BUDDIES

     Type: Singaporean
     Address: Tverskaya ul., 12/18
     Phone: 694-0229
     Web: www.buddiescafe.ru

     Tverskaya

     Price: 1500 rub p/p
    
     Shit-o meter: -3 stars

 

Buddie’s should be your number 1 and ONLY destination in Moscow if you want Asian food. In an ocean of crap, this stands out as a beacon of good quality and value for money.

In general, this place is hard to criticize… So I’ll do my best.

One thing that really stood out for me was the standard of service. It remains a mystery as to how the manager of this place elicits such good service from his Russian waiters. Perhaps he pays them ludicrous salaries… I think more likely he kidnaps their families and holds them hostage, forcing the waiters to do their jobs properly. This is the only method which I could imagine would work on Russian waiters.

Basically Buddie’s is a sport-bar serving Asian cuisine. The décor is non-existent (personally I don’t give a shit about décor), with a few football jerseys hanging on the walls. It’s such a clash of cultures—Asian delicacy with British brutality, that I was completely thrown off by the concept.

Then there was the negro working in the garderob. This was a nice touch. I love these ironic stereotypes! But why stop there. You’ve already got the incomprehensible clash of Asian and British… I say the negro should double as a shoe cleaner. Then hire a French chef (but keep the Asian food), put in some Italian waiters, Cuban live music, hire some Filipino cleaners, some Russian bouncers, and maybe put some Indian beggars outside in the gutter. All this in the British-style sport bar. Then the concept would be more comprehensible—a melting pot of cultural clichés! Great idea for a restaurant! (Below: Putin's personal shoe cleaner and garderob attendant)

But in all seriousness, if you’re a practical person like me, then you will love this place. I took the sweet and sour pork (which I consider is a benchmark for the quality of Asian food in general), and it was absolutely SPOT ON. Just as you get in in those rat-infested Chinese restaurant back home (in your respective Western countries). Only difference is that it cost about 450 rubles, and I wasn’t full afterwards. So I took some chicken wings and some spring rolls which were bloody fantastic!

I was so happy that I decided to stay and get drunk after my meal! (always a good sign that I like a place). Bill came to over 4000 rubles for me and my g/f, but I guess if I came back I probably would’t take those 12 whiskies and several extra plates of food (which I already don’t remember). Therefore, your budget for Buddie’s should be around 1500 rubles per person. A good budget for Moscow! Though for that money, I could probably buy a whole dog in a typical Asian restaurant back home… Oh well.

You could be disappointed by the following:

Very small area for smokers… Though the crowd is very expaty, therefore non-smoking (goody goodies) and don’t take up space in the smoking area.
Small choice of beer—starting from 180 for Heinekken… Though it’s good export quality
No Russian beer… Though no Russians either...

 Gotta miss those home-style Chinese restaurants...




















UPDATE: Had reviewed this place a long time ago, when it was good. At one stage you could even find this review on the Buddies website (well, parts of it anyway). Now something's happened. Apparently the owner went back to Singapore (selfish bastard), and the place has completely gone to the dogs (why did they have to open that cage??). Was here for Aus-Ger world cup match a few weeks ago and they DIDN'T HAVE BEER! Talk about self-destruction of your business.