A Stephen Starr restaurant, Buddakan is a wonderful Asian restaurant where the food is as amazing as the decor: in the center of the restaurant, a massive golden Buddha towers over a long alabaster table lit from below to give an inviting warm glow to the surroundings. Go for dinner, or just go sit at the bar for a drink and the not-to-be-missed Dim Sum Donuts (featured on The Food Network's Best Thing I Ever Ate dessert episode)—freshly fried donuts served in Chinese paper takeout box with three amazing dipping sauces: ginger cream cheese, raspberry, and chocolate. Alas, now that I can no longer eat gluten, I can no longer partake in the glories that are Buddakan's Dim Sum Donuts. I live vicariously through those of you who choose to heed this advice...
Yet another Stephen Starr restaurant, this one is his collaboration with Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. The sushi is wonderful, as are the sake flights. On a particularly memorable dinner, I had the black cod with miso and wasabi fried rice while my Fiancée had Duck Duck Duck—perfectly cooked duck breast with a fried duck egg served over duck confit fried rice. I am glad that I went to Morimoto for that meal, as it changed my mind about the place to be honest. I had gone several years before and went for the Omakase (chef's choice multi-course tasting menu) with the sake pairing and was not overly impressed. I would go back for the black cod and Duck Duck Duck in a heartbeat!
I first went to this dim sum restaurant in Chinatown in the early 2000's with two of my colleagues and a business partner (who was born in China) who remarked that you could tell the authenticity of a Chinese restaurant in America by how few non-Chinese patrons it had. My two colleagues and I were the only non-Chinese people in the place, and the food was fabulous. To be clear, the place is unassuming. There are no menus: stainless steel steamers full of hot dim sum are wheeled around the restaurant in old stainless steel carts, you point at what you want, and the servers scribble what you've ordered on a paper bill left at your table. As different carts come by with different dim sum delicacies, you keep pointing and eating until you can't point or eat any more. Very affordable. Regrettably not gluten-free.
Yet another Stephen Starr restaurant, Pod is an ultra-modern Asian restaurant in University City. Think of a restaurant where The Jetsons would eat...but with much better food. The food is great, but the ambiance is better. Try to get a group together and book one of the circular pods with a panel of colored buttons on the wall that, when you push them, change the hue of the lighting in the room. Stay away from the green button if you are eating sushi, as you eat first with your eyes (as my Fiancee always says), and you will not enjoy putting green-colored sushi in your mouth...
There are two VIetnam restaurants--one in Chinatown and a cafe in University City. I have only eaten at the one in Chinatown and will never go anywere else. The food is stunningly delicious--fresh, flavorful, and beautifully presented. Their pho noodle soups are good, but their House Special Vermicelli is to die for. Service is fast, and the prices are ridiculously reasonable. If you are on a per diem expense for the organization for which you work, this place will help you keep to your budget while still enjoying amazing food.
Wonderfully fresh, beautifully presented, and succulently delicious sushi in a warm, inviting space a stone's throw from Rittenhouse Square, Zama is a great little place (私は寿司が大好きです). They have cooked food for those in your party who are squeamish about raw fish. They have a nice selection of sake, too.