When The Flea Met Buddha

Well OK, he didn't quite meet THE Buddha (he's nowhere near far enough along the path to enlightenment for that to happen), it was the massive statue situated in the exclusive Buddha Bar in Paris, where he spent Saturday evening on his friend RJ's stag do.


Big Buddha is watching

An impressive venue as befitted the reputation, with an air of exclusivity lent by patrons dressed expensively in glamorous rags, it was quite the posh joint. Apart from the Flea and friends, everything looked attractive from the decor (ornaments and statuettes lit up in alcoves) and service staff, to the rest of the clientèle. The whole place was dimly lit with candles providing most of the lighting - an interior designer's idea of creating a romantic and mysterious ambience, but how quickly that would be dispelled if some diner were to set alight their menu whilst holding it up to the nearest naked flame (seriously, the only way to decipher the menu unless you have night-vision).


Sleepy Buddha

Whilst your eyes might complain of trying to read in the dark, your stomach won't complain about the food with a pan-asian inspired menu and dishes delivered with cordon bleu exactitude. The Flea's starter of sashimi (tai - seabream; suzuki - seabass; toro - fatty tuna) was superb and his Kobe beef main dish was of high quality. And so they should have been for the expense - perhaps they make it dark to obscure the menu prices as your wallet is in for a serious beating. In the background the resident DJ kept the reknowned Buddha Bar world fusion dance beats spinning, cranking up the volume as the night went on.


The fish that didn't get away

Following the busy evening dinner period, people head upstairs to the bar which is in the form of a gallery going around the main dining room and from where drinkers hang over the balconies to spy on the (attractive) diners below. It's pretty narrow so a lot of people trying to dance joust for space with drinkers trying not to spill their overly expensive beverages (a bottle of Corona costs 10 euros!).


Dinner ladies

Later on as people finished their meals in the main dining room, they got up to dance in between the tables which were not cleared away to make a dancefloor, even though a club atmosphere had taken over with the music pumping. Obviously the owners know there's more profit to be made from the tables being there for diners, but with thirsty dancers and their unbelievable drinks prices, they'd still make a huge amount.


Dancing in the dark

Overall it was an attractive venue with good food, excellent music and plenty of beautiful distractions (human and otherwise) to entertain the eye. Despite being a place for blowing all your wages in a night, it's worth the experience. Would have been better if they had a proper dancefloor to take advantage of the music, but hot people bopping about squashed together in confined spaces also has its advantages and not much serenity was going on in front of the big Buddha. There won't be much serenity in the Flea's local bank either when he goes to see his bank manager about a mortgage to cover the costs of the evening.