DURHAM RESTAURANT REVIEWS

Enlightened By Fat Buddha

LIFE'S a catwalk at Fat Buddha where diners have to strut along an illuminated walkway to get to their table.

Okay, the strutting bit is optional, but the uber-cool feature is still the cherry on the cake of this most stylish of Asian restaurants.

I visited with pals Laura and Susan on a Friday night and was warned to book well in advance.

Seats at this restaurant are hot property and, despite ringing to book a week before, we managed to get one of only two slots left.

It's easy to see why the big man's so popular.

The decor is sleek, stylish and manages to be both contemporary and quirky - a mixture of chandeliers, fancy lighting, traditional Asian features with a few Fat Buddha namesake figurines thrown in for good measure. All topped off with views of the River Wear.

Fat Buddha has the substance to back up its style with a pretty impressive menu.

There's a huge range of dishes to choose from which are guaranteed to have you licking your lips in anticipation.

In the end, we decided on the set menu - which was reasonably priced at £23.50 each for three courses.

To start, we had pancakes, duck and hoisin sauce. There was plenty to fill our three rumbling tums with around three pancakes each and a plate laden with succulent duck.

The star of the show, however, was the main courses which we chose to have served with egg fried rice.

The trio of green chicken curry, duck teriyaki and pork kakuni was beautifully presented, a feast for the eyes.

It seemed a shame to demolish the dishes, but it had to be done.

I'm not a curry lover, but this dish went down well with Laura who said it was the perfect blend of creamy, coconut sauce with a kick to it.

The pork was beautifully moist and tender and you got a huge chunk of it for your money, but my favourite was the duck teriyaki.

Not too rich - which duck dishes have a tendency to be - and loaded with flavour, it certainly got the thumbs up from me.

There was little room left for pudding, but as it came as part of the price we felt obliged to order.

A lemon lush pie, chocolate sponge and raspberry passion fruit bomb were soon winging their way to our table.

Again, the presentation was immaculate, especially my pretty fruit bomb. Sadly, after our substantial main meals we struggled to finish the puds, but they were lovely.

The bill was big at £108.30, but wasn't helped by our drinks of wine and Bellini cocktails.

The set menu was fairly priced, especially considering the quality of the food and the luxurious setting.

However, I begrudged being charged £2.80 for prawn crackers when these are often given for free in other establishments.

Service too was a little slow, especially for drinks, but to give the staff their dues it was a busy Friday night filled with Fat Buddha fans.

After my visit, I've become one too.

By Katy Wheeler - Sunderland Echo
February 2011
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Fat Buddha Worth The Wait

FOR months I have been trying to get a reservation at this restaurant on a Saturday evening but until recently my attempts failed.

It was either fully booked or only had tables available at an unsuitable hour due to the popular times being booked weeks in advance.

It's hardly surprising as the Fat Buddha has become one of the most acclaimed eateries in Durham City centre - not only notching up an impressive word-of-mouth reputation but winning a clutch of awards including Restaurant of the Year twice in the Durham City Retail Awards.

Only a stone's throw from the Gala Theatre, it's a popular pre and after-show venue as well as a destination-to-be-seen-in for drinkers in the trendy downstairs bar.

I'd wanted a reservation in the restaurant for 8pm but had to settle for a 9.30pm slot.

I was meeting up with old friends for a girls' night out so we weren't too put off by the later time and instead decided to go out for a few pre-dinner drinks.

After a couple of liquid refreshments in pubs in the Walkergate complex, we headed to the venue at 9pm to test out the bar.

It was packed and there was a queue 10-deep so it took an age to get served.

This was very frustrating as a couple of the staff were intent on serving their friends and the young glitterati of Durham rather than drinkers who had been there the longest.

Eventually we were served and as the bar was so busy we decided to see if our table was ready so we could get a seat.

Luckily it was and we were shown upstairs straight away.

The restaurant was also busy but we were shown to a table on the periphery of the room which was quieter, though with the noise from the bar downstairs (the venue is open plan) and the music, we did struggle at times to hear each other.

A waitress was at our table promptly offering us menus and taking our drinks orders.

We opted for a bottle of sauvignon blanc for three of us and a diet Coke for a pregnant member of the group.

The menu itself was quite extensive featuring dishes from Hong Kong, Japan, China, Malaysia, Korea and Thailand.

The Fat Buddha prides itself on Asian cuisine with a difference. They use basic ingredients found in Asian cooking but then mix it up with their own style to give the dishes a modern twist. Starters included stir-fried soft shell crab with shave curry leaf, prawn and seaweed dumpling and Dragontail ribs with a honey and plum glaze.

Having already lined our stomachs with a couple of drinks we decided to bypass the starters and go straight for the mains.

My friends opted for stir-fried chicken fillet with Malay curry spices (£10.80), king prawn curry (£10.80) and stir-fried chicken with Teriyaki sauce (£10.80), while I chose Malaysian beef curry (£10.50).

We ordered three rounds of boiled rice and a portion of yaki remen noodles to go with the mains. Unfortunately, our drinks order was forgotten so we had to ask another waitress to chase it up.

Thankfully, we managed to get our drinks in time for our main meals arriving.

The wine was crisp and dry which made it a perfect accompaniment for spicy food.

My Malaysian beef curry was a real treat. There were generous chunky servings of the meat which were enveloped in a thick, mild, creamy sauce packed full of flavours.

I am not a lover of anything too spicy so this was the perfect dish for me.

There was lashings of sauce which soaked up my boiled rice which had an edge of stickiness and was not too dry.

My friend who had the chicken with Malay curry spices was equally impressed. She prefers a curry with more punch and this was just right. Her side order of noodles were cooked perfectly - soft but with a slight crunch to them.

The king prawn curry and chicken with Teriyaki sauce also received a firm thumbs-up and all our plates were polished off without a grain of rice for leftovers.

The Fat Buddha experience was worth waiting for. It certainly lived up to its reputation of exceptional food and a great atmosphere and it won't be too long before I head back.

By Liz Lamb - The Journal
December 2009
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