THE DISH: Big Buddha

Buddha Bar//78 Sinopskaya Naberezhnaya//Tel. 318 0707 //Open Sun – Mon 12 p.m. – 2 a.m., //Wed – Sat 12 p.m. – 5 a.m. //Lunch for two without alcohol; 4,190 rubles ($135))

By Chris Gordon

The St. Petersburg Times

Published: April 3, 2013 (Issue # 1753)

If you feel like getting away from it all — even for only a few hours — you can’t do much better than an afternoon or evening spent at Buddha Bar.

Both literally and figuratively worlds away from the rather bleak and unlovely stretch of embankment that it sits on, Buddha Bar is a destination in more ways than one. Once through the doors, you are immediately enveloped by the restaurant’s warm crimson and gold glow. Smiling hostesses and handsome waiters move through the cavernous space silently and efficiently to a soundtrack of laid-back jazz and bossa nova, providing some of the best service in the city, which is also worlds apart from most other restaurants in St. Petersburg.

After being led up a gracefully curving staircase onto the dining gallery, it was easy to forget that we were actually in a chain restaurant — albeit a very upscale one — that has branches around the world. We were offered a choice between a plush and comfortable-looking banquette or a table. After a moment’s hesitation, we chose to sit at a table order to have a view down into the lounge area, with its low-slung jewel-toned chairs and lacquered tables.

The menu, while offering plenty of options, is never overwhelming and contains mostly Asian and French-fusion offerings. It being lunchtime, we skipped over the tempting cocktail list in favor of a bottle of sparkling San Pellegrino water (340 rubles, $11.70).

Choosing from the tantalizing dishes on offer proved to be more difficult than anticipated. But after a careful look through the entire menu, we settled on appetizers of crunchy calamari with green chili (560 rubles, $18) and a rare beef salad with a lemongrass dressing (580 rubles, $18.70). The dishes arrived after the perfect delay and were served family-style, so that they could be easily shared.

The calamari was piled in a pale golden tangle with herbs and onions scattered on top and served with a clear, faintly green lime and spicy pepper dipping sauce. They were sublimely tender and ever so slightly crunchy, with a nice kick of acid and heat provided by the sauce.

The beef was beautifully presented on a long oval plate with coins of milky-white daikon radish supporting the rolled slices of beef. These were covered with dainty leaves of mache, fresh whole soya beans and dusted with a delicate sprinkling of nori — the seaweed used to roll sushi. The lemongrass paired perfectly with all of the ingredients, but if there was any criticism of the dish, it was that the beef had been kept at slightly too cold a temperature and the center was ever so faintly icy.

For mains we chose the house crispy duck (890 rubles, $28.60) and a Swedish teriyaki salmon with pickled daikon (950 rubles, $30.60), accompanied by a portion of sticky coconut rice (180 rubles, $5.80).

The duck arrived in a towering steamer basket with the top half holding a pile of pale rice-flour crepes in which to wrap the duck before dipping it into either a sweet and slightly sour plum sauce or a smoky hoisin sauce. Both were excellent and the portion of the tender yet crispy duck was more than enough for sharing.

The salmon was perfectly cooked too. Flaky and slightly cool in the center, the teriyaki sauce was neither too sweet nor overpowering and was set off perfectly by a crunch of tobiko caviar on top. The rice came served in a banana leaf and was fragrant but couldn’t hold up to the bold flavors of the other dishes.

For dessert, we had trouble choosing between the resolutely French offerings or those with more Asian flavors. In the end, we choose a creme brulee scented with jasmine and lemongrass (290 rubles, $9.30) and presented with an apricot sauce that combined the two. This was in fact the only time during the whole experience that we noticed that we were in a chain restaurant – simply because some of the desserts had the word “new” printed next to them on the menu.

The dish arrived with the standard caramel crust having been replaced by a delicate, transparent disc of spun sugar that added visual appeal as well as providing the sugary crunch that contrasts so well with the creamy pudding. This was all surrounded by fresh berries that were drenched in an apricot sauce brought separately and dressed at the table. A pot of green tea with toasted rice (300 rubles, $9.65) provided a perfectly relaxing end to a nearly perfect experience.

It is true that Buddha Bar is neither the easiest place to get to, nor is it inexpensive. If we had wanted, we could easily have spent the price of a plane ticket to Asia by indulging in the impressive wine list’s more extravagant offerings. But at a time of year when spring seems to be taking a bit too long to warm things up, Buddha Bar provides a perfect escape from the winter blues that takes you away from it all with a minimum of effort and a maximum of taste.