Golden Buddha in Fishkill, NY Restaurant Review

So the lady and I went to Golden Buddha in Fishkill, NY.  As you may or may not already know from having read (or not) my blog, we love Thai food.  We had been here one time before and our previous visit warranted a return.  For journalism, of course.

The restaurant is located right on Route 52 in Fishkill, NY.  It's a stone's throw away from I-84 and Route 9 so it's very easy to get to.  There are just two or three spots in front of the restaurant, but park around the side at the beer and soda shop - there is ample parking available there.

The restaurant is not huge inside and we neglected to count exactly how many seats there were.  We'd estimate there were between 20 and 30 seats.  The decor is absolutely lovely - There is bamboo covering the front window, beautiful tapestries, paintings, and super neat chandeliers.  The whole place is very attractive aesthetically.

The wait staff is also dressed is what we imagine to be Thai clothing - the whole atmosphere is very nice and comfortable inside.










When you arrive at the table, you'll notice a small electronic device on the table - the device has three buttons: One with a little waiter icon, one with a drink icon, and one with a good old dollar sign on it.

When you want something from the wait staff, you press the appropriate button, and somebody will quickly come to your table to take care of your request.  Service on this visit was quite attentive and quick to take care of us.

Okay, now the proverbial meat of the review: The food!  Before mentioning what we DID get, let me mention some of unusual offerings that we did NOT get:

Deep fried Frog with pepper and garlic,
Lychee Curry Cha Cha Cha

They're available on the extensive in house menu, but not found on the takeout menu.  The in house menu is large and has a lot to offer - You'd be hard pressed to not find something to suit your tastes, and for lovers of Thai food like us, there is enough to keep us coming back for the foreseeable future.

We started our meal with the lady ordering her standard Thai Iced Tea.  I noticed that they didn't add tons of cream like they do at some Thai restaurants, letting the real taste of the tea shine through.  This was a plus in my book, and the lady agrees :)

We ordered two appetizers: The Thai-style fish cakes ($6.95) and Curry Puffs ($6.95)

The Thai-style fish cakes, as described on the menu, are made of white fish and green beans and seasoned with Keffir lime leaves and red curry.  These were very tasty!  Not a strong fish taste - chewy, rather than flaky.  All around yummy!  My lady as a rule does not like white fish or most fish in general and she liked these - we each ate half the order, of four.

The Curry puffs were made of chicken, potatoes, carrots, with curry powder and fried up in a little pockets of wonderment.  All around, delicious.  About what you'd expect by the description.  The fish cakes were a bit more exciting but both appetizers were delicious.  We'd order them again.

Both appetizers came with sides of sweet and sour sauce with peanuts and a spicy but somehow cooling cucumber sauce.  Tasty!

For our entrees, I got the Drunken Crispy Duck ($18.95) and the lady got the Royal Chicken ($13.95)

The Drunken Crispy Duck was basically a deep fried portion of duck on top of Drunken Noodles.  I was feeling adventurous, so I decided on this.  The portion of the duck was very tasty - it was a good size.  The portion of the Drunken Noodles could have been a little bigger, but it was suitably delicious - all in all, for the quality of the dish and the fact that the portion of duck was good and good quality - the dish was a fair value.  I know the price of food and a nice duck breast like that isn't cheap - it was fried very nicely, and the Drunken Noodles themselves were delicious.  I would get it again - except I'm so tempted by the Golden Buddha's other offerings, that it'll be hard to confine myself to just this one dish! :)

The lady's Royal Chicken was delicately flavored.  Mild red curry sauce, big chunks of mango, and some slices of bell pepper.  Presentation was just lovely.  The spice was sneaky and slowly built over the course of the dish - well balanced!  The lady enjoyed it very much.  I had a small bite or two and from what I tasted, it was delicious!

The presentation of the Royal Chicken was impressive - the metal dish, the artful arrangement of the rice and  garnish - the whole thing was very attractive.  Things do taste better when they look good and the chefs at Golden Buddha really have presentation down pat.

A word about the spice.  Thai food is usually very spicy.  On this visit, both of our dishes were mild.  This is not to say that they weren't flavorful and delicious - but as far as HEAT?  Very mild.  We spoke with the owner about this after the meal.  On our first visit, the lady ordered Drunken Noodles, which is usually very spicy.  Well, these Drunken Noodles would have melted your face off.  Insanely spicy.  Thai spicy.  It was just awesome.  I commented to my lady that you really had to have big stones to bring something so spicy to a customer - that unless a dish was that damn good, you would never dare.  Well, they did dare.  And the dish was that damn good.  So we were surprised this time around when things were less spicy.

We really ought to have expected that - most people will NOT want a dish that is Thai spicy - it's really a whole other level of spice from what people in this country are used to.  Me and my lady?  We love it.  But the moral of this diatribe is - tell them how spicy you want it.  Don't be afraid to ask for it very spicy if that's your style, because they may err on the side of caution.

The owner mentioned they their newest batch of peppers was insanely spicy which is why they were playing it safe.  It makes sense - you don't want customers to return food because it's too spicy.  And hey, you can always ask for the spice tray.


Golden Buddha in Fishkill, NY is delicious and highly recommended, both by me and my lady.  If you're a fan of Thai food, be sure to stop by - and maybe you'll see us there! :)

Golden Buddha is located at 985 Main Street in Fishkill, NY (Route 52).
The phone number to reach them is 845-765-1055

Check out their website at http://www.goldenbuddhathai.com

Thanks for reading :)