Golden Buddha

Every metropolitan area needs at least one good dim sum place in order to qualify for major-city status. Dim sum, sometimes described as a Chinese tea brunch, is a complete change from the typical Chinese restaurant experience in America. Instead of large platters of mostly stir-fried entrees, dim sum is about small portions of baked, steamed, and fried foods. It can be both sweet and savory, and the circulating carts dispensing food throughout a dining room are an important part of the experience. The best dim sum in the entire area is found at suburban outposts like Phoenix Palace in Chandler and China Chan near MetroCenter, but what option is there closer to Central Phoenix? Golden Buddha, located in the COFCO Chinese Cultural Center on 44th St., just under half a mile north of the 44th St. / Washington station, is about the only choice for dim sum between Downtown Phoenix and Tempe.

Golden Buddha is probably the best known of the restaurants in the COFCO Center, a shopping center that should be full of crowded, high quality eateries. Like the Center as a whole, Golden Buddha is good, but not always great. It does well as a neighborhood choice on the east side of Phoenix, but probably doesn't measure up against Dobson Road as a source of consistent excellence and robust variety in dim sum offerings. The restaurant is certainly an attractive one. On the 44th Street side, Golden Buddha borders a garden that is visible to most diners. Inside, there are two dining rooms. The rear one is used primarily for dim sum, which is offered each day at lunch. The second dining room at Golden Buddha is generally devoted to the evening dinner service, and it's a different experience. The room is unexpectedly upscale, with a long full bar and a duo of pianists playing in alternation. It's defnitely a step up in terms of decor from the typical strip mall neighborhood Chinese restaurant. At the same time, it's not so formal as to be inappropriate for family dining.

Some dim sum choices are reassuringly familiar. Spring rolls and rice noodles, for example, are tasty and not likely to intimidate novices at the tea brunch. Other choices require more sense of adventure. Chicken feet and tripe are not for everyone, but fortunately the dim sum format makes it easy to avoid anything too scary. As the carts come by the table, simply say yes to whatever is appealing and decline that which is not. There is little greenery in Golden Buddha's version of dim sum -- not even the little plates of gai lan (right photo below), Chinese broccoli, often seen on carts elsewhere. Order vegetables from the menu in order to supplement the standard dishes, which lean heavily on pork, shrimp, and rice. Dim sum is generally not vegetarian-friendly, and it is even less so at Golden Buddha. Dishes that might seem meatless (e.g. taro root ) will often contain pork, so anyone wishing to avoid all or some types of meat needs to ask detailed questions of the servers.

Dim sum is not the only midday option at Golden Buddha. Customers can order from the regular menu, and many diners do. That choice may be part of what creates a consistency challenge for Golden Buddha. The best dim sum spends very little time on a cart during its journey from kitchen to table. Char siu baau (center photo below), barbecued pork buns, should vent a little steam the moment they are pricked with a fork. At Golden Buddha, they're sometimes lukewarm. It may be that when only half of a relatively small dining room is eating dim sum, items may circulate on carts a little longer than they ideally should. It might seem therefore that it's best to experience Golden Buddha's dim sum with a large group during peak hours, even if doing so means waiting for a table. After all, the faster the food leaves the carts, the fresher it is likely to be. The catch: During busy weekend hours, the kitchen often falls behind and carts become depleted before they reach every table. It's tricky to find the sweet spot between off-peak and peak times at Golden Buddha in order to experience the kitchen at its prime.

The regular menu leans heavily toward Cantonese fare, all of it executed well. There are familiar American-Chinese classics like orange chicken and pot stickers, but there are also more interesting dishes. Ask for vegetables like snow pea leaves. Even if they're not listed on the menu, they're likely to be available. The seafood choices are expansive with options like sea bass, crab, and prawns prepared to order. One interesting dish pairs shrimp with peas, egg, flat rice noodles, and a thick sauce, making it seems almost more like a stew than a stir-fry. Everything comes out of the kitchen quickly, making Golden Buddha a viable option for workers from nearby offices taking lunch breaks and guests at nearby airport hotels hungry after a long flight. While Golden Buddha is not always the dim sum magnet it could be, it succeeds as a conveniently-located Chinese restaurant of above-average quality.

668 N. 44th St., Phoenix, AZ 85008 | Map
(602) 286-9888
http://www.phxchinatown.com/gbphx/index.htm