Lotus Cafe

Great food for a small place. Great service and they always make sure you’re seated quickly, which is a big plus for me ! They also have the best ribs in town!

Whole family has Been coming here for over 15 years! The ta lo mein is amazing as well as the prawns. Chicken fried rice is one of the best around. Staff works fast and food comes out quickly. Always love coming here.

The food’s ok, some better than others, but this rating is based off customer service. The lady at the register needs a hug, be a little more welcoming?

A hidden gem in Hackensack, literally. Unless you know where Lotus Café is or have someone tell you to check it out, you will probably never stumble upon this place in your travels, but it is definitely worth stopping by. This hole in the wall is in the lot next to Riverside Square and behind the Avalon. You can’t go wrong with any dish you have there, the food I’ve gotten has always been pretty good. If I had any compliant, it would be the service. Not that the waitstaff isn’t attentive, just a little abrupt. I can deal with that for this delish food though :)

Have been to the Lotus Café several times. The food is great. I also enjoy the atmosphere. I was so happy to find a good Chinese restaurant. Looking forward to my next visit. Good service.

The Story: Had Lotus café a couple years ago — decided to check it out again.
Food:
Not good at all. Nothing is seasoned correctly. I feel like this place is catered to people with no taste buds.
Décor: Okay size dining room but it has a musky feel to it.
Price: $ 60 for a casserole dish and a beef stir fry. Not worth it.
Service: Service is average.
Parking & Finding the Place: This part is easy at least. Located in the same shopping center as the Home Depot, Port of Call, Staples and Applebees.
Additional Thoughts/​Tips:

This is the fastest Chinese food place that you can stop in for lunch in the area. The have a decent lunch menu where most items are under $ 9. They are quick to bring out your drinks followed by soup and the entrees arrive as soon as you are done with your soup. The food is pretty good and their fotune cookies are chocolate, yum.

I could not give any rating for this terrible restaurant. We went to this place on Friday night. The waiter guide us one round table, I said we are 7 people. He said with attitude that we could squeeze each other. I asked «Could you put two table together?» it seemed to have two available table in the back. He refused it and showed us his anger. It was unbelievable moment. I never see the waiter shows his tempo and anger to customer. I highly recommend not to go this restaurant. He ruined our Friday night dinner!!! We just walk out this terrible place.

Went here one a friday night and it was pretty crowded and we had five adults and two children (elementary school kids). We asked one of the employees to put the two tables together to accomodate us. But the same employee, refused to do so and told us to sit down on the round table, which gets pretty crowded with 7 people when the table is meant for 5. He said just add two chairs and sit down. So we asked nicely why can’t he do the two tables together? Then he walked away and another employee walked by and we asked him, and he said, SURE OF COURSE. I don’t know if it was the language barrier, but they started to put the tables together and the same guy who said no, he pushed the chairs out and threw them (lightly) on to the side to show that he was upset. I still don’t understand why he was so upset, so someone from my party asked him, why are you upset? Then he proceeds to go up to my friend, literally in her face with these bulging eyes and yells at her, you have a problem? I seriously thought he was ready to throw a punch. Then her husband had to jump in and it was a giant mess. Don’t know exaclty why this happened, but we just left without even getting to sit down properly. Don’t care how good the food is because I never tried and it was my first visit there, I am never going back there again. The manager didn’t even apologize, she just said «oh sorry». Totally disrespectful and rude. They need to train their front of the house employees better so they don’t lose business over something petty. Still quite confused what happened two nights ago at this place. Sorry we asked for a larger table, jeez.

Would love to give it more than 3 stars, since the food was wonderful as usual, but the server was downright rude. Other than that, it was great!

Good Chinese-​American food for eat-​in, take-​out, or delivery in Hackensack. I had company coming for new year’s eve — lots of family from all over the country — and ordered a tremendous amount of typical dishes and it was delivered hot, fresh, and yummy within the hour on new year’s eve! We had a great time and I didn’t have to bust my butt. Pretty perfect.

I can’t rave about this place enough. Their menu is extremely extensive and everything on it is amazing. It’s typical Chinese food but a step above Chinese takeout. It is such a hidden gem in Hackensack. I have been here a few times with my boyfriend. He is from Hackensack and used to come here all the time. Their wonton soup is really tasty-​the wontons are very thinly wrapped so they are not too doughy. This was the first place my boyfriend tried scallion pancakes and he was HOOKED after that day. Their general tsos is such a tastier version of the standard you’d expect from a takeout place. I recently ordered the beef and mushroom casserole and it was a humongous portion of tasty goodness. I was so pleased. The staff is also really on point with refilling waters and just their level of attentiveness in general is worth noting. Excellent restaurant.

Very good Chinese food. Can’t go wrong here. Eat in or pick up. Portions are good size, same for take out. If you want it spicy, do tell them.
Long lines, cash only, small restaurant so limited seatings. I would recommend reservations.
Good service.

I would absolutely come back and eat here. It’s an upscale Chinese restaurant but the taste is great! They also have a big selection of healthy meals.

When I was younger this was one of my favorite spots to come eat lunch with my mom. This restaurant is also BYOB which is a nice added touch and is located in Hackensack where the Home Depot shopping plaza is. I remember eating their golden sesame chicken and thinking it was the most amazing thing in the world, unfortunately my last nights ordering experience is leaving me to feel differently. (also my first time every ordering out from here, I always dine in usually)
We placed an order for one golden sesame chicken with white rice, beef and mixed veggies with white rice, sweet and sour chicken with pork fried rice, 2 spring rolls, and a singapore mei fun. Everything arrived in about 30 mins from the time I placed my order. As we divided out the order between everyone I could already tell that my experience wasn’t going to be the same as all my other experiences with lotus café. My golden sesame chicken was more soggy than crispy. the spring rolls were amazing though along with the singapore mei fun that my friend let me try. The sweet and sour chicken was nothing to brag about and the beef and broccoli was just alright from what I was told. I feel it would of been way better eating at the restaurant fresh and crisp but I have learned my lesson about take out from here.
I am going to try Lotus Café out again but I will definitely be enjoying it in the restaurant this time around.

I am very impressed with Lotus Café tonite. Brought my family here on a recommendation from a friend. The beef chow fun was delicious! Light and delicate. My go to Chinese restaurant for quality good was the well know shop in Englewood. I liked Lotus Café so much better. Also had the soft shell crabs-​yummy!

When we came in, they seated our table of 5 people quickly.
It’s BYOB so that’s awesome. We had our bottles of wine ready.
The food was pretty good. I let my parents order since they know which dishes to order that are best. Everything we had was decent. Not the best authentic Chinese food I had but it will do.
However, the waiter seemed a little annoyed with the fact that we didn’t order a vegetable dish. We had ordered about 4 large entrees to be shared in the middle. He kept trying to push another dish on us. We asked if we had to order an entrée per person — he said no, it’s not a requirement. But kept pushing us to order another.
We said we’d order an additional dish if we’re still hungry. He seemed so annoyed by that! I don’t know what his problem was?!
But the rest of the staff seemed decent. I may go back but I’m not rushing to do so.

I went to Home Depot tonight with hubby and we decided to come to Lotus Café to eat because we were very hungry after shopping, and Lotus Café is right at the same plaza. Big mistake!!!
We walked in at the restaurant around 8:30pm and we were greeted immediately by the host. She was a very pleasant lady and the restaurant is spacious and looks very clean.
We ordered calamari with salt and pepper and KaoFu (this is made of gluten and a very popular cold dish in traditional chinese cuisine) for appetizers, and hubby order beef stew noodle soup, and I ordered a similar version of beef stew noodle soup but had beef tendon and Chinese vermicelli instead.
The fried calamari is not bad, this was the only dish we ordered tonigth eatable.
Our beef noodle soups were a big MEH, the soup broth is bland with no flavor, the beef and tendon were overcooked, and the noodle and Chinese vermicelli were really soggy and had no chew at all.
The KaoFu I ordered was served last, and while I put it into mouth I was very surprised that it was really hot! It was not supposed to be hot as this is a «cold dish plate», it was not supposed to be hot.
When our check came, I asked the waiter why was my KaoFu dish served hot and he told me because not a lot of customer ordered this dish so they have it frozen and microwave while people ordered it. Can you believe this? The cold dish is supposed to be made fresh daily and served fresh. Serving cold Dish hot and charged $ 8.95 is beyond ridiculous.
This place probably serves fine Americanized Chinese food, but they don’t know how to make authentic Chinese food, if you are looking for authentic Chinese food, please don’t come here.
I gave it 2 stars because the restaurant is clean and the host makes you feel very pleasant, but the food was a big disappointment and over priced.
I will never return.

My Chinese coworker and a big foodie showed me the place in 2000 or so. It’s as authentic as Chinese gets in the area. If you also don’t think that food in typical Chinese has nothing to do with real food in China than you will appreciate this place. On other had if you never tried nor wanted to try anything beyond you neighborhood crappy take-​out place then you might give Lotus Café only 3 stars.
RECOMMEND:
— Noodle shop is what they are famous for
— Any dish, even something offered elsewhere here is better.
— Tendon soup is my all time favorite
— General tso Chicken is great
GOOD:
— Choose the noodles of your liking regardless of the menu
— Parking right there and no wait time most of the time
— Quite and great for business lunch
Needs improvement:
— Service in times can be better, but times better then in Flashing or China Town
— Wish they would deliver to Fair Lawn :)

The best Chinese restaurant in Bergen County– maybe in NJ. Great hospitality, and the food is served courteously and is always well prepared. Bring the family– go in a date, but make
Sure you bring
Your appetite!