or purposes of classification, this will go in the Restaurant section of Martiniboys. But if you’ve been there, you’ll know that it’s hard to really think of this place as a traditional restaurant. The front desk reception ‘check-in’ that greets you on the way in will put you in mind of a hotel just as the giant crowded bar overflowing with brightly-colored cocktails might confuse you into believing you’re in an ultra-trendy New York nightclub.

But the epic bar-room seems miniscule once you make your way through the labyrinth of interconnected dining rooms and into the centerpiece ballroom. Now you’re in a Victorian era mansion. The most unbelievably large and elegant (or gaudy) chandeliers hang from the soaring ceilings over a 30-foot long colossal-sized table. This place is of such epic Price Club-like proportions that I’m running out of adjectives for ‘big’.

Stephen Starr, also the owner of Manhattan’s Morimoto as well as twelve - count ‘em – twelve Philadelphia restaurants (including the original Buddakan) has obviously realized the infinite potential of the New York dining scene. Small and subtle is obviously not his forte; the effect here is Liberace-esque flamboyance, an assault on the senses that will daze and awe you into satisfaction. It definitely seems to be paying off for him; this place has become so incredibly popular that the crowded bars and dining rooms will remind you of a cross between the most ‘it’ nightclub in New York and a veal farm.

Oh yeah, and there’s food too, and Chinese fusion at that. Neither Stephen Starr nor Chef Michael Schulson are in any way Chinese, but they pull it off quite well. Authenticity has never been Buddakon’s focus, and the food doesn’t trick you into believing it is. But the expertness of preparation and thoughtfulness that goes into each dish means you won’t care. The menu is as large as the restaurant: seafood dishes by the dozens, chickens and beefs as far as the eye can see, and even more traditional fare like Peking Duck. Like it or not, Buddakan is impossible to ignore.