The Lotus Tea House is preparing to undergo a transformation.Our last business day, before we begin our transformation, will be February 28th,2014.We thank you for the time you have spent with us and we look forward to seeing you again soon.
Upon discovering this place, I have been at least once a week either for a pot of tea, a quick lunch or a dinner with my partner. The atmosphere is relaxed and not rushed - the dining room is relatively small so service is able to see when you are in need of anything. Everything on the menu is vegetarian and so full of flavor! Sometimes restaurants will just give you the meat version without the meat and that will be their vegetarian options but here you get treated to refined and practiced vegetarian dishes. Their teas some in a glass, clear tea pot and are always presented so nicely so it is an entire experience really.
My friend brought me to this shop a few months ago when we decided to go out for lunch. I had never tried bubble tea before and was a little hesitant, but when we arrived we were greeted with a warm welcome and the cute waitress seemed to enjoy helping me with the menu. They have more flavours than any bubble tea store i've been to since. They don't use chemicals in their drinks and have real fruit or alternative milk options. It's right by the university so it tends to get a little busy when classes are out, but they have board games and an outdoor bistro sitting area to keep you occupied while you wait. and its always worth the wait. The waitress even asked if i liked my drink and demanded that she would make a new kind if i wasn't enjoying the drink i chose. A totally awesome place, i would recommend to anyone in the area to check it out!
I have been here multiple times and I love it. My friend introduced it to me back in university and we went multiple times for lunch and supper.
We loved the atmosphere and it was the perfect thing to do when we wanted to relieve some stress.
I grew up in a household that served meat and potatoes all the time, so when I first started going here it was a stretch for me since it is all vegetarian. I had never really seen anything like it or ate anything like it. I thought I would hate tofu. Now I have no issue with it. I
Their tea is amazing. We always get either the Fruit tea, Tangerine, Honey, lemon and ginger or the Black forest. They are all sweet teas. The Black forest is no longer served as they cannot import the leaves or something any longer. But I fully recommend the rest. They just make you feel good.
We love getting the wontons, most times just with our meal, but the last time we ordered them as an appetizer to have more.
We always order the dinner entree's. My standard is the 'szechaun' style sweet and spicy stir fry nuggets and broccoli. I cannot handle a lot of spice, and it used to be fine for me to have anytime. Now they have a new chef who likes to add chili peppers, and a lot of them. It is served with rice on the side. The last time I ended up eating most of the rice as a way to difuse some of the hotness of the dish. When I first started ordering this dish a few years ago I never needed to do that.
It comes with the soup, fermented bean sprouts and wontons. The soup is amazing, it is a basic broth with a few vegetables like carrots and cabbage, but it is so good. The bean sprouts scared me when I first started eating here. I wouldn't touch them cause they looked scary. Now they are one of the first things I eat. They are delicious. The wontons just finish the plate off nicely.
I recommend that if you love spice you will love the new chef, if not see if they will lessen the spice for you. I think that is my next step when I go again, though since I moved its harder to get there.
I recommend that if you are in the area though and just want to try it and see what it is about go in for tea and wontons or spring rolls and feel relaxed!
I would go again just for tea. Really yummy fruit tea. But the food is not good. Had some triangle samosa-type appetizers and a curry type dish. Frozen mixed vegetables and bad food across the board.
Forgive my memory lapses; we ate here in the Winter but I'm catching up on reviews.
The Tea House has a quaint atmosphere in an old house. It's a place I'd like to take my grandma for tea. And only tea. We had a tangerine fruit tea (~$4) that was enough for two. I don't drink a lot of fruit tea so it's hard for me to compare, but it was certainly delicious.
Service was okay, if not a bit inattentive.
What surprised me the most was the shape of my vegetables when my food (a yellow curry, ~$8) arrived. Corn, cubed carrots, short green beans: sound familiar? They used frozen california mix! For any restaurant, this would be an egregious sin. That it's a VEGETARIAN restaurant makes this unforgivable.
Worse, my date's meal had normally-sized vegetables, meaning they had fresh produce back there somewhere, it just wasn't used in my dish.
I was on the verge of sending it back and, in retrospect, I probably should have. The review before mine says some recipes have changed, so maybe I'll give it another chance in the future.
I really like Lotus Tea House because of their combos-- you get a soup, bean sprout appetizer and some sort of curry with rice. The meal itself is adequate and filling. Amongst other dishes I've enjoyed are Himalayan Triangles ( absolutely delicious with a unique curry sauce ), Raspberry Crepes ( slightly hard, but generally OK ), Eggplant combo ( lot of eggplant with some fried Tofu -- only thing my meat-loving friend enjoys ) and a few other combos. I am not a big fan of their noodles but you may enjoy it-- do watch out for the gigantic piece of ginger though (it looks like a potato...).
I am not too impressed with the the service-- the hostess' don't quite make an effort to be nice, and I typically have to make an effort to call the waitress so we can get water. It's a relatively small restaurant so you can eventually get their attention...
I would go here now and then, when you want something heart-warming to eat.
I've only dined here once and I can't bring myself to go back. The tea was interesting and really yummy, but the food nearly made me vomit.
I ordered some sort of vegetarian chili dish. It had tomato type stuff in it, along with corn and some type of fake meat. Next to that mess was a lump of rice. I've been a vegetarian for 10+ years and I regularly eat imitation meat products. This, however, was different. The food tasted the way I would imagine canned dog food to taste. After the first bite my gag reflex kicked in and I nearly got sick. I was so disgusted that I was tempted to wait in the car while my husband finished his meal (he ordered something different). I didn't complain about the food, but I find it interesting that the server didn't question why I'd barely touched my meal.
Perhaps their menu has changed, but the food was so disgusting on my first visit that I can't bring myself to visit for a second time.
A lovely, soothing atmosphere (although the 'mood...
A lovely, soothing atmosphere (although the 'mood music' can be somewhat disconcerting at times). My wife and I came for a relaxed lunch and ended up stuffing ourselves. The curry is unique and very good, both in the potato stirfry and the triangles. The mushrooms in the crispy noodles, although incorrectly labeled as 'shitake' (they are in fact Chinese black forest mushrooms) were delicious, and the whole dish itself just a delight. The tea is refreshing and sweet. The service was good, although one of our servers seemed rather unpolished and not too keen to help when we asked her questions about the food.
Overall, a wonderful place. We will certainly be returning!
I was greeted with a curt "I'll be with you in a...
I was greeted with a curt "I'll be with you in a moment". When I mentioned there would be two of us for lunch, the server led me to a small table about a foot from a table of four, and with a chair backing into the middle of the dining area and the other chair backing onto the entrance hall. The place was half empty, so I requested a table by a sunny window but was refused, since it was for three people (ten minutes later, two people were seated at so-called table for three). The food was good. The tea was expensive ($4.50 for a small pot - about a mug's worth). The service was inadequate: we had to request plates, my water glass was never refilled though I had finished it early on in the meal, we had to request flatware to serve ourselves the crispy noodles, and we were brought the bill before being asked whether we were interested in dessert. Would I go back? No, the food is not good enough to compensate for the service.
AMAZING FOOD!! It even requires the capital letters. The teas are awesome, the food is amazing/healty. Good for making special orders AND ANIMAL FREE. Prices are reasonable, they have student dicounts. 10$ for main course including appetizers. GO THERE.
The three of us stopped in for an early dinner. We were warned ahead of time that parking could get a bit hairy if it's busy, though luckily we got there before the rush. Beautifully decorated and located in an old home (original wood floors!), we were seated near the front window. Our server was a bit abrupt, but polite. The food was served relatively quickly, and all the ingredients were fresh and piping hot. As we left, we saw what the parking warning was about - it was ridiculously full!
In all - good food (it is vegetarian, but the tofu was very well done), reasonable prices, a lovely location, the servers could be a bit more friendly, and they need to work on the parking. Would definatly recommend for lunch/dinner.
You can't get better food or service for the price you pay. I've had everything on the menu and it has all been lovingly and carefully prepared. I had one complaint about the tofu and shiitake casserole 3 years ago, and when they overheard my complaint (there were no shiitakes in the dish!) they replaced it immediately, with MUCH apology.
I've moved away from the KW area, and whenever I visit I make a point of going to Lotus and having a bowl of my favorite House Specialty Noodle In Soup.
Please go. Please enjoy.
