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Buddha Bar
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Lunch: 3 courses & a glass of wine £22.50
2 courses & a glass of champagne £22.50 (Offer valid until Sun Nov 8)
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By Charmaine Mok
Orientalism, in its most obvious and self-indulgent incarnation, has crossed the channel as the London offshoot of entrepreneur Raymond Visan’s original Buddha Bar in Paris. The brand’s reputation precedes it – the enduringly (and almost achingly) hip enclave of the young and mobile in not only Paris, but New York City, Dubai, Cairo and São Paulo among the George V group’s fat portfolio, it seemed destined to become a success even before it touched down on the north bank.
Still, the concept seems strangely dated in London, where token displays of exoticism seem crass and cheesy. Undeterred, Buddha Bar has taken the mystique of the East to new highs; the brand’s iconic buddha statue dominates the ground floor restaurant, where svelte European waitresses glide about in their clingy cheongsams doting on the type of cool clientele that seem to dress exclusively in black and bling.
The restaurant buzzes but this is the kind of place where food takes a backseat, try as they may to convince us that pan-Asian cuisine is back in fashion. We settled for a perch on the upper balcony bar, where the service seemed more amateur and less polished; the bouncer was the most gracious employee on our visit.
The bar nibbles hover over the infinitely more expensive options of sashimi and sushi, and paltry offerings such as spicy lemon edamame (soy) beans for £4 or shishito peppers (similar to Padrón peppers) for £6.50 – this is no beer and peanuts operation. But the cocktails, such as the Millionaire Mojito, were deliciously icy and expertly compiled – the deep honey flavours of Elements Eight gold rum were brilliantly matched with sharp lime, fronds of mint leaf and topped with dry champagne.
Nicely lubricated by good drink and comfortable surrounds, we found ourselves enticed by the music – a mesmerising mix of lounge, acoustic and electronic spiced with Asian vocals and instruments. But as the crowd changed after 10pm (when entry becomes guest list only), a particularly ghastly remix of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Valerie’ boomed over the speakers, turning this nirvana into just another raucous bar.Time Out Issue 1984: August 28 - September 3
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Time Out reviews restaurants anonymously and pays for meals. Of course, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or independence of user reviews.
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Details
- 8 Victoria Embankment, Embankment
- Area: Embankment
- Tel: 020 3371 7777
- www.buddha-bar.com
- Book online
- Category: Bars & Pubs
- Travel: Embankment tube
- Times: Mon-Wed 5.30pm-12.30am; Thur-Sat 5.30pm-1am; Sun 5.30pm-11pm
- Price: Entrance guest list only after 10pm
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I'm outgoing, always up for a laugh, but also love a good lazy Sunday reading the paper. I love seeing friends, going to concerts and plays, and...
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RESTAURANT: Great atmosphere and interesting music which gets very loud as the night progresses. Very overpriced, £120 for 2, last time I paid this it was true 5 star quality, not a 'chinese'! However sometimes I feel you have to pay this to keep certain people away, the price is obviously very marked up.
BAR: upstairs bar a great place to chill, some great cosy nights to be had in here.
So they laughably add a 10% "optional" service charge when you step up to the bar to get the drink the servers haven't taken your order for (in fairness it is quite dark to see guests arrive and expect a drink). Of course I made the charm-free bar girl refund me the 50p charged on top of the £4.50 beer. When the novelty wears off it will simply be full of people you wouldn't want to socialise near anyway.
Went over to the Buddha bar in my lunch break. If I had followed the map placement shown here or even the map reference from the Buddha bar London web site, then you have no chance of find the place, as all the map place makers are all wrong except for E on google map. So where to go now!, where is the Buddha bar London, well it's right under waterloo bridge on Victoria embankment. What does than mean you cry. Well from the Strand head toward and start walking over Waterloo bridge, on the right hand side (no not the somerset house side the other side) there is some stairs which lead down. at the bottom the Buddha bar is just on the left under the bridge.
Because of Buddha Bar Paris we were really looking forward to our visit but unfortunately it was very disappointing.
The service in the restaurant was accomplished but not particularly friendly, the food was tasty but overpriced. A small dish of very average stir fried vegetables was £8, it was difficult to fathom what had been done to them to justify that price.
When we finished dinner we relocated to the mezanine bar where we found a table. By this time we'd spent a significant amount on food, wine and several cocktails. We had a round of unfinished cocktails on the table when we were approached by a male member of staff who, told us we couldn't continue to sit at our table unless we bought a bottle of spririts - at a cost of £140!!
Overall not an experience I want to repeat or recommend.
Very average. I was prejudiced to begin with as when I went to the Paris branch they served us rice and peas and were indignent when I told them this is a Caribbean dish, not Asain. Which it is. Still it was one of the few places in Paris not serving Salmon or Steak frites so it was different. In London, it isnt. The curries werent all that, the sushi wasnt either and all went to the wrong table for others to breathe over before it got to us. Ideal for - first date with easily impressed young lady, not ideal for - anything else.
hung out in the upstairs part where the service was rude and disapointing. When asking for a glass of water after having ordered two or three overpriced drinks we were greeted with incomprehensible rudeness. I thought guest was king?
had a great experience,very pleased thank you to managers team!
One of the best resturants iv ever been to. I would recommend it to all. Great food and excellent service.
This is a disapointment compared to the one in paris the door staff are rude considering the amount you pay for your food it is very small in portion the wine is cheap and highly priced. This is a disaapointment and would avoid at all cost now the woosley (picadilly) now that a restraunt that isn't great portion serivce and the price isn't that bad in comparison to Buddha Bar.
I have never thought it right to judge dining on one experience however: avoid buddha bar at all cost. Food is awful, service very slow and design is cheap and uninspiring. Overrated rubbish. If you are going to spend this sort of money go to Zuma or go to wagamama and save a fortune.