Lotus Garden

In a pinch due to time constraints, and wanting to get the kids fed a decent time before bed, I opted to stop by and get fried rice and white rice for takeout. First off, walking in: there was a dank smell. OK. Chalked that up to maybe there’s some food someone ordered that’s a little pungent. No biggie. My son and I stand at the front desk area to order. Older gent sees us, doesn’t acknowledge us, but walks around, answering phone (cordless), taking orders (a bit rudely I might add), getting flustered from all this seemingly normal activity. Another gentleman (I think owner or manager) comes from the back, sees us too, doesn’t acknowledge our presence even though I look right at him.
At that moment, a Chinese woman walks in, right up to the counter and basically places an order (in Chinese) and pays, then walks back out. I’m bewildered at this point. A true WTF? moment. Finally gent #2 looks at me (since I’m pretty much ready to walk out), and asks what I’m ordering. I place said order, and get charged ~$ 13. I hand over a $ 20, and then the pause button. Wait up. $ 13 for 2 quarts of rice? WTF? moment #2. I quickly check the menu, and a quart of chicken fried rice is $ 8.95. «$ 4 for quart of white rice? Is that the right price?», I ask. «Yes, it’s the right price. Rice is expensive nowadays.» –pause. Had the man stopped there, I would have let it slide and just chalked it up to, «not gonna forget to make rice next time.» But what he said next is what prompted this writing. «Actually, we use a special rice, it’s very good. You’ll see.»
By now, my son is snickering from the use of the word special to describe steamed plain white rice. I mean really. The words registered in my brain, and my third WTF? moment was completely visible, and I say, «But it’s plain steamed white rice, right?» «Oh yes, but it’s different and special,» he says, as he shows me the receipt to quell my disbelief. Now if I hadn’t handed the money over and been given change, I really would have just walked out? Dude, I’m Asian too. I can make white rice fantastic tasting with some butter and perhaps some other seasoning. What kind of magical chef do you have back there, or kind of rice cooker are you using — something fancy with fuzzy logic (I had one, and yes, the rice comes out perfect every time, but really?) At the Asian Food Market down the road, their most expensive rice is ~$ 20 for a 15 lb bag of some bougie Japanese rice. You’re giving me a QUART, of rice that at best is prolly a blend of jasmine and canilla. Literally, 32 ounces tops (though we both know that those containers are really a pint; let’s call it even at 20 ounces. Did this man see me and think, «Oh, he must be in a rush. Maybe I can surge price this rice.»
Straight faced, he told me once again, «the rice is very good. You will like it very much!»
After 25 minutes of being at this establishment, a bag emerges, brought by gent #1. We leave and I check the contents. «Holy crap, it’s white rice dude,» I tell my son. Fast forward to getting home, and sitting down to eat. Spoiler alert, there was really nothing special about the rice.
I’ve eaten here a few times in the 5 – 6 years I’ve lived in the area, but never again. For $ 4 and 25 minutes, I could have made my own rice, and it would have been spectacular.

some dishes are pretty good, like Shredded Beef with Dry Bean Curd.
and the beef noodle is highly recommended.

Ordered pork feet and fried pork cutlet rice. Service here can be an issue but the food tastes so good! Very authentic, and good portions as well. Came with rice and soup.

Very authentic Chinese food and service. No fortune cookies = no pretending to be «Chinese.» It simply is Chinese. Being from Beijing, I can still compare it favorably with many good restaurants there.

It was a good place for Chinese food. However, the quality was so bad most recently. We ordered the duck dish, which almost only had bones. The taste was worse than before as well.

We have been coming here for a couple of years now. The food is always fresh and hot. There’s nothing worse than being served warm food. Never had a bad meal here. Our new favorite is Lobster Hong Kong style (lightly fried with the shell on seasoned to perfection,) Sole Fish in General Tso’s sauce. It’s not on the menu but they will make it for u.)It’s perfect, not overly sweet or heavily breaded We also had Snow Pea Leaves. They were sauted with oil and garlic. So yummy. We have also had Garlic Ribs which are to die for. We love this place and it has become our favorite for Chinese food.

I was a bit nervous not being from the area & reading previous reviews but it was a great surprise the food was excellent well worth the risk! The customer service sucks I will say that. Not friendly at all but who cares I was on the phone for two mins and done deal.

The waitress service is terrible. She ask me that I should give her more tips. She even go outside, and she does not let me go to the car.

terrible. Chase and abuse customers for more tips.
terrible. Chase and abuse customers for more tips.
terrible. Chase and abuse customers for more tips.
terrible. Chase and abuse customers for more tips.

This is another one of our favorite authentic Chinese restaurants. My hubby use to work in Princeton and would come here for lunch ALL the time, and would bring me here for dates. So I think of this place fondly. But it really is good, and we do visit when we are in the neighborhood.
Now… my husband… he is not very adventurous. They know him when he comes in and probably make fun of him because he always… always orders the same thing. Beef fried rice, hot oil on the side. Wonton Soup. And a coke. He says he likes the fried rice because «it’s the right shade of brown.» whatever that is suppose to mean.
Me on the other hand… I’m the crazy one. lol I’m looking at the locals tables and pointing saying «I want what she is having.» Without even knowing what it is. If it looks good, smells good… and people are oohing, and ahhing… I’m all over it.
Pretty much everything I’ve had here is fantastic. The seafood is always fresh and perfectly cooked. The veggies are bright and crisp, the sauces are well prepared and flavorful. And even the Americanized dishes are 100 times better than anywhere else around. We’ve never eaten take-​out from here though, so we can’t comment on the quality of the dishes once they leave the restaurant. But as a sit down restaurant, the quality is outstanding. Everything is always crispy and delicious.
I will admit that the service isn’t 5 star service, which is why I only gave 4 stars. Sometimes your water glasses go unnoticed, and sometimes you have to wait for your check. And I could see how some people might think that the servers come off as a little rude or unattentive.
This is just another one of those hidden little gem’s that most people don’t know what they are missing out on.

The service was bad. The waitress had a rude attitude, and other people also had cold faces. The dishes were not delicious.

This place is despicable. Last night my 71 year old mother, who is a cancer patient and has lost her hair due to chemotherapy, went to Lotus Garden with a friend. My mom was wearing a scarf to cover her scalp. When she entered, one of the staff pointed at her, laughing, saying «ha ha ha, what happened to you?» This was extremely embarrassing and humiliating for my mom, who then walked out. The owners should be very ashamed of their staff.

One of two Chinese/​Asian restaurants in this small town, this is the one I go to for no-​frills comfort food. They have reasonably priced lunch specials which reflect the authentic offerings they have, along with American-​friendly options. When my brother visits from NYC, he always orders from here.

I recently returned for dinner on a weekend with my mom. Although the restaurant wasn’t packed, there were quite a lot of people there. We arrived right after a large party, but were seated pretty quickly. They brought tea and water out for us, and a plate of pickled radishes and seaweed salad. Both were delicious, and the seaweed salad was at a good spice level for me.
We ordered three dishes, all from the «Authentic» section at the end of the menu: a tofu casserole ($ 12.95), a pepper steak dish ($ 12.95), and a stir-​fried lotus root dish ($ 13.95), all with rice. The tofu casserole was more of a soup with fried tofu and cellophane noodles with a couple other vegetables. The soup was delicious – so flavorful, but not overly salty. The noodles were good, too (especially if you eat them before they have a chance to soak in the soup much). This was probably my favorite dish of the three. The pepper steak was served with a flair: the waitress came over with a tray with a hot stone platter and a bowl which contained the food. She then dumped the contents of the bowl onto the platter so that everything sizzled really loudly. That was fun to watch and hear, and the dish was also pretty good. The beef was so tender, and there wasn’t an excessive amount of sauce. Lastly, the lotus root dish was okay. Because it’s such an expensive vegetable, there wasn’t much of it. It was stir-​fried with some other vegetables including celery, carrots, and Chinese chives (I think – they didn’t have a very distinctive taste). Everything was slightly crunchy and just stir-​fried – no sauce, which I liked. Overall, though, I think I like lotus root when it’s softer (as in a soup), but this dish was definitely enjoyable.
After we finished our meal, they brought us a dessert taro tapioca soup. It was lukewarm, which I found odd – I expected it to be either hot or cold – but delicious nonetheless, and a nice surprise to end our meal. Not overly sweet, and lots of taro chunks.
One of my complaints in my previous review was about the wait service. We had the same waitress this time, and although she wasn’t necessarily friendly, she was professional and made our visit a smooth one.
All in all, great authentic food (off the authentic menu, at least). The authentic menu does boast some less expensive options, as well (mostly rice platter type dishes). However, especially considering the complimentary appetizer and dessert, I wouldn’t consider it unreasonably expensive. I have a feeling we’re going to be eating here a lot more often, especially for dinner.

Reading some of the past reviews, I am not surprised that some of them are less than stellar. This is reminiscent of Chinatown restaurants with minimal but speedy service and authentic Chinese fares. We went on a busy Saturday evening and the place was packed. I noticed that it was full of Chinese patrons. A good testament of its authenticity. They have a wide selection of popular favorites from Flushing restaurants… Three cup chicken, pea shoots, fish casserole etc… Service is no frills but the food is largely tasty. The sautéed pea shoots was very fresh and tender. Steamed whole fish was excellent, fresh, seasoned just right. 香干肉丝 and sizzling steak strips were average.

The service was poor and the owners were very rude. The portions were also small and on top of that some of the worst Chinese food I have tasted. Would never waste my money there again.

The best Chinese restaurant in plainsboro, and our favorite in wwp and Princeton combined. We don’t think one can find much better than Lotus Garden for authentic Chinese, even if you go as far as Edison or NYC. Peking duck roll is a must (19 half duck, 33 whole), whether you are American or Chinese — as a bonus, you can ask to have the duck bones cooked as a soup (very savory) for a minimal price.
You should definitely try the lunch specials on the authentic menu too (pork chop over rice — 7.50 I believe).

Rude on the phone when I called for hotel delivery.
The canned pops were old and expired which I found out after opening and trying one.
The hot and spicy shrimp tasted strange but I thought it might be the after taste of the expired coke. A few bites later I quit for fear that the shrimp may be as old as the canned pop.
This place is a mess…

The best Chinese restaurant in Plainsboro. Main supporters are from the neighborhood Asian crowd especially Chinese. I prefer to come here during non peak hours so that the quality of the food is more guarantee. The portion of the food is on good size. The signature dishes that I like are sautéed lotus root, Peking duck, chicken and eggplant with salted fish casserole, sizzling Chilean sea bass with black bean sauce. Staffs are friendly but they can be not so attentive during the non peak hours (busy reading newspaper/​using their phones) or talking too loud in the dining room (it’s a culture thing, I totally understand). I suppose they have to work on it. Those patrons who don’t used to using loud tone in their daily communication might feel annoying. Overall, it’s a clean and good family restaurant.

Was in the Plainsboro area for some work and chose to try out a new place for late lunch. Peeped into Lotus Garden and checked if they were open at 4.00 pm. There was one table that was busy and we chose to be the second table to be served.
If you go with no expectations possibly you will find this place to be «Average» at best. We ordered the chicken in hot brown sauce, vegetable stir fry, and fried rice. The food was served quickly. The chicken in hot brown sauce felt like it was re-​fried or re-​heated. The vegetable stir-​fry was disappointing. The fried rice appeared to be re-​heated as well. The best part of the meal was the mint tea. The waitress who took our order seemed lost and unfriendly. The patrons on the table next to us had to walk up to the kitchen to request for the check, and not surprisingly we did the same thing to make the payment.
Was it the odd hour? Even if it was, the food was nothing more than Average… and yes… I feel I am generous in giving 2 out of 5…