Lotus Garden

The food was piping hot and delicious, cooked exactly the way it was requested. My husband likes his food spicy so they kindly eliminated any sugar in the sauce and provided a small bowl of homemade chili sauce which he loved. I found my food a tad oily for my taste (Hubby thought it was fine). The portions were large — we were hungry but had leftovers of everything. Prices were more than reasonable. Service was super quick, attentive and friendly. Kind of surprising since there was only 1 waitress and she was running around like crazy doing everything — taking and serving orders, ringing through restaurant and take out orders, making drinks etc. Would definitely go back again!

This restaurant is both great and horrible, but if service is important to you, it will feel more horrible than great…
The food is great, the portions are decent and the prices are very reasonable for what you get. My wife and I have been many times because we live in the area and the food and prices are good, the problem is the service…
Since we started going, there have been 2 Caucasian women, the Asian owner (lady) and a few Asian men that have served us. The owner and the Asian staff are generally polite and prompt, the problem is that they aren’t the ones serving most of the time. The 2 Caucasian women that have served us nearly 90% of the time have been horrible. They often stand behind the counter doing very little while the restaurant is not busy and you wait 10 – 15 minutes to get a menu and drink orders. They seldom come back to offer to refill your drinks and most of the time, you have to ask for your cheque even though your plates have been empty for over 15 minutes.
Tonight was a deal breaker though: it’s New Years Eve and we have gone for Chinese every New Years Eve for years. My wifes sister came with us. We got to the restaurant at 5:50pm to a lineup at the front door of about a dozen people. After 10 minutes of looking at empty tables and no one being seated, I found out that they were all waiting for take out orders. We sat down at one of the free tables and waited as the server ran back and forth apologizing to many tables telling them «it’s not my fault…» she then blamed the owner for taking incorrect orders, the kitchen for being slow and the male server for stealing her tables’ food! Then as we watched her go behind the cash counter, she continued to apologize to the people waiting for take out orders and drinking what appeared to be red wine from a cup behind the counter. When she finally made her way to our table to take orders, we asked for water to drink and got our menus, she delivered the water quickly but in her rush, spilt half of the water on the table which she did not wipe up and then walked away.
Many of the people in line for takeout orders were discussing among themselves about the terrible service and long wait. One woman said she ordered her food over the phone at 3:30 asking to pick it up for 5:30, she had been there since 5:25 and one of the male servers came out at 6:30 to ask her what she had ordered because they could not find her order anymore. They did not have her order ready until 7:15. At no point did anyone offer a discount or honest apology (just the woman blaming the kitchen and the owner) to any of the people who had waited over an hour past their pickup times
We ordered the dinner for 3. When she brought our soups, the saucers below the bowls were completely filled with soup because she had spilt it while staggering to our table. While we were eating, she kept telling other customers how the male server took her tables and their food, she then began to cry to the owner and telling her about the male server all while in the dining room. At one point a couple came in looking for a table but all that was open were a pair of 4 seat tables pushed together for a large party and a 6 person round table. When they asked her if she could separate the 2 tables, the server told them to sit at an occupied table because «he’s leaving soon anyway». When they politely refused, the server asked the man sitting at the table if it was OK if they sat with him! He promptly got his coat to leave… I understand that they were busy but based on her inability to walk straight, her attitude and her emotional outbursts, I am convinced that she was indeed drinking. New Years or not, a server should not be drunk on the job…
We will probably go back for the food but not if she is working. Sadly, it does not seem like the owners realize how bad she is for their restaurant. If they hired a few good servers, this place would be really good!