Who has been to buddakan?

Well tomorrow is fh's bday and he said he wants to go to TAO this coming saturday, its his favorite restaurant. I just called and they had no reservations open, well they had for 11:30pm lol. I called Buddakan bc i hear so much about it and made reservations. FH has been wanting to try this out and when i mentioned buddakan for his bday instead of tao he said its supposed to be great but he thinks its even more expensive than Tao so thats why he told me not to do it, but i had no other choice now and couldn't think of a place equally as good

who has been there? im asking bc when i went to buddah bar which is great by the way, the portions were TINY. I only ordered one small appetizer, but my entree was so tiny that i left the place hungry lol. If i would've known ahead of time i would've gotten more apps lol. Is buddakan the same? i have a feeling it is. And is it that much more expensive than Tao? i mean how much more can it be haha. I cant wait until next year celebrating his birthday so i dont have to worry about the tons of payments we have to make right before for the wedding lol

Buddakan is great , I think its better than TAO very cool decor.I think the portions are a decent size compared to similar places. We had the lobster fried rice , endamane dumplings some braised short rib dish ... have you checked out menu pages.com it will give you a better idea of the prices... its definatley not that much more than Tao.

i like them both
i LOVE Tao

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Posted by MN06

Buddakan is great , I think its better than TAO very cool decor.I think the portions are a decent size compared to similar places. We had the lobster fried rice , endamane dumplings some braised short rib dish ... have you checked out menu pages.com it will give you a better idea of the prices... its definatley not that much more than Tao.

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GOOD if its better hahaha, fh always wants to go to TAO, i wanted to go to buddakan regardless bc it would be something different. I went on buddakans site and at work i cant view it but yeah true ill check out menu pages. Yeah its what i told FH, ok maybe a little more but how much more can it be, i mean TAO is expensive to begin with, he said ALOT more

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Posted by Snowflake08

i like them both
i LOVE Tao

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well maybe fh will make reservations for my bday at TAO then if he really wants it hahaha since its only 10 days after his

we had my birthday dinner there. like 30 ppl at the long communal table. my sisters and BILs who like never eat out in the city, still talk about it and it was last february.

I thought it was great, the space is really awesome and pretty too. If you get a res and decide to go, I would tell them it's a birthday for two and see if they can sit you downstairs. I went a second time with friends and we sat upstairs and it didn't have the same effect.

the food is REALLY good and i definitely didn't leave hungry. But unfortunately I've never been to Tao so I can't compare.

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Posted by MN06

Buddakan is great , I think its better than TAO very cool decor.I think the portions are a decent size compared to similar places. We had the lobster fried rice , endamane dumplings some braised short rib dish ... have you checked out menu pages.com it will give you a better idea of the prices... its definatley not that much more than Tao.

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edamame dumplings are amazing. I agree, I didn't think it was super pricey either

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Posted by snwb08

we had my birthday dinner there. like 30 ppl at the long communal table. my sisters and BILs who like never eat out in the city, still talk about it and it was last february.

I thought it was great, the space is really awesome and pretty too. If you get a res and decide to go, I would tell them it's a birthday for two and see if they can sit you downstairs. I went a second time with friends and we sat upstairs and it didn't have the same effect.

the food is REALLY good and i definitely didn't leave hungry. But unfortunately I've never been to Tao so I can't compare.

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YES I actually made the reservations already for saturday night. So should i call back and say its for a bday

ask to sit downstairs :) i think its more romantic.

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Posted by MN06

ask to sit downstairs :) i think its more romantic.

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oh no now i need to call back hahaha, i hope they have it available.

yeah i just checked out the menu and it isn't that bad its about the EXACT same prices as all those places and even less than some places, at least for certain things.

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Posted by Espo22

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Posted by snwb08

we had my birthday dinner there. like 30 ppl at the long communal table. my sisters and BILs who like never eat out in the city, still talk about it and it was last february.

I thought it was great, the space is really awesome and pretty too. If you get a res and decide to go, I would tell them it's a birthday for two and see if they can sit you downstairs. I went a second time with friends and we sat upstairs and it didn't have the same effect.

the food is REALLY good and i definitely didn't leave hungry. But unfortunately I've never been to Tao so I can't compare.

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YES I actually made the reservations already for saturday night. So should i call back and say its for a bday

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i agree with the other poster to maybe just ask to sit downstairs - you don't have to tell them it's for a bday, I guess I was just thinking hopefully for a special occasion they would sit you downstairs.

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Posted by Espo22

yeah i just checked out the menu and it isn't that bad its about the EXACT same prices as all those places and even less than some places, at least for certain things.

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yeah it's really not. for my bday dinner we picked a fixed menu, they had different price ranges and i KNEW fh was going to pick up the tab. so he picked the $115 pp menu, then he ended up picking up the liquor tab and when I tried to yell at him like no, people expect to pay for their own, he was like honestly.... it's really nowhere near as $$$$ as I expected.

yum. now i want to go back.

I've been to both and prefer budda

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Posted by snwb08

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Posted by Espo22

yeah i just checked out the menu and it isn't that bad its about the EXACT same prices as all those places and even less than some places, at least for certain things.

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yeah it's really not. for my bday dinner we picked a fixed menu, they had different price ranges and i KNEW fh was going to pick up the tab. so he picked the $115 pp menu, then he ended up picking up the liquor tab and when I tried to yell at him like no, people expect to pay for their own, he was like honestly.... it's really nowhere near as $$$$ as I expected.

yum. now i want to go back.

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yeah thats how that place ninja was, you had the prix fix menu's and it was about the same price, plus drinks and all...luckily im not a big drinker hahaha although fh will definitely have a couple. We spent a decent amount at ninja, and i was like ok how much more than even that can it be, give me a break.

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Posted by the future mrs m

I've been to both and prefer budda

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WELL hopefully he'll like it just as much too, im sure he will, well he better hahahaha

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Posted by Espo22

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Posted by snwb08

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Posted by Espo22

yeah i just checked out the menu and it isn't that bad its about the EXACT same prices as all those places and even less than some places, at least for certain things.

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yeah it's really not. for my bday dinner we picked a fixed menu, they had different price ranges and i KNEW fh was going to pick up the tab. so he picked the $115 pp menu, then he ended up picking up the liquor tab and when I tried to yell at him like no, people expect to pay for their own, he was like honestly.... it's really nowhere near as $$$$ as I expected.

yum. now i want to go back.

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yeah thats how that place ninja was, you had the prix fix menu's and it was about the same price, plus drinks and all...luckily im not a big drinker hahaha although fh will definitely have a couple. We spent a decent amount at ninja, and i was like ok how much more than even that can it be, give me a break.

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where are you going for yours? my birthday is at the end of feb and I don't think fh has planned anything yet but we've gone to so many nice places over the years - all the fancy places like gramercy and nobu and I would love to try something different that you don't need to make a res for a month in advance. . I usually let him surprise me even though I'm the restaurant snob. maybe tao would be good?

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Posted by snwb08

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Posted by Espo22

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Posted by snwb08

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Posted by Espo22

yeah i just checked out the menu and it isn't that bad its about the EXACT same prices as all those places and even less than some places, at least for certain things.

---

yeah it's really not. for my bday dinner we picked a fixed menu, they had different price ranges and i KNEW fh was going to pick up the tab. so he picked the $115 pp menu, then he ended up picking up the liquor tab and when I tried to yell at him like no, people expect to pay for their own, he was like honestly.... it's really nowhere near as $$$$ as I expected.

yum. now i want to go back.

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yeah thats how that place ninja was, you had the prix fix menu's and it was about the same price, plus drinks and all...luckily im not a big drinker hahaha although fh will definitely have a couple. We spent a decent amount at ninja, and i was like ok how much more than even that can it be, give me a break.

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where are you going for yours? my birthday is at the end of feb and I don't think fh has planned anything yet but we've gone to so many nice places over the years - all the fancy places like gramercy and nobu and I would love to try something different that you don't need to make a res for a month in advance. . I usually let him surprise me even though I'm the restaurant snob. maybe tao would be good?

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i dont know bc my bday is the day after v-day so more likely going to dinner on v-day lol. Although he'll probably do what he did our first v-day, go out to dinner late and at midnight have them sing me happy birthday. I dont know where i want to go ACTUALLY now that i think about it, maybe its better off if i tell FH we go out to dinner for my b-day instead of v-day, this way it wont be as crazy everywhere

if you want tao for your bday call in advance, they book up so quick

i am actually not that big into asian fusion so for my bday im picking something else hahaha...Either spanish or italian or wait my favorite-SEAFOOD hahaha

I've been to Buddakan... was there recently for someone's birthday. We did a price fixed menu so I can't comment on the prices but the portions were a decent size. I like to eat and I definitely left satisfied. They weren't the size of like.. Jean Georges plates let's say... they were decent. The crowd is great and the decor is beautiful... I think you and FH will have a very nice time there.

I was trying to get reservations to TAO for next weekend and they also told me the earliest reservation is 11:30pm!