Buddha Bodai
Usually for dim sum we like to go to Buddha Bodai because the dim sum is pretty good and it’s vegetarian, so we feel a little healthier and it helps because Monica is a vegetarian. We (Monica, Nora, Alan, Grandma, Aunt Betty, Cora and I) went there today. It was pretty empty when we got there, shortly after 11:30AM. We were excited because we’ve had good experiences every time we go there. We ordered right away because Monica says that they are usually slow in bringing out the dishes.
Our roast pork buns came out quickly and they were nice and hot. We gobbled them down pretty quickly and waited for more dishes. The vegetarian roast pork rice roll that came out next was only semi-warm. We told our waitress but she told us that it was freshly made and the soy sauce probably made it cold. We knew it was BS but didn’t want to cause trouble. The spinach rice roll was hot, but the vegetarian meat rice roll was also lukewarm. The pan fried turnip cake was yummy and hot. The shrimp dumpling was good too, but didn’t look anything like the traditional har kow. The steamed vegetable bun was okay and was hot.
The dishes that were just bad? Well the worst possible thing to happen was in our tapioca dumplings. We got it and it was placed in front of me. We were noting that the dumplings were huge and we were expecting little dumplings. As I stared at it, I noticed a dead upside down critter in the steamer!!! Everybody was still talking about the size of the dumplings, but I just said, “We don’t want this.” Nora asked why, so I showed her, which she didn’t appreciate. I flagged someone over to show them. They were very apologetic but this was the second incident to happen to us, after the lukewarm rice rolls. They asked us if we wanted another one, but we told them we just didn’t want it at all. The sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves is just a waste of money. It is almost all sticky rice and very little filling. My aunt also found a tiny strip of aluminum in my grandmother’s portion. There is this roast pork pastry that Monica loves. We didn’t initial order it, but so it go by and Monica wanted it, so we added it on. It was sour!
Yup, we are going to take a break from Buddha Bodai for awhile. We were all so disappointed that it just sucked and I kept looking around to see if it was just us that things kept happening to, I still don’t know if anyone else had odd happenings. The staff was very sorry and gave us a 10% discount and didn’t charge us for the tapioca dumplings and roast pork pastry, but seriously, how do you make up for a critter in your steaming baskets??? I say stay away from Buddha Bodai for awhile, and if you really want to go, be very very wary!
2 Responses to “Buddha Bodai”
Comment from oda
Time January 3, 2008 at 12:30 pm
thanks for the suggestion. i’ll have to give Happy Buddha a try. i used to love going to buddha bodai, but it was just such a disappointment the last time that i can’t go back. i’m just happy i didn’t have a live friend in my dim sum.
Comment from Jenn
Time January 3, 2008 at 10:28 am
I have had similar experience at this place. Hair in my food 2 times and a live friend in a to go order. They just can’t seem to get their act together. It is a shame since the food is delicious for the most part. I do not go there any longer and I wonder how they pass inspections. I go to Happy Buddha now—also in Flushing, but much cleaner. They have dim sum every day until 3:30 and they are very nice, as is the atmosphere. They also have free parking–though the spaces are tight. It is my favorite place to go for dim sum and I hope it stays clean!!! Check out their website, http://www.happybuddha.com! If you have not been there, try it!