Golden Buddha

These guys were out of business last I tried to go, late 2012
Jun 16th, 2013

Having lived in cities with amazing dim sum, I am pretty desperate to find a place here in Phoenix I could go to. This was not a good first attempt.... We went to dim sum on a Thursday lunch around 1:45pm. There was only one cart. The woman said there was usually one more cart with the fried stuff, but they weren't running it at this time. So normally there would be 2. I thought, not a good start but it's ok I mainly like the steamed dim sum anyway. We got everything they had in the cart excluding short ribs and beef balls, which I typically don't order anyways. Here's what we had: Siumai - no shrimp, spongy and bloated, weird tasting. When you cut into it, it was colorless--just this pale brown blob. It tasted like...nothing? It was the weirdest thing. I had to ask for chili sauce just to have a flavor. I swear you can judge a place's dim sum by their siumai--it's the staple dish! So of course everything else followed suit. Bean Curd Wrap -- Isn't this supposed to be filled with seafood and vegetables? Easily unwrappable in a light broth? Nope. More colorless pork. The sauce it was in was CONGEALED. Like a weird gravy. Ma Tsang -- This sticky rice wrap was probably the best part of the dim sum. It seemed over-steamed though. When I unwrapped it, the rice just slid out, and it was overly moist. Usually when you unwrap one, you gotta scrape it off the leaf. The flavors were there at least. I had a bone in mine though. But other than that I could at least manage to enjoy it. Chicken feet -- Overboiled skin and not very flavorful sauce. worst part is one of them still had the NAILS on. I definitely did not want to see that. Char Shiu Bao -- The bun had a good texture. The char siu filling seemed candied and overly sweet and the pork was dry. Meh.
Sep 17th, 2012

Great authentic Chinese food, nice ambience and attentive servers. This would be a great place to take your date! The only thing that I have found a bit awkward about the Golden Buddha is that this place has been completely empty every time that I have dined in. The restaurant is also quite large, so it makes it feel just that much more weird. Other than that, definitely an awesome place to dine at and be sure to try the Singapore noodles!
Feb 3rd, 2012

Showed up for Dim Sum this past Sunday only to be disappointed as the restaurant is now closed.
Dec 19th, 2011

The food on the menu was okay - tasted like most Chinese restaurants that appear to be "authentic" and also like most "authentic" Chinese food, the beef and chicken was fatty and cheap. The entrees were either a little bland or super sweet. This resturant has an option where they bring carts of food around and you pick food from the cart - this food looked old and gross. Tip: if you want to order from a menu instead of the carts, you have to ask for a menu. Atmosphere was really good. Overall: I would never come back.
Nov 11th, 2011