Review The Lotus Restaurant - Wellington

It was really good. Quiet and nice place

Really very well prepared and served dishes. Can recommend squid and spring rolls to start and prawn in coconut and chicken with cashews for mains. If you like this cuisine, this is the place! Also our wine cost little more than I'd pay for it delivered home in the UK (I checked). Try it!

Food is fresh, delicious and very reasonably priced, there's a good wine selection, again, pricing very reasonable and the service is amazing; the staff have mastered the art of being attentive without being intrusive. Would definitely eat there again and recommend to others.

Easily the best vietnamese in town. The food is incredible and the chicken curry is to die for. Prices are extremely good (main ~$20) and is more than enough to feed you! Cannot rate this place highly enough.

Still good food just need time to adjust to their new renovated stores. Will be a great place for lunch with colleagues

A very pleasant dining experience with courteous service and delicious, well-presented meals. Highly recommended.

Beautiful fresh tasty food. Service could be a bit more friendly and enthusiastic

Fantastic service and delicious food, would definitely visit again!

Authentic Vietnamese food. Reasonable prices. So so ambience and service.

Wow, what a wonderful restaurant. I am glad we stumbled across it.

Great Vietnamese food. Very tasty.

Beautiful authentic food and service

Yum

Loved it...

Super freken good!

Service is good.<br/>Decor is creative and lovely. <br/>Fresh spring roll is amazing! <br/>We ordered beef pho which is so fresh tastes. <br/>Will definitely go there again.

Saw a recommendation on a vegan group. Sounded great so we popped down for lunch.<br/><br/>Place was empty at 12:30 on a Sat arvo. Suited us. There were a few fruit flies hovering around. Not a biggy, but a little annoying.<br/><br/>Friendly staff. A reasonable amount of veggie options.<br/><br/>We ordered the veggie prawn tom yum and the noodle salad with Lotus sauce. <br/><br/>Both dishes were ~$16.00. <br/><br/>Each dish was fresh, flavoursome and a good portion size. Full of veg. The prawns were great. They have the consistency of sashimi and are made from beans apparently. My dish came with a side of chilli sauce and fresh chilli which complimented the dish well. I'm not a pineapple in savoury dishes person but it worked in this dish.<br/><br/>Both myself and my partner thoroughly enjoyed our meals and will definitely return soon. <br/><br/>Recommended.<br/>

Great foods,we had oder fresh spring rolls and pork grill sticks.They were both tasted yummy and fresh.The service is average,they could preparing our dishes faster?Its took more then 25 minutes for my oder to be served,otherwise its all good.

I went here to had dinner with my Family.The foods was great and fresh also quite tasty and not too oily.Order took awhile to serve but lucky i have ordered all at the start so they all came at one.I recommend the grill pork skewers and lemongrass prawn is very good,i had order some separate rices to eat with these.On the otherhand the foods is need a bit more sweeter.I will coming back for to try another dishes.

We had enjoyed our meals at this wonderful restaurant.The fresh spring roll was good with the ingredients is very fresh,I also enjoy their deep fry sping roll.Fry pork and veges was also tasty and less oily, this is what i prefer.Disdvantage is there is other choice for the spring roll sauce also with other dishes,apart from fish sauce.I would prefer like hoisin sauce or similar over the fish sauce and garlic.Other then that we had a great dinner here.

Great atmosphere and authentic Vietnamese food.We had Tried the crispy chicken ,spring roll and the curry dishes! Delicious. Every thing was good, the vegetable,hebr, ingredients is so fresh .I will definitely coming back with my friends.

I came here with a friend, and we had the Pork and Prawn Crepe, and "Bun cha Obama" (which is grilled pork with Vermicelli). The name is Obama, apparently because it's what Obama ate when he went to Hanoi. :) Both dishes were great! Really enjoyed each dish, which had generous portions. Staff were friendly. We took away Spicy Chicken Satay for a friend, which they loved. I've been trying a few Vietnamese places around wellington, and I would definitely recommend this one for anyone who's keen on trying traditional Vietnamese food.

We've been to this restaurant several times and have always enjoyed it .The food was fresh, properly prepared and a great value for the price. We highly recommend it.

Had a fantastic evening! Food was fast, well priced and super tasty. Nice vibes and had a great time with friends. Would definitely come back and recommend everyone :)

lovely meal, very sweet staff, quick service overall great experience will being going there again soon! ordered the beef pho and it reminded me of my meals in Vietnam.

Went for dinner here with a group of 8 on a Thursday night. I had never been here before and overall, I was really disappointed with the whole experience. Service wasn't good to start with, but as soon as orders were written down we got excited. However, we had to wait more than 25 minutes for entrées. We ordered the crispy spring rolls which weren't anything special, and the clear dumplings which were rubbery (all casing and little filling). We looked forward to getting our mains but had to wait a while to get them too. They eventually started coming out very slowly one by one and our entire table had finished their meals before they told us the last meal was delayed. No explanation was given. I ordered the beef fried rice and was quite disappointed - it was fairly bland. After 30 minutes my partner still hadn't gotten his crepe. He was told that there was a delay but not the extent. We eventually cancelled it as we were ready to leave before he got his meal - again, no explanation. Poor service all round and bland food.

This was a great restaurant, that has sadly gone down hill under new ownership. Recently went here on a Thursday night and had to wait 1hr for food. Didn't order entree. Just main. Severly understaffed... this has been the second time i experienced this at lotus, and it will be the last. To top it off, owner (acting as waitress) was rude and wouldn't give any updates on the timing for the food.

Ample portions. Got the chicken salad but it was mainly cabbage and not much chicken. They did put sauce in a separate container which was great as you could choose how much sauce you wanted on your salad. Friend got chicken curry and that was much more exciting than my salad. Fresh spring rolls were delicious!!!

A poor experience. Although I ordered beef noodle soup and this confirmed with the waitress twice, I was brought grilled salmon. The waitress then proceeded to argue with me about what I had ordered, showing me her notebook in which she had written salmon. I don't like salmon, certainly ordered Pho Bo and had actually pointed to it when I ordered. I said I would try it regardless as it would have gone to waste and she seemed very huffy and defensive about it. It was awful and swimming in oil. I didn't eat it at all beyond 1 bite. Despite seeing this, and knowing I didn't order the salmon she still charged me full price for the it which was $8 more than the soup I ordered. Will not be returning to this place. I've not had such a bad experience before with wait staff.

The food is great - really good value, however, the service &amp; ambience let it down. <br/>The door opens when the wind blows (which is often in Wellington) and if you're sitting near the door it makes it cold. The only heating they seemed to have was a gas heater near the counter.<br/>After reading a recent review in the Dom Post my friend &amp; I both wanted the rice crepe - however there was only 1 serving left when we ordered @7:30pm. A bit disappointing for a Saturday night. We also got the lemongrass chicken which was nice, and the fresh spring rolls which were delicious.<br/>We did want to try a desert but the waitress seemed to forget about us so we left. <br/>Great food - but the drafty door &amp; very average service let things down.

I have been to this restaurant twice now and have sadly the experience took a bad turn on my second visit.<br/><br/>My first time dining at this restaurant was an all round great night! The food was delicious, perfectly cooked and the staff were polite and eager to meet all of our needs. This was on a quiet Thursday night with only about three or four tables in the restaurant.<br/><br/>I went back the next week with my family for my birthday dinner as I had raved about the food and wanted to have the delicious summer rolls and chicken curry! I booked a few days prior to ensure we got a a table (as it was for a public holiday). We arrived on time but were left standing in the middle of the restaurant for fifteen minutes as our table was given to another group of people who had not booked. We were then seated and given menus. Half an hour later we had no water and had not had our orders taken. After 40 minutes I told the waitress we were ready to order. Ten minutes after that my Mum went and told her we were ready to order and then ten minutes after that (70mins in total) our orders were taken. I was embarrassed and frustrated as I had raved about the restaurant to everyone. The food was again delicious but some serious work needs to be done on bringing up the level of the FOH staff. <br/><br/>I will return as it's the best Vietnamese food I have tasted since being in Vietnam but only on a quiet night or I will have takeaways!

Thank you Lotus Restaurant for a very pleasant evening. The food was very good and so was the service.<br/>Could I just make one suggestion though - two of us were vegetarians and the vegetable curry had a lovely, tasty sauce but the vegetables were a bit lacking. There was potato and, I think kumera, and plenty of those. There was one piece of tiny corn and one cherry tomato. A green vegetable, maybe beans would have been great.

Very nice place to eat in and the service was really good. <br/>Sat in for 3 hours and felt no pressure to leave. I only got spring rolls but they were very yummy.

The whole service was amazing! We couldn't ask for more better service. The food was fresh, simple and delicious and my 2 gorgeous little girls love the food as well.Thanks a lot for the warm experience. We will definitely come back soon!

Fresh. Simple. Delicious. Happy I finally stopped in. Clean, satisfying eating, definately going to be a regular stop.<br/><br/>I would score the place 5 stars but menumania, asking me to write a 200word review is beyond me.

Good Vietnamese food at reasonable prices, with polite service. We will definitely eat here again. We ordered the beef and chicken pho noodle soups and the summer rolls as a starter to share. Everything was fresh, simple and flavorful. <br/><br/>The restaurant is handily located and they also do takeaway (several people came in to pick up orders during our meal).

It was my second visit last night. Had an awesome dinner. Service was great. Love the grilled lemongrass prawn. My main was Chicken Curry and it was fantastic.<br/>My husband had pyramic rice dumpling and beef noodle, the beef was perfect, not overcooked.<br/>Then we had creme caramel for dessert, addicted!!!!<br/> Will definitely come back soon.

I visited the establishment for the first time last night after reading Sarah's review. As my guests and I weren't as impressed we won't be returning.<br/>We found the food to be quite tasteless &amp; quite sloppy, making it difficult to eat with chopsticks.<br/>We were seated near the bar &amp; I smelt cigarette smoke wafting in on two occasions which I didn't appreciate.

The food is tasty and well priced. I've tried the summer rolls for starters as well as the prawn sticks. The noodle soups are good (the red chillies are very hot!). I don't eat beef/pork/chicken but have been to amend my orders to have prawn only for instance. The first visit, there was a mistake and waitress apologised and my order was remade quickly, without the chicken. The kitchen provided some free beef satays to make up for it (husband enjoyed these saying they were not overcooked). The peanut sauce was nice, as you could tell it was house/home made.<br/><br/>For dessert, I've enjoy the Vietnamese creme caramel twice.<br/><br/>I do hope this business survives (a location issue?) as it has already become a local for us. I've been here four times already (including last night dinner as well as today for takeaway lunch) and I would recommend others on visiting. <br/><br/>Each time the waitress has been different but the service has been overall polite, attentive and friendly.

The Lotus is new and it shows in the organisation - the staff were scrambling to manage the influx of Wellingtonians, all agog and itching to try the new vietnamese restaurant on the scene... The setting is calm, decorations are attractive but not over the top. The food, however, is sublime. I had a very simple dish of grilled pork and spring rolls, which was lifted out of the ordinary by absolutely perfect flavors. The wonder of Vietnamese food is the delicacy of the flavors, and many restaurants are unable to achieve the fine balance that this cuisine demands. Not the Lotus though, an absolute must do.

This place is a must for Vietnamese food lovers. The dishes are everything and more from what you'd expect - fresh, beautiful and delicious. <br/><br/>We will be coming back here over and over again.<br/><br/>No liquor license as yet but it's still worth checking out.