Capital Cooking with Lauren DeSantis: Buddha Bar Revamps the Menu

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Buddha Bar Revamps the Menu

Photo by Emily Clack

Continuing its growth and commitment to presenting food of the highest quality, Buddha Bar has hired highly regarded chefs Michael Doss and Sandra Celestine, and sushi chef Tetsuya Nakata.

Executive Sushi Chef Nakata brings more than 20 years experience to Buddha-Bar DC and impressed us with his expertise and artistic approach to sushi. Prior to Buddha-Bar DC, Chef Nakata worked at Washington, DC restaurants Kaz Bistro and later Murasaki for more than 10 years. We began our meal with Chef Nakata's delicious sushi creations.

We tried the Mass Roll with shrimp and pot-sticker skin (one of my favorites), the Bombay Roll with spicy salmon, avocado tempura and topped with fresh salmon and wasabi cream, the Double Shrimp Roll, and the Buddha Bar Roll with salmon and rolled in cucumber. The Buddha Bar roll is fun because it as not as heavy and filling as eating rolls with rice.

Photo by Emily Clack

We paired the rolls with Hana Awaka "Sparkling Flowers" sake which was refreshing with the most exhilarating balance of sweet and fruity. I've been hooked on this sparkling sake ever since my first trip to Buddha Bar.

Make sure to try all of the Tataki sashimi dishes. We loved the tuna, salmon and yellow tail.

Fish Chinese Hot Pot

After enjoying the sushi, Chef Doss treated us to some of his favorite menu items. Chef Doss is classically trained in French cuisine and specializes in Asian-fusion cuisine. He first served as a chef at Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grille at MGM Grand Detroit and later refined his skills at the famed Washington, DC restaurant The Source under Scott Drewno.

I loved the Spicy tuna tartar with avocado "s". Beautiful presentation with the perfect balance of textures.

Monk Fish with Okonomiyaki and Scallops

The stand out dishes of the evening were the Asian Braised Short Ribs that falls off the bone and melts into your mouth and the Mongolian Grilled Flat Iron Steak.

I loved the sauce on the Drunken Noodles.

The pineapple sorbet is the perfect cleansing end to the meal. Overall, Buddha Bar delivers a tasty meal with good service. Everything was impeccably presented. I'll be back for more soon!