Ajna Bar

THE BAD.......\r For spending over $100 per person for dinner, i would think that the waiter would put my plate of food down for me instead of handing me my dish. You would think the waiter would know how to pronounce the word ""sorbet"". You would think that you wouldn't have to ask the waiter if you can place your order. Food portions are small and i left hungry after sharing 3 appetizers and 1 entree.\r \r THE GOOD....\r Had our table waiting for us even though we were a little late for our reservation. The music was very fun, the decor is nice (but very dark) and our busboy/waterboy was very attentive and nice.\r \r Pros: music, location, decor Cons: food, service, value more

OOOOOKAY. Let me just start by saying that I have been all over NYC to some of the hottest restarurants. With that being said i can by now definitly destinguish between the good and bad on the restaurant scene. My boyfriend and I decided to check out Buddha Bar on a random sunday night. The rest. was pretty empty so the good thing was we got promt seating. The waiter came over right away and offered us drinks and edamame, which i thought was a wierd combination considering that we did not at that point even establish if we wanted sushi. We really wanted some seaweed salad which we did not find on the menue so the waiter was ""kind enough"" to offer us the expertese of the chef. What we got was three pieces of grass nicely layed out on a lotus leaf!!!! I dont mind paying money for food but this just seemed like total direspect to the dining experience. Next we ordered the tuna tar tar which the waiter claimed would be shareable. I dont know about him but i came their hungry and wasnt sure on how to go about sharing a portion the size of a quarter (I am not kidding). When I asked the waiter to clarify for me if the sesame tuna was close in prepartion to sashimi he babbbaled for 30min coming back to my point that in fact it was Sashimi and again the size of an appetizer compared to any other restaurant of its kind. I agree with the other reviews that the only good thing about it is the drinks the decor and the music. Hence the name BUDDHA BAR. DO NOT GO THEIR FOR FOOD you will leave with an EMPTY STOMACH and WALLET Pros: DRINKS MUSIC DECOR Cons: STAFF, BATHROOMS, FOOD more

The place is stunning. Authentic Asian touches everywhere you turn. Very good drinks. The service is just fine. The food is good (not great). But the main draw here is the unbelievable music. The DJ rocked our world!! Techno beats with Middle Eastern/ Asian base. Totally unique and contagious. We were all dancing around the table because we couldn't stay seated...that's how good the music was...Highly recommend the place. Pros: Great Music, Great Decor Cons: Too Loud, No Dance Space more

Well my review has been way over due for 2 months. But here is my story. I waited years for the opening of this place and when I finally went in May for my birthday, I was so excited. The decor is amazing and we were greeted right away. However when I was seated, it took forever for the waiter to bring over menus and introduce himself. Our drink orders got screwed up and everything seemed to just get worse. Needless to say, my excitement slowly started to fade. I was getting so frustrated and was ready to leave when another server name Oren Davidson came over when he saw my dilemma. All I have to say is thanks to him, my Buddha Bar experience turned into an amazing one. Despite him not being my designated server, he basically took over for our ""inexperienced"" waiter the rest of the dinner. Oren made great suggestions off the menu and corrected our messed up drink order from the bar. Due to his professional, knowledgeable and courteous manner, I have returned to Buddha Bar twice since then and I make sure to have him as our waiter. Personally, I loved the food. I'm shocked no one else does based on these prior reviews. The music is also great. I believe that Oren can make anyone's experience at Buddha Bar the best it can be. Thanks Oren (if u ever read this) for makin my bday dinner an amazing one. Pros: Ambience, music, food more

When the doorman opened the door, the giant buddha and beautifully decorated multi-roomed facility took my breath away. The cute maitre d' made sure my party got prime seating next to the Buddha and I got to check out the hot DJ playing some of the best music I've heard in a while. I wish I could give the same rave reviews about the dinner that ensued. First of all, a manager circles the tables continuosly...it was dizzying to say the least and overbearing to boot. His supervision on the dining room floor hardly made a difference because the servers were uneducated about the menu. When our selections finally arrived, they were bland and mediocre. We should have skipped the dinner and left Buddha Bar for drinks and dancing exclusively. Pros: Hot International Music, Banging Sound System, Plenty of Eye Candy Cons: Over-priced, Disappointing Food & Dining Experience more

I have never felt compelled to review a restaurant on Citysearch until I had dinner at Buddha Bar this Saturday night. The service was terrible!! We ordered a series of appetizers for the table, including sushi. The waiter did not have any knowledge of what was in the various sushi rolls when we ordered and no idea which was which when it was served. I ordered sushi as an entree and my meal was not delivered to me until everyone else in my party had finished my meal. After enough complaining on my part, and a rather rude visit from the Restaurant Manager, my sushi dinner was comped. \r \r Buddha Bar has a great setting for drinks and I would definitely go back for that. However, I would give the restaurant another few months to work out their kinks before eating there. more

Went here with my parents and friends (7 of us) to celebrate my dad's 60th bday! Since they just opened, they are still working out operational issues. We were told by the restaurant to show up early even if we had a reservation...but we showed up on time, and we did have to wait 1 hr for our table. Our reservation was for 10pm...but if you go at 6-7pm (I dropped by at this time to check the place out), you should have no problem...the later you go, the busier they are (as they draw a night time scene). I think they are still trying to gauge how long people stay at their tables...I noticed that even after people paid for their bill's they would just sit and hang out at their tables, enjoying the scene and hogging up the tables. Over time, the restaurant will get a feel for this and hopefully space out their reservations a little bit more. The Front of House staff kept apologizing to us for the delay and when we were finally seated, sent over free appetizers immediately. \r \r \r Food was tasty (Asian Fusion) and nicely presented, drinks and menus were brought to us right away. The staff was knowledgeable and very responsive. It seems like they are getting their act together now (compared to reviews before mine). The execution in the dining room was on point and we never had any service or food issues. Our waiter btw was very adorable!!!\r \r \r The only draw back about dining later in the evening is that the music gets increasing louder as the night progresses. Towards the end of our meal (1am) we could not hear each other speak anymore, as the volume was at clubbing caliber. (Fun though if that's what you want...not good if you plan to talk to everyone in your group). We all did note though that the music itself was excellent and very worldly (their DJ from Paris). In fact, my parents and their freinds were dancing a bit in their seats and we bought their CD's. \r \r \r Awesome space and decor that keeps you visually engaged. The doorman was friendly and actually remembered us because we had dropped by earlier to check out the place. After walking through a Buddah lined tunnel, the space separates into 3 large rooms...a bar/drinking/eating area to the left, a dining room with the DJ (on a platform) in the middle and another dining room with sushi bar (and jellyfish tanks) to the right. There are large openings between all three rooms so you can see down the length of the whole restaurant where ever you are. There is also a smoking room between the dining rooms that opens to the outside. After the sun sets, it gets pretty dark (before sunset, light streams in through the windows above). \r \r \r If you expect seamless, flawless service, wait a few months to go here while they work out their operational issues (and in the meantime go to Per Se or Megu - food & service perfected). If you want to go to a hot, fun, new restaurant that has some flaws (which they seem to be working on), then you will definitely enjoy your experience here as we all did! It's all about expectations! I plan to go back with all my gf's for drinks now! Oh yea, a full dinner (app's, entree, dessert) and drinks (2 or so a person) comes to a little more than $100/head all in....heavy drinkers will get closer to $150/head. Make reservations! Walk-ins can sit at the sushi bar...which had open seats (but your back faces the whole restaurant and all you can see are the sushi chef's and jellyfish tank). Pros: Visually satiating, improved service, yummy food Cons: initial operational issues, gets real dark and loud as night progresses more

I WENT TO THIS PLACE LAST NIGHT AND NOT EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT BUT GIVE THEM A BREAK. IT'S A 250 SEATS RESTAURANT THAT JUST OPEN 3 WEEKS AGO. MY THOUGHTS: THE FOOD IS EXCELLENT - THE PRICES VERY FAIR CONSIDERING THE DECOR - THE SERVICE IS GOOD NO COMPLAINTS - THE MUSIC IS OK - THE DECOR IS AMAZING (TOO BAD FOR THOSE OFFICE NEON LIGHTS ABOVE THE SKY LIGHTS) - OVERALL THEY ARE DOING A GREAT JOB, CERTAINLY A BETTER JOB THAN SPICE MARKET AFTER THEIR OPENING. NOW WILL I GO THERE ON A WEEK END WHEN A 1,000 PEOPLE SHOW UP AT THE DOOR...PROBABLY NOT BUT FOR A FUN WEEK DINNER DEFINETELY YES. ANYWAY AND UNFORTUNETELY THE PEOPLE WHO GO ON TO CITYSEARCH ARE THEIR JEALOUS WANT TO BE COMPETITORS WHO LIKE TO TRASH THEM AND THE OTHERS PEOPLE WHO LIKE TO COMPLAIN TO GET FREE DESSERTS Pros: FOOD, DECOR, SERVIC more

The dining experience was a disaster: Lack of service, too loud to talk, sub par food and attitude by everyone in the place (including the doorman who made us feel uncomfortable showing up for a reservation). For instance they brought us the wrong drinks (sparkling instead of still) we sent it back but two extra bottles of sparkling water appeared on our tab. We were never often more wine when we finsihed our glasses, we were offered desert menus after our appetizers arrived and my friend recieved a blank desert menu when the appropriate time did arrive.We complained at the time and were given champagne and a couple deserts. When we mentioned other complaints about the bill (ie, several additional items that we never recieved), it was thrown in our face that we accepted the complementary food and should just pay the bill. Awful, awful and awful. Pros: None, none, none Cons: Food, Attitude, Rude more

Save yourself the stress and stay away - there are many great places to dine in NYC and this is certainly not one of them. I was shocked by how rude and unattentive the service was. We had to ask 3 busboys and wait 25 minutes to find a waiter just to get menus and another 20 to get the wine list. The waiter was very obviously into making $ as the only things he recommended were the most expensive on the menu. They forgot someone's dinner which came 20 minutes after everyone else's and only after flagging down a floor manager to find it. Our bill had an extra $90 worth of food and drinks that we didn't order and still came to $120 a person. To top it all off, the service was completely unapologetic about all their mistakes. You can find a better trained waitstaff at McDonalds. Cons: Horrible service, over priced, too loud more

I went to Buddha Bar for a 28th birthday, and was treated like a 15 year old. I was told I could not make a reservation for a party over 8, then we were then seated at a table for 10! Our waiter advised us to let him order for us, he made it seem that he was making it reasonable for us. Well, he decided to give us $200 worth of toro sushi. The waiters response to our compaintwas...well, you agreed to let me order for you, and the manager's was you ate the toro,so tough. Then told us that they can only take 4 cards...house policy! If its ""house policy"" you mention that on the phone when a reservation is made for over 4 people! I will never go back and advise you all to stay away. There are SO many other better places to spend your money Pros: cool decor Cons: rude service, over priced, average food more

I really didn't expect it, the food was awesome!!! I had the shrimp appetizer and the lamb as a main course, and the lamb was absolutely succulent. The DJ (from the Paris Buddha Bar) was incredible. The place just opened, so the service was a little slower than it should be, but not bad for an opening. The decor is out of this world, live Jelly fish, huge Buddha, great skylight and... a smoking lounge, so you don't have to leave the restaurant for a smoke. What else could you ask for??? Can't wait to go back to taste everything else. Pros: Decor, Music, Food Cons: Door guy (weird) more

I know it's just opened, so I wasn't expecting much more than great decor and a scene, but I was really pleasantly surprised. We had a large group, which can sometimes automatically mean crappy service, but our waitress was excellent, very knowledgable, and friendly. The food was great. Really surprisingly good for a see and be seen kind of place. Looking forward to my next visit! Pros: Decor, Service, Food Cons: Poor lighting more

I've been to the best of the best in NYC, but the service here was so bad, I actually decided to take the time to warn others. First they were 40 minutes late seating our party of six (isn't that what the reservation is for?!). Then it was another 20 minutes before anyone even acknowledged our table. We literally had to get up and grab two different managers before we got our menus. After demanding a free round of drinks from a third manager, our party decided to bail on this horrific french import. Do yourselves a favor and eat somewhere...anywhere else! Based upon the B/T waiting to get in as we left, this place will be a B/T nightmare within three weeks. more

Me and my friends had dinner at Buddha Bar last weekend, first we waited 1 hour for our table even though we had a reservation. Then the waiter who took care of our table was really obnoxious.....when he was even around. Some of the food came out cold and we had to send it back, by the time it came back most of us were finish with our entrees... The place looks nice, but that's about it. The scene is really not all that. Way overpriced and overrated.....NOT RECOMMENDED!! Pros: Nice design Cons: Service, Staff, Atmosphere more

Besides the ambience, this place was a nightmare. We had a waiter that refused to take down our order - he kept writing down only what he recommended. It took us 5 minutes to order appetizers because he was so pushy (he would recommend an item then write it down even after we said no). Our appetizers came 15 minutes later, but still no drinks (they finally arrived about 1 minute before our meal). Although the food was good, it was VERY overpriced (average entree price is about $28, but the portions are small and forgettable). Over all, the place is pretty and good people watching (although the transparent ""smoking room"" is obnoxious - your dinner is spent staring into a room of people smoking) but you can see them from the bar. Save your money and appetite for a good NYC restaurant! more

I absolutely loved, loved Buddha Bar. As you enter through a cave like walkway, you feel as if your being transported straight into a different world but with a hint of of the Asian sub-continent following you everywhere. Was there this Saturday and the whole place was hot with models and good looking people. Ambiance and music vibe was off the hook. As the night went on, the music pumped up from the buddha bar selections to a more up-beat house which made us all stand up and move with the beat. And there is a smoke room smack dap in the middle made of glass so everyone can see you and vice versa. Very international, people from all over the world...Absolutely hot!!! more