great desserts. I especially recommend the cheese cake, tapioca dumplings, and sesame balls. The food thankfully doesn't feel too oily. Sometimes when it's busy the waiters can't really keep up, but it's worth it. I always get a little more than I can eat and it always comes to less than $20 a person, even when we are starving and order half of the dim sum menu. You can also bring your own alcohol as long as it's kosher.
For those interested in mock meats: this place is really good, I definitely love it and it tastes close to the real thing, but it isn't exact. If you want exact, don't order the meat. The mushrooms and noodles still taste exactly like mushrooms and noodles.
My suggestion is to go with 3 friends, as often dim sum comes in 3 and it makes it the easiest to split. 6 also works well and ordering a ton for a group is fun. -
Review from Roisin N.
New York, NY
12/27/2011
OK, I need to get this out of the way first: YES, most of the food is greasy. It's Chinese food in NYC. American Chinese food is greasy. I'm not always in the mood for that, either, but I don't go to white-people-filled Chinese restaurants in Chinatown when I'm not in the mood for greasy food. Also, the meat is fake. I guess, to people who eat real meat, there's a noticeable difference. This is a vegetarian restaurant. I'm a vegetarian. I don't eat meat, and haven't for almost 20 years, so I don't really care about that. Keep in mind that this is an American Chinese restaurant that doesn't serve any real meat, and these issues won't be an issue.
So, now that I've gotten that out of my system, on with the review.
I'm positively mad for Buddha Bodai. It's been my Chinatown favourite ever since the first time I set foot in it sometime around 2005, and the thing that sold me was the crispy duck. Oddly enough, years ago when I ate meat, I hated duck. My grandmother used to make it at holidays, and while I loved her cooking overall, and did love greasy food, it was just TOO damn greasy for me. The discovery of veggie duck in Chinatown, however, has turned fake duck into my fake meat of choice. Whether or not it tastes like real duck depends on who you ask, but I think it pretty much does (as I remember it), it's just far less fatty. And Buddha Bodai raises it to a whole new level. I can't even walk past the place right after eating without getting a craving for crispy duck. So yeah, there's that.
As for the rest of the menu, everything I've tried (which at this point, is EVERYTHING that's gluten-free...and even a few things that aren't), is delicious. It's basically all the yummy, unhealthy Chinese food you're used to, just served with a little more class than you're paying for, and of course, if you're vegetarian...YOU CAN EAT ALL OF IT. And, if you're gluten-intolerant as I am, it's also extremely accommodating, which sadly isn't something you can find at just any veggie restaurant.
All in all, I can find nothing wrong with this place, but I do have to be in the mood for it to go in...not just cos it's greasy Chinese American fare, but also because there's often a lot of kids there, as well as tourists up the arse (more than once, I've had people take my picture here without permission...but it's not the restaurant's fault, so no stars cut for that)Listed in: Cheap Veggie Noms
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Review from Yoel N.
New York, NY
2/16/2012
Great food. Poor ambiance.
Try the chicken fried rice. It is unreal! -
Review from David H.
Fullerton, CA
2/6/2012 1 Check-in Here
I am not a Vegetarian by any means, but this place is good.
You can almost believe its not meat. Almost.
Went with a group, on a Sunday night and ended up having them put two tables together.
Let the waiter give you a couple of suggestions, because out of all the stuff we had, his suggestion of the General Tso's Chicken was the best dish of the night.
This place is A-OK for a change, especially if you've been stuffing your face with pizza and want to balance it out with Veggies. -
Review from Samantha C.
Manhattan, NY
1/20/2012 1 Check-in Here
This is a review for DIM SUM ONLY:
Soooo good! Did not miss the meat one bit. I went here with four of my closest friends and we left stuffed for the rest of the day! Here's the laundry list of items we ordered - in the order they come up on the menu (you can keep your order sheet when you leave, for the memories!):
Small ($2.50):
- Pan fried turnip cake: no meat normally, perfect and gooey
- Sweet Sticky rice ball with coconut: Sweet! For dessert - mochi-like outside filled with a nut like peanut
- Sweet Sticky Rice Sesame Ball: Normal, delicious
- Ribs with Black Bean Sauce: Now here's where things got a bit interesting. These things are more like "meatballs" than "ribs." Spot on flavor, if you don't mind the textured meat protein consistency
- Fried Taro Custard: Delicious gooey taro flavor, crispy fried exterior
- Watercress dumplings: possibly the healthiest thing we ordered, still held up
Large ($4.95):
- Pan Fired Dumplings: Tasted pretty normal, without pork flavor, some might miss that
Special:
- Fried Ve. Shrimp Ball: Deliciously fried, again, did not taste at all like shrimp
Medium ($2.95):
- Cruller Rice Roll: A MUST order - best thing we had - fried, airy donut-like interior, with creamy glutenous mushed rice exterior
- Veg. Beef Rice Roll: The fake meat held up well here with the delicious sweet sauce
- Shredded Turnip Pastry: My memory's flagging a bit here...
- Fried Sticky Rice: Could not tell that the "ham" and "pork" were not real! Amazing!
- Steamed Taro Dumpling
- Veg. Tripe w. Black Bean Sauce: The only thing that I would not recommend. The tripe fans in our party did not enjoy this either.
Oh, and did I mention this came to $15 per person! -
Review from Kevin V.
Portland, OR
3/25/2012 1 Check-in Here
Amazing vegan options. The lamb was out of this world!! They also have vegan cheese cake, and it was very tasty, as good as vegen cheese cake could possibly taste. :) went well with the vegan ice cream they also have for dessert.
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Review from Caitlin W.
Providence, RI
3/1/2012
This place is fantastic. It is a kosher vegetarian restaurant. The spring rolls were greasy and crunchy just the way I like them. They were flavorful and delicious. Me and my friend ordered the "chicken" lo mein and some type of curry noodle dish. I couldn't believe that it was not chicken. It tasted like chicken and looked like chicken I had to ask the waiter if he was sure that is wasn't really chicken. My friend licked the plate clean. The curry dish was also very good. It had the right amount of spices. I enjoyed some hot green tea with my meal. The staff was very friendly which is a big part of enjoying a dining experience. I will 100% be back here.
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Review from Ileana S.
11/1/2011
Three-and-a-half stars.
Ethan F. and I were looking for something near Bowery Ballroom and NOT Italian so we opted for Chinese...VEGETARIAN Chinese...on Halloween evening.
We sat at a four-top, which allowed for enough space for all dishes to come and not feel all too cramped.
We started with six steamed dumplings, which were pretty good. Mushroomy. Then came our wonton soup, which totally hit the spot. My favorite dish. Next, the orange flavored vegetarian chicken with one serving of brown rice (which, btw, was enough for two people...don't let them convince you otherwise). The texture was pretty close to chicken texture (okay, you can make whatever "chicken" joke you want). The flavor was pretty good BUT I still felt like there was something missing.
The icing of the restaurant experience was the fortune cookies. I know, right?! The first one didn't make sense. And the second totally didn't make sense either. I burst out into my infamous laugh attacks, where I can not even say a word because I just laugh and then I cry from laughing so hard. When you laugh by yourself, you feel a little cray cray but luckily, my laughs are contagious and then Ethan F. started to laugh too. Here's the one that made us laugh:
It's tough to be fascinating.
Why, thank you, Buddha Bodai. -
Review from Rivka H.
Brooklyn, NY
3/18/2012
LOVE this place! Best kosher vegetarian food out there. Such colorful tasty unique dishes! You know the place is good if people who don't eat kosher eat here. Just vegetarian lovers. Great! Highly recommend. I stop by every time I'm in Chinatown. Extremely friendly service! I love the owner. He's so nice. And everything is so yummy =)
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Review from Li Y.
11/14/2011
Mehhh mehhh mehhh
My go to vegetarian restaurant is Happy Buddha, which actually has a lower rating on Yelp, but man oh man I love that place. I am not even vegetarian and I actually love going to that place.
We wanted to try another vegetarian restaurant so we found this through Yelp and well I'd say it's more expensive, less impressive, all around I would say good for "fooling" non-Asian people who get fascinated by vegetarian version of our oh so meaty cuisine. -
Review from Kenny C.
Nice little spot on the outskirts of Chinatown. It's pretty spacious on the inside and modern. We didn't have a wait to be seated, but expect the possibility of sharing a table! The prices are cheaper than most dim sum ($2.50 for small, $3 for medium, and $5 for large dishes). Good portions all around.
They must have some stuff pre-made because the fried taro dumpling wasn't warm, which is the main reason I'm taking off a star.
The turnip cake was delicious and warm.
The roast "pork" pastry was good but a little too filling (didn't compare to the meat version I'm used to).
The fried cruller rice roll was a big plate, but was rather tasteless. Not enough soy sauce, and the cruller didn't have that typical great greasy taste that makes them so good!
Also had a fried noodles with an assortment of mushrooms, leafy greens, broccoli, sprouts and other goodies. It was a reasonably large dish!
When we received the check, we were totally floored by the low price. Definitely check this place out if you're a vegetarian or if just looking for a healthy alternative! -
Review from Mike F.
Midtown East, Manhattan, NY
3/11/2012 1 Check-in Here
Interesting Dim Sum.
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Review from Sara B.
11/8/2011
Besides the fact that I married a meat-eater, the main reason I abandoned my vegetarianism a few years ago is that I got tired of having only a couple of unappetizing options to choose from every time I went out to eat. What I missed most of all was hot and sour soup. (I cannot tell you how many times I would try to order it at a Chinese restaurant and be reassured that they could make it "meatless," only to find tiny chunks of pork floating in the broth.)
The menu at Buddha Bodai made the latent vegetarian in me feel like a kid at a candy shop. Eating there reminded me that it is possible to have a completely fulfilling dining experience without meat.
First off, the hot and sour soup was excellent. It was tastier than most pork-laden versions I've had and the fake pork was so convincing that I briefly had the thought that I'd been duped again. We also ordered pan-fried noodles with mixed mushrooms, which was also really tasty. I especially liked that that the shiitake mushrooms were huge and meaty and seemed to be fresh, rather than re-hydrated.
Like I do whenever I go to any vegetarian place, I tried to shy away from dishes centered around fake meat products because they often feel very processed and artificial. I figure I can eat Morningstar stuff anytime at home and don't need to pay someone to cut it up and pour some soy sauce on it. I was reading about Buddha Bodai after the fact, though, and it turns out they actually make most of their meat substitutes in-house from soy and mushroom stems. Now that I know this, I'm really interested to go back and try more of the menu.
I'm giving the place 4 stars for now because, while it was very good, the food itself was pretty comparable in terms of flavor and quality to any regular Chinese place. I do wish I could give it an extra 1/2 star just for being vegetarian, but I'm not ready to give it the full 5 quite yet... -
Review from Donna A.
2/12/2012 1 Check-in Here
Not the best and not the worst. This place is really a 2.5 but b/c it's Kosher Chinese it gets bumped up to 3 stars. I definitely have had better vegetarian food and like someone else mentioned, all the dishes are slathered with sauce. Also it has a B rating. Yikes!
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Review from Erica B.
It's crazy how hard it is to find a good veggie dim sum place in LA. That's why when I visit NY, I can't run fast enough to this spot. The traditional dim sum dish I miss most is the turnip cake because it's usually made with pork. But Buddah Bodai has the best turnip cake I've had, ever....even pre-vegetarian. I love this place!
I've tried most of the dim sum menu, but my faves are these:
Pan Fried Turnip Cake
Sticky Rice Wrapped in Bamboo Leaves
Rice Shiu Mai
Fried Green Pepper
Pan Fried Shrimp Dumpling -
Review from Sarah L.
Jersey City, NJ
9/23/2011 1 photo
Working on the FiDi/TriBeCa border, I really am limited to good quality food, and delivery at lunch is my new thing to do.
I was craving noodles like crazy, and stumbled upon Buddha Bodai's menu on seamless web. I am not a full fledged vegetarian, but I prefer not to eat meat when I order out.
I ended up ordering the Singapore Noodles with Tofu, and they were ridiculously amazing. Delicious, fragrant and perfectly spicy.
My food arrived at my office piping hot and 20 mins after I ordered. The portion size was generous also - I've been eating these noodles for lunch for two days now, and there's still leftovers.
I'd love to try a few more dishes and eat in before I give them a perfect rating, but Buddha Bodai definitely is a great little place!Listed in: Munch Time
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Review from tiffanie n.
Brooklyn, NY
9/11/2011
YUM!!! new favorite dim sum place! i ordered for take out and food came piping hot and fast!
The chicken pie - didn't like the outside crust too much. but the filling is good.
My favorite is th egg wrapped mushroom and bean sprouts pancake! sweet and salty at the same time! love love love! -
Review from kaelen h.
Brooklyn, NY
1/10/2012
really really good. the chicken and corn soup is really special. thick and starchy like hot and sour soup - very sweet and corn-y with no skimping on the chicken. wonton soup and hot & sour soup are both pretty nice too. general tso's really shines for the entree, fried and not-fried are both delicious.
pretty nonexistant customer service but i don't mind. the food comes out quick and it's easy to get someone's attention if you need. they keep the tea and water topped off. large portions. rice is extra; whatever..
my one annoyance is that often the entrees follow the soups too closely. i really am clueless when the entree comes out and i still have a full bowl of soup to eat. WHAT TO DO. something will start to turn cold. ug
in general though, i find happy buddha to be a BIT better but it's VERY out of the way now that i don't live in jackson heights. their hot and sour soup will never be beat but buddha bodai is so close i can eat it regularly. really really really delicious -
Review from Nadia B.
10/20/2011
It was decent. I've had good vegetarian soy dishes elsewhere and it's just okay here. Nothing too shabby or SO amazing about it.. We had curry chicken and general tsao's (which is their most noted dish)... I really felt the greasiness of the fried soy chicken and I didn't like the flavor of OIL with the chicken! I don't want to taste the coating before I taste the soy chicken!
It was the same thing with the stuffied fried eggplant . Plus, my eggplant wasn't cooked and it was very hard, and the soy chicken that it was stuffed with was very minimal.
I did LOVE the broth that came with their wonton soup, but the wonton filling could have had a little bit more flavor.
We also ordered steam fried dumplings which didn't have much of a taste to it... It was missing just some salt... and when something so simple is missing in a staple dish, it makes you wonder...
If it wasn't for the hot sauce and soy sauce we asked for on the side, I would have really thought about giving this place a 2....
Service was typical for chinatown (rushed and annoyed waiters) so I wont comment on that... ( at least my experience with every place I've been to in chinatown during lunch)
it was cheap for lunch though-- and if you are in need of kosher, check it out because that makes it worth it
BUT, if you are in the mood for good dumplings or NON greasy food, go elsewhere.
Although, the price must be noted, for all this, it was 11 bucks a person at lunch, which isn't too bad. -
Review from Lisa N.
2/2/2012
I've order from here multiple times for lunch delivery and can understand mock meat is not for everyone. I'm not a vegetarian or vegan but I did grow up on having the occasional mock meat option. I think it's fun to mix it up and have this for lunch every once in a while. My favorites would have to be the bean curd rolls, (lunch special) mushrooms with basil and tofu or (another lunch special option) mock steak with Chinese broccoli.
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Review from Ellen S.
Irvington, NY
2/8/2012
If you are really kosher, and really vegan, you don't have much choice in Chinatown. This is it. If not, go somewhere else. We had one good dish, rice in bamboo (?) leaf that actually smelled and tasted Chinese. Everything else: heavy, greasy, doughy. I'm not a big fan of fake meat in general. Why not have wonderful vegetable and tofu dishes? This stuff is about as far from vegetable as you can get.
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Review from Nickademus C.
New York, NY
11/7/2011 1 Check-in Here
Buddha Bodai is hella good! When I moved to NYC i didn't think i'd ever find anything that could ever hold a torch to my beloved Golden Era in SF, but thankfully, i was wrong.
The lunch specials are unbelievably priced and so damn delicious. The normal menu is equally delicious just almost double the price, but still well worth it because the portions are quite large.
I'm vegan, but i have many friends that aren't and i've yet to take anyone here that didn't like the food.
My only "complaint" would be that their the decor is lacking and there is no beer, but oh well, those aren't really even legit complaints.
Oh yeah, most of the staff are quite nice, and quick to help.
AND they don't use styrofoam! which i'm comletely frickin' clueless as to why the dumbass politicians haven't outlawed by now....get w/ it NY, it's not "being green", it's being responsible. -
Review from Meghan K.
ASTORIA, NY
12/29/2011
Since becoming a vegetarian I haven't missed meat that much. The one thing I do have a craving for once in awhile, though, is delicious, greasy, sweet and sour chicken from a Chinese takeout place. The sesame "chicken" dish at Buddha Bodai is better than any real meat sweet and sour chicken I've ever had. It's definitely worth taking a trip down to Chinatown.
