Lotus Chinese Floating Restaurant

samantha_tan

Great Dim Sum at Budget Prices 29th March 2009

3 found this helpful

For full menu and details see:
http://www.lotusfloating.co.uk/

We live walking distance from Lotus and are so glad we have finally found a place for authentic cheap dim sum without needing to travel all the way to Chinatown! From its mundane unlit appearance in the afternoon and tinted windows which prevented us from seeing inside, we always assumed it was a novelty joint either failing miserably or completely abandoned, until we walked in last week at lunchtime and realised it was buzzing especially with the office crowd from Canary Wharf!

All the steamed dim sum classics are well executed- fluffy white char siew bao (BBQ pork buns), har gau (prawn dumplings), siew mai (pork dumplings), beef tripe with ginger etc, and we were surprised to find good Ma Lai Koh (Malay steamed sponge cake) on the menu too which is the first time I've encountered it in London! We ordered two varieties of cheong fun (steamed rice sheet rolls)- char siew and fried dough- and loved both, highly appreciating the fact that the sauce for the fried dough version was served in a separate saucer for dipping instead of drizzled over, to ensure the filling remained crispy.

The fried/baked dishes also got the thumbs up all round- gorgeous little egg custard tarts with a flaky pastry, light and not-too-greasy wu kok (yam puffs with meat filling) and crunchy salad har (fried prawn dumplings with salad cream).

The only thing we regretted ordering was the plate of dry-fried beef hor fun, which was rather bland and oily and not worth the £6.50 price tag. Although I haven't tried any of their other noodle dishes, I would say it's a safer bet to stick to the dim sum classics.

Service was typical of a Chinese restaurant (none too friendly, civil but indifferent), but with most of the dishes priced at £2 (the most expensive ones being £3.50) and a lovely waterfront view to boot, I will definitely be back at Lotus over and over to satisfy my dim sum cravings! :)

bellaphon at 31/03/09

Nice one Samantha. And I thought places like these were gimmicky!

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vegimari

Good atmosphere 25th January 2009

1 found this helpful

I have visited this restaurant many times and, with just one exception, the food, atmosphere and service have been excellent. Prices are very reasonable considering the unique setting. They can be busy so book early for weekend dining, especially for a table by a window to take advantage of the dock views. Whilst browsing the menu, non-vegetarians enjoy hot satay sauce with their prawn crackers.

VEGETARIAN:
Their menu has been expanded recently to include more vegetarian dishes and they can also offer vegetarian options of standard dishes. Several vegetarian rice, noodle and bean curd dishes and the usual stir fried dishes are available, as well as superbly cooked "real" chinese vegetable dishes such as Choi Sum, Pak Choi and, not on the menu but always obtainable on request, a delicious serving of Ong Choi (Morning Glory/Water Spinach).

piggyeater

Dimsum good, dinner bad 14th September 2008

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We have been twice to this place. Its unique feature is that it is built on a barge type thing and is floating on water. Had dim sum for lunch first and all the dishes were just absolutely delicious. The stir fried noodles that was ordered to accompany the dim sum were all in fairly large portions and therefore pretty good value for money.

We returned few days later, for dinner. What a difference! It was still equally busy but the dishes that arrives were of sub-standard quality. It was as if they couldn't be bothered to do it properly. Particularly disappointing was the soy braised pig trotters, which instead of being braised in soy, was obviously just plain boiled to the point of no further sweetness, and had soy sauce slapped on top. Never again!

misstravelbug

Not impressed 9th September 2008

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Came here for the chinese new year banquet - not impressed at all. Chinese food was nothing special, service was lacking and ambience poor. Would not bother coming back though have heard their dim sum is better. It's too far to trek out for average chinese food, maybe if you're in the neighbourhood or live in the area.