Water Lily

For lunch anyway, in décor and menu selection and breadth it is quite like a US Chinese restaurant from 60y ago, about as conventional as can be, although of much higher-​quality prep, presentation, and ingredients. No echt native cuisine (Canton, Taiwan), no pan-​Asian breadth (although they do offer pad thai), no sushi, nothing but a small, limited selection of beef, shrimp, veg, cod (breaded and fried, kinda unclear from the menu) dishes. Not inexpensive by any means for lunch, but large portions and, as I said, good quality. Recommend the garlic-​slice-​sauteed snap-​pea greens (I think that’s right), less the fried fish blossom w sweet /​slightly hot fresh mirepoix. Quiet, yes.

This is one of our 2 «go to» places for Asian take out. the other is Thai, so not an apples to apples comparison. But we eat it at least once a week. Food is very good. Always eat take out so I can’t speak to the dine in experience but the dining area is always pleasant and clean and the staff are always smiling and gracious and the food is Tasty & Good and they will make it extra spicy if that’s your thing.

It’s not your typical American style Chinese restaurant. Although you will find those American Chinese dishes on the menu, they taste more authentic. If you like normal American Chinese food, this is not a right one for you. Check out their new and special dishes, you can see the photos when you walk in. The service is nice and friendly. Definitely a must go place if you are in the neighborhood and craving some REAL Chinese food.

Very tasty Chinese food with decent service, but I’ve had my best experiences getting delivery.

I could tell you, Pad Thai is tasteless, and it’s just a hunk of rice noodles with two shrimps and scallions. No fish sauce, vinegary and sweet taste I know when I have same dish in Boston area Thai restaurants.
Eggplant with garlic has a decent taste however not consistent.

The portions are large, but so are the prices, and the food is mediocre.

Bummer it used to have the best Chinese in town. Now the quality has gone down hill. Recent report: fried chicken fingers seemed to be fried in bad oil– hideous taste. Sweet and sour soup looked like a corn starch gelatinized mess. General tsau chicken– clumpy, mass produced and served with sad, very sad, broccoli.

Have been trying to find a Chinese food place close to home and have tried several, with little success. We tried Water Lily tonight, which is 5 miles from my house, so not the closest, but it is so worth the drive! Loved the complimentary edamame! We shared pan fried Peking ravioli, sweet and sour chicken and white rice. Loved every bite! The sweet and sour sauce was lighter than most places, and delicious! Will DEFINITELY return! Also. It is cozy, clean and cute inside! Great atmosphere!

Reliable and dependable for eat-​in or take-​out in the western suburbs. Convenient location. Good service. Pleasant décor.

I love Water Lily! I get take out there about once a month. The vegetarian spring rolls aren’t greasy as is the case in a lot of Chinese restaurants. They cost $ 3.95 for two of them, which I think is quite reasonable. I have also had the boneless spareribs and they cost $ 6.50. They were fairly typical of most Chinese restaurants and were fine. The crab rangoons have an ample amount of filling in them and cost $ 7.95 for eight. I agree with another reviewer that the beef with vegetables has too much beef and not enough veggies. The same is true of the chicken with vegetables. The beef with vegetables is not listed on the menu so you have to ask for it. The sauteed shrimp with vegetables has jumbo shrimp with a decent amount of vegetables. The broccoli, carrots and pea pods are fresh and crisp. The mushrooms they use are fresh, not canned. I tried the Hunan crispy shrimp this week and the dish had butterflied shrimp with peapods and mushrooms. I asked for some broccoli to be added and it was no problem. The shrimp had a sugary sweet fried coating which was quite tasty. I find the menu prices to be fair. The food is fresh and prepared to order. The manager, Grace, will make sure that your food is to your liking.

Excellent place— just went last night with some friends after not having gone in years. The food was excellent, and very very promptly served. The staff is also very friendly, and the interior is quite tasteful! I think I’ll be going more often…

I am usually here for business lunches. I have found it quiet and enjoyable. The food is good and prepared well. Not too many options for Chinese in the immediate area so it works for me. The staff is good about making sure there is no issue with food allergies like myself with gluten sensitivity.

For a deeply suburban Chinese restaurant, this ain’t bad.
It’s totally Americanized Chinese food, which is fine. It was not overly salty or fatty, and I felt good after eating it. Seems on the lighter side.
Service was extremely friendly and the food came out FAST.
Super clean and very cute space.
I like it and would def go back when I’m visiting.

I always go to this place when I am done with groceries at Whole Foods. The décor is great — a really nice place to take a date. The food selection is good — even my Chinese friends tell me its great. While I enjoyed the food, I was a bit worried by the fact that I ordered food and within 2 minutes I had my steaming dish in front of me ready for me to gorge it down. It makes me think they have a huge vat of my dish in the back and they just microwave on command. That said, they fooled me and I loved the veggie sweet and sour chicken (I know, but it is SOOO good!)
At a party I ran into the owner of the restaurant, he swears that they don’t have a microwave. Hmm. Don’t know what to make of it. You’ll have to see for yourself.

After bicycling nearby on a beautiful day, we were looking for a casual place to eat (still in biking clothes.) Had seen Water Lily before when going to supermarket before. Most suburban Asian restaurants are casual so we tried. Felt a little funny as we could tell right away that the décor was much nicer and upscale than expected. But they weren’t busy at 615pm on a Saturday eve. so in we went in our spandex.
Food was much better than we expected. We both ordered spicy dishes without saying to be sure to make hot, and they were spicy, unlike most suburban Asian restaurants. We found all four dishes ordered to be flavorful and well prepared.

Very average. Quiet and quick, lunch menu is nothing to rave about, and it was salty. Not a place Id like to become a regular at.

Was in Boston for Memorial Day weekend with friends and we all had lunch at Water Lily this past Saturday.
I have to say that eating food now back in New York just wont compare… I need Water Lily to open a Manhattan outpost! We ate family style and had a bit of everything. The menu is perfectly designed and the food coudn’t have been cooked more perfectly. The mango roll is my new heaven.
Can’t wait for my next trip North to eat again!

I’ve dined in and had takeout from Water Lily and the food has always been wonderful, flavorful and never a disappointment. If you want quality Chinese you should be willing to pay the price.
Their General Tsau’s, beef brocolli, pupu platter and lo mein are all wonderful.

Water Lily pretty much dominates the Asian food scene out in this area of the ‘burbs, competing in the price range below Fugakyu in Sudbury and Blue Ginger in Weston/​Wellesley. The food is delicious, but wouldn’t say it is anything spectacular — definitely not enough to make this a staple and keep me coming back over and over (I do so because of the convenience of location rather than how mouth watering and inventive the food is). The restaurant has a nice setting, and the clientele it caters to are definitely some of the middle aged suburbanites — so it definitely isn’t a rocking vibe — more a nice quiet place to grab a quick, and good bite to eat.
My one gripe about the place is the service — for both dining in and take out. Most of the service seem rude and like they couldn’t care less if you enjoyed your time there or not.

Pretty standard Chinese fair in a beautiful setting. The service was great. I got the chicken with cashew nuts and brown rice and I liked my dish, though I thought it was more bland than other versions I’ve had.
My boyfriend got the General Gau’s, and it was delicious. His mother got some kind of crispy shrimp which was also great, and the boneless spare ribs as an appetizer was awesome, although the spicy mustard served with it was really spicy!
Overall, I really liked this place and would go back.