Tynemouth has fast become a bustling mecca for wine bars and chic eateries. A place to be and be seen. We made the visit to check out Buddha Lounge. An asian restaurant tucked innocuously away next door to the famous Land of Green Ginger. Blink and you’ll miss the single doorway tucked away between Allards and Davanti’s.
Walking in to the impressive space at Buddha Lounge, you are met with beautifully lit trees and giant buddha statues. And all of the stairs. Oh so many stairs! Do bear this in mind!
The seating is split over several mezzanine levels which make the restaurant feel vast and never ending. Our table was across from the bar and if I can make one recommendation to you, ask for a different table!
On an early Saturday tea time, the groups of diners gathering at the bar for drinks before their table is ready is somewhat off putting when the staff are fighting their way through the already limited space with trays of food. You feel very hemmed in.
The Buddha Lounge menu provides two options to dine – tapas style from their small plates section or with a more traditional starter + main. We opted for the latter and started the hard task of choosing – everything sounded so good and looked delicious heading out of the kitchen!
We started with Chilli Salt Squid (£6.50), Imperial Scallops (£8) and the Seafood Tom Yam Soup (£8). Plentiful portions, the squid was packing that all important spicy punch but the absolute winner was the Tom Yam soup. A perfectly spiced broth was packed full with seafood – mussels, prawns and squid. An incredibly filling, generous dish as a starter. The soup alone would make an excellent lunch dish!
On to the main course! We opted for King Prawn Pad Thai (£12), Chicken Thai Red Curry (£13), Crispy Beef (£14) and Kung Po King Prawns (£14). The prawn dishes were spectacular with large juicy prawns, it made a couple of us quite jealous! Portions were good and the food was all delicious. We tried the sticky rice which was superb and the coconut rice was unsual – it looked more like a dessert, with the dessicated coconut sprinkled on top and topped with a cherry but it worked, it wasn’t as sickly and gelatinous as it sometimes can be.
With no room for dessert from the limited menu, hot sakes helped wash the meal down. All in all a good visit to Buddha Lounge – a beautifully presented restaurant.
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