Buddha Bodai

We looked for a vegetarian spot to eat during our visit to Chinatown. I figured we would find a menu filled with noodle, rice, & vegetable dishes (which would have been fine), but instead we found many, many faux meat Chinese dishes, i.e., veg general tso, veg orange chicken, etc. We really enjoyed our entrees. Our apps were pretty good, too.

Very refreshing break from all the heavy, salty Shanghainese and Cantonese food in Manhattan. The food’s still a bit oily here, but hey at least it’s not drowned in salt. I’ve been fairly impressed with vegetarian Chinese restaurants in the past, and this place will be no different.
House tea (pu-​erh) — too earthy, just ok. ³⁄₅
Triple Mushroom Spinach Soup — thick, spinachy soup with really tender mushrooms, yum. ⁴⁄₅
Seaweed Sesame Roll — it’s both chewy and crunchy. Comes with a lightly sweet chile sauce and the most delicious cold seasoned seaweed. 4.5÷5
Young Chow Fried Rice — really light, and could use more salt actually. Not bad, but it’s just barely tastier than white rice. 3.5÷5
Stir-​fried Rice Noodles w/​Spare Ribs in Black Bean Bauce — You definitely can’t mistake the tofu here for «ribs». But the noodles are amazing, and definitely taste handmade. Very soft, chewy, and al dente. The black bean sauce may be a bit too heavy on the cornstarch. 4.5÷5

3.5 stars. I ordered for a delivery. Honestly this place is not as good as it sounds & looks. I got the 5 color sample platter & a side of brown rice. I have had way better tasting fake meat, the consistency was a little off.
It was a large portion but came with 2 tiny dipping sauces. I paid 20 $ for the platter, which was pricy for what it was. Any ways I’m glad I tried this place but I don’t really see myself going back.

Really like the concept of a vegetarian dim sum. We had several tasty dishes including a vegetarian hot and sour soup.
Taking one star off for too many deep fried dishes.

I’ll be honest, I teeter tottered between 3 or 4 stars for quite some time.
We came here for dimsum on a Saturday afternoon because it is one of the very very very very very very very few dimsum places that are fully vegetarian and also have gluten free options.
They serve vegetarian and gluten free variations of all of your dimsum staples. If you’re allergic to gluten, MAKE SURE you specifically tell them that. Even though we viciously circled the the statement on the menu that mentioned «gluten free» and requested that the sauce be on the side, two of our vegan shrimp rice noodles (churng fan) came with the soy sauce-​based sauce on top (as is the usual way). When we mentioned this oversight, the lady took the dishes back to the kitchen, and returned. with. the. exact. same. ones. All they did was run the noodles under a faucet to remove the sauce. This was CLEARLY evidenced by the brown stains that remained on the and on the plate. Needless to say, the girlfriend avoided those, and I ended up being sad about have sauce-​less churng. The manager was very apologetic for the oversight, and made sure that all of the other dishes came out correctly
OH, they also have Tamari (gluten free soy sauce), so make sure to ask for that if you need it.
Gluten free is a mixed bag for me as the texture and consistency tend to be so dissimilar to the standard options. The rice noodles and dumpling skins were just over the top sticky and chewy that you didn’t really chew them so much as you you moved your tongue in odd ways to remove pieces stuck on your teeth and on the roof of your mouth. They all tasted great though.
We ordered 17 dishes because we’re absurd monsters like that, and they were all delicious save for the bamboo shoot dumplings. I didn’t love those.
My favorite dish was the vegan shark fin congee. You will never confuse it for the actual fake (because no restaurant really serves real shark fin – too expensive and controversial) shark fin, as this was more of a… fake chicken type texture, but the congee itself was delicious!
I’ll definitely be back because it’s one of the few places my gal can just go beast mode in. And she loves the food!

Stopped in at this 4-​star rated vegetarian/​kosher joint in Chinatown with fair bit of expectations. have to say that was very disappointed by my experience. Other than being a vegetarian place, I see no other reason for this pace to be ranked as high.
We started with the dumpling and hot and sour soup. The dumplings were sticky, seemingly stale and totally lackig any taste. Same with the soup. Our noodle entrees were also large in quantity but just bunch of veggies and noodles cooked with no flavor. Maybe the fake meats are a draw here, but no my cup of tea. Also they slip in a pot of tea at the beginning that is charged for. Didn’t expect any service, exactly how it turned out. Am sure there is a lot of good Chinese food in the area, just have to be adventurous and explore to find good vegetarian options.
The 1 stars is for the complimentary orange slices (best part of my meal) and the wet towel.

Good vegetarian dim sum is really hard to find, especially if you’re not in a vegetarian restaurant. I love being able to order anything I want on the menu and not have to worry if there’s some sort of meat in it, so coming here was definitely a treat. I came here with a vegetarian friend for lunch after the Chinese New Year Parade. We had to wait for a while to get a table, but we also came on a popular day at a popular time. The wait, however, was worth it. We had fun picking out things from the extensive menu, but finally settled on these:
Pan Fried Turnip Cake — The clear favorite for both of us at the table. Will definitely order again!
Steamed Sticky Rice Shumai — These were really good, especially dunked in soy sauce.
Veg. Meat Bun — I really liked them, but my friend thought they were too sweet. It didn’t taste like fake meat, but was more sweet, almost cinnamon-​y. The ratio of dough to filling was a bit off. I would have liked more of the delicious filling and less bun.
Fried Eggplant Stuffed w. Veg. Meat — Quite greasy. The fake meat inside the eggplant was good, but I wasn’t a huge fan of this one.
Mushroom and Bean Sprout Pancake w. Egg — Again, the pancake to filling ratio was a bit off, however it was still really delicious. The pancakes were a bit sweet, but the filling helped balance it out.
Overall, the food was a bit doughy and sweet. I didn’t mind it too much and still really enjoyed the meal. It was a fun experience and you can get a ridiculous amount of food for almost no money. I’ll definitely come back and try some of their other yummy dishes.

I was looking forward to ordering vegetarian Chinese when my boyfriend was out but what a disappointment…
I can’t really comment on how good the food is because I paid 22 $ (with $ 5 delivery fee, tip, tax) for bucket of watercress nuts. Tried to get them to redeliver or refund me since there was hardly any Kung pau «chicken» to call it a dish, but they said I have to order more to get a meal sized amount the fake chicken because it’s «very expensive.»
In short, it was like a needle in a hay stack to find the kung pau «chicken» in an order of kung pau «chicken.»

My friend and I decided to go here when he was visiting from out of town, we had seen that it was vegetarian friendly and as I am vegetarian my friend had picked it.
Turns out it was all vegetarian, my friend is not even close to being vegetarian but he even loved the food.
Our favorite dish was the veg bbq, it was substitute meet with a delicious bbq sauce, my friend couldn’t even tell the difference
The service was good, but we were there on a Monday night, so it wasn’t horribly crowded but still busy for a Monday
Only down side was that they claim to be dim sum but only offered until 4
But over all I recommend this to veg and non-​veg food lovers!

Fear not, all you non-​vegetarian eaters! This place is DELICIOUS, and not just for being vegetarian and kosher. From the mock meats down to the fresh veggies, Buddha Bodai offers an extensive menu that will make you rethink vegetarian food.
Came in on a Sunday afternoon for dim sum and was told that all parties may be forced to share their tables if it gets busy. Little surprise there, but we decided to chance it for the yummy food! And good thing we did because the food was excellent and we didn’t end up having to share a table :).
Unfortunately this dim sum spot doesn’t do the cart offerings. Instead, they give you a check list featuring all the offerings and you can place your order by writing in the amount of each dish you’d like to order. As each dim sum dish is served to your table, the server will cross off what has already been ordered and served.
Here are my top picks!
Dim Sum:
— Steamed Sticky Rice Shiu Mai (Do yourself a favor and order at least 2!)
Sticky rice in a dumpling form with veggy bbq pork. Tasted like the real thing!
— Watercress Dumpling
Vegetable filling tasted fresh and authentic. Perfecto.
— Cruller Rice Roll
A classic dim sum dish I MUST order everywhere. Theirs was PERFECTLY crispy on the inside!
*Try the young chow fried rice from their regular menu. Absolutely delicious and you wont taste another fried rice similar to this one! Veggies were fresh and the mock meat gave the rice a nice smokey flavor. This will be my new go-​to rice dish here!*
Unfortunately their Har Gow (shrimp dumplings) missed the mark for me. This is one of my favorite dishes of all time (next to the cruller rice rolls)… I was a bit disappointed! The dough or skin they use for the dumplings is extremely glutinous and sticky. And don’t get me wrong, that’s how they’re all made! But Buddha Bodai’s shrimp dumplings were different. Too soft and fragile. They fell apart immediately and you could barely get them out of the dish.
It’s also important to mention that you should not expect 5-​star service at this restaurant. This is no high end NYC restaurant. As a diner who has eaten dim sum in NJ, NY, and China/​Hong Kong — you come to realize that service standards vary in each culture.
Servers are quick and to the point. There is no excuse for horrible service, but I wouldn’t dine at any authentic Chinese/​dim sum restaurant expecting the server to spend 20 mins describing each entrée to you or taking the time to get to know you and see how your food tastes. Just a point based upon other reviewers comments on service here.
For all you Chinese food and dim sum lovers out there — this place is worth the stop. It’s a great dining experience as a meat eater and non meat eater! Go for dim sum early in the day so you can sample a little bit of everything :)

I came here because of the good review from Unilocal.Arrived on a Sunday night, and it was not busy, but there is no small table for two persons. The manager ask me if I want to share, I said No, but if I can sit down first and then we can move when the table is ready. He say no, it is better to wait, because two tables have settled. The bill already. I said just because they paid their bill does not means they are leaving!!!
Anyway, so the service is one star off.
Now when it comes to the food, it is hit and miss. Some are good, especially the Roast Pork with Rice, it’s favor and texture is 5 stars, but the Appetizer Fried Crispy Vegetarian Duck, it was very crispy, but it has no duck taste, I know it is imitation duck taste, it just taste like crispy fried crunchy Tofu Sheet!
The Vegetarian Lamb Stew in Casserole was the worst, it is mock lamb with mixed vegetables, it tastes a kind of sour and the vegetables is spicy. Very watery.
May be it is an off night. The place does not live up to its reputation.

I came to this place for dim sum, but came at a time when they weren’t serving dim sum and settled for entrees.
Me and my friend got mock duck and the taro bowl. Both were overly oily and otherwise weren’t worth mention.
Later on in the evening, I got sick and my friend got sick about a day later. I’m not sure if it was this place or a virus, but either way, I won’t be returning.

Having not been eavesdropping on the patrons next to us, I would of never been aware this was a vegetarian joint. The entire fare was eloquently cooked, with just the right chewing texture to mock the one of meat. I felt wholesome. It made me aware of my own exaggerated consumption of meat.

Oh my god. Obsessed with their vegetarian chicken + black pepper sauce. They have great lunch deals (no charge on brown rice hola) and portion is ginormous.
The vegetarian chicken and vegetable lunch special is the bomb. Get the sauce on the side. They also give you a BUNCH of vegetables (hola)
Sweet and sour soup was ok… Wonton soup no bueno (skin too thick). Dim sum wasn’t too great on the take out. The skin is thick and soggy.
Overall: obsessed.

When I saw a vegetarian Chinese restaurant with numerous gluten free options, I knew I had to try it! We went there on a Sunday for brunch and it was packed with a line forming out the door.
There was a tall crabby guy with a bad attitude that was seating people. When I called to make a reservation, they said they don’t take any. As food was whizzing by to tables, my husband asked the same tall guy what one of the deserts were and he was very curt and just said the name of it in Chinese. Like we understand Mandarin or Cantonese or know what he said!!!
So we finally got our table and placed our order. 1 small appetizer arrives after 30 minutes at the table. And about 50 min-​1 hr after we sat down, all the food we ordered comes out all at once! So we ask for hot sauce and they come with a tiny container containing about 2 tablespoons hot sauce for 4 PEOPLE! So we ask the waiters again for more hot sauce & they didn’t bring us any! We were all so hungry that we scarfed down the food only to realize they never gave us water or refilled the teapot! We ask for the water and it comes to us as we ask for the check.
All in all, poor customer service, but GOOD food. There were only 3 waiters running around and I can understand it’s difficult! If a restaurant is that busy during Sunday brunch, they need to hire more help!
In conclusion, the food was good and I would recommend the jellyfish and seaweed wrap appetizer as I only ate the gluten free dishes. The coconut dessert type thing is really good but make sure you have water nearby because it is dry!
TO SUM UP: ORDER TAKEOUT or don’t do Sunday brunch there!!! I can’t speak for the rest of the week and how crowded it is, so maybe service is better during the week. Food is good but poor customer service means I wont be visiting here again.

Came here with 4 people. Only one of us was a true vegetarian. We ordered, Pan Fried Turnip Cake, Steamed Sticky Rice Shiu Mai, Buddha Bean Curd Roll, Fried Taro Custard, Watercress Dumpling, Bee Chi Mushroom Rice Roll, Steamed Veg. Meat Ball, Veg Shrimp Rice Roll, House Special Congee, and Veg Tripe with Black Bean sauce.
Overall, the food was tasty but on the salty side. My favorite dish was the veg. meat ball. It obviously didn’t taste like meat but it was flavorful and had bean curd in it (which I love).
We decided to come here based on the many reviews.
The entire meal was fine. The overall service was as expected from a Chinese restaurant. Everything was smoothly until it came time to pay the bill. I paid with credit card and signed the receipt and tip as we felt appropriate. Then, disaster struck. One of the waitress came over and looked at the receipt. Then she had the nerve to tell me that I tipped too low and that I HAD to tip higher. I told her that tip is not mandatory and not required by law. Other people at the table had interjected with their own comments. In the end, she said that I will let it go this one time. In my mind, there won’t be another time because you had the audacity to FORCE me to give you a higher tip. I have never been to any restaurant in my life where they mandated me to pay a higher tip. This definitely left a bad taste with us and now none of us will ever go back to this place.
Overall, I will never recommend this place based on the stunt they pulled regardless of how good or bad their food was. As I’ve said many many times before. Customers will come back to your restaurant if you provide excellent service even if your food is just mediocre.

This place is decent but really disorganized. I didn’t really get how to order until I asked 5 different questions. I think they should have quick spiel of «hey, new with us? Ok so this is how the menu works».
But pretty much, you mark on the sheet they give you what you want and how many. Then if you want entrees from the full menu, you tell them vocally. It’s pretty quick service but it’s brought out as it’s made so don’t expect to get it all at once. You may wait a while for the next dish to come out.
The staff is nice but not really attentive. We had to ask 3 different people for water.
I personally loved the all vegetarian aspect so I’ll prob take out but dining in was really mediocre.

Since becoming vegetarian, one of my friends laments how much it sucks that we never go out to dim sum again — and in all honesty, why would I? Dim sum is usually pork, beef, or shrimp.
So after a year without dim sum, I was ecstatic with when I found Buddha Bodai to the point where I ordered enough food for a small family. I ordered the BBQ pork (so good that I still dream of eating this!), shu mai, har gow, beef ball, bean curd wrap, and spare ribs in black bean sauce. The waitstaff was impressed that I finished all the food with none leftover!

Mixed fake meat in taro bowl … GET IT.
I would eat this dish in front of a guy I know just to piss him off. He hates 1) basically all vegetables 2) all foreign foods that he hasnt heard of where the ingredients are not easily discernible. I don’t freaking know what the fake meats are made of. I know seitan is pure wheat gluten. But I got the gluten free version. It can’t be all soy. There were like 5 different kinds of them. Whatever. Tasted like meat. Wait no. Better than meat. (to be a bit more helpful, i am pretty sure there is mushroom and mung bean custard and maybe other legumes too)
The taro bowl was really crispy. I kind of wish they gave me more sauce so I could dip the taro in. By the end it got kind of tasteless. Doesn’t matter. I love this place.

I had to rely heavily on Unilocal when ordering, as I never know what dimsum dishes are called… it would be really great if there could be a menu or something with pictures of the dishes in the future, just to point us the right way!
Waited for 30 minutes starting at noon on a Saturday for a table for 3. Thankfully the other two were late, so we/​they weren’t standing around waiting for too long! The tables turn pretty quickly, but the restaurant isn’t the biggest so there wasn’t too much space.
The good: turnip cakes, fake vegetarian BBQ meat (although I ate too much of this… but it tasted exactly like normal meat), vegetable canto dumplings, shu mai. Huge fan of sticky rice, so I should’ve ordered more of the shu mai!
The meh: eggs pancake roll stuff (too much mushroom), steamed dumplings (something about veggie dumplings are meh…), rice roll was okay but too sticky and thick. I also would’ve preferred chili paste and soy sauce at the table. Asked for it too late and the waiter didn’t get back to me.
They take card! But don’t expect a leisurely meal – like most popular places, they really rush you to seat other people! We tried to order dessert but the waiter said it would take too long and hinted that we should leave…