Tom’s Lotus Garden

Tom’s Lotus Garden used to be the number one venue for all Asian weddings. However, as new places popped up and old restaurants got remodeled, TLG remained the same. Obviously, people would look at better looking establishments for special events. TLG is like a middle-​aged aunt who still looks the same since you were 12 and tells the same exact story about her prime years at every family reunion.
Other than appearance, the food hasn’t changed much either. Still mediocre in quality. Don’t take this as an insult though, because TLG still serves better food than most Chinese restaurants I’ve gone to in Wichita. I really enjoy eating their «shark fin» soup at weddings. Their abalones taste pretty decent too. Now, I am pretty sure those are low-​quality stuff but hey, you get what you pay for!
A number of dim sum places were established in the past decade or so, but those didn’t last very long. WICHITANS, PLEASE GIVE DIM SUM A TRY!!! TLG is pretty much the last one standing and I’m cheering for them until the very end (or until there’s a better dim sum restaurant in town). I enjoy coming here for dim sum with friends and family on weekends. Their tea is just like any other hot tea served at Chinese restaurants/​buffets but when you’re eating dim sum while drinking hot tea, it’s an awesome experience! They don’t say «yum cha» for nuffin! My favorite dim sum items: fried taro, egg tarts and savory sticky rice. 100% of the people I know are in love with chicken feet and I still don’t know why. Maybe you should try some and lemme know.

I used to come here all the time growing up and eating their dim sum on weekends. It was always good vibes and friendly service. However the owner is getting old and recently switched to a new cook. You can taste the absence of Tom’s work. And some mediocre Har Gow and Siu Mai. The two items that determine the quality of a dim sum place. If you’re looking for good authentic Chinese, this is not the place anymore.

I tried the pork Sui Mai, shrimp Sui Mai, jalapeño shrimp, fried squid head, and shrimp tofu. The food was good but the Sui Mai seemed overly steamed. This place was the best dim sum in the area.

We love to try dim sum when we’re out of town. But when we’re at home and craving it– this is where we go for our fix. I like how they’re open pretty early on weekends. I think it’s 9am or 9:30am. My favorite dim sum item to get is the squid body. If there’s something you see on the menu but you don’t see them have it on the cart, you can just ask the server for it. Our bill usually ends up being around $ 20 – 25 for the two of us.

Squid with black bean sauce. Tofu vegetable skin roll. Shrimp and pork shumai.
Taro root. It’s all good.
Many of the dishes at Tom’s Lotus Garden are as good as what we’ve had in the China Town areas of large cities.
Perhaps the service could be a bit more efficient, but I don’t usually mind a little wait. To us, dim sum is not just about the food… it’s about the social aspect and appreciating small morsels. As USAmericans, most of us are used to large portions so we can stuff our faces quickly… perhaps it is a good thing to slow down, drink tea, consider the meal and reflect on our good fortune to be able to even have an option for dim sum in our town. The next nearest we know of is Bo Ling’s in Kansas City. The service there is slowish too. Maybe it’s a cultural thing.

The past thirty years has seen other restaurants with the name «Lotus Garden,» on east and west sides of 21^st Street, but only one remains. Coincidentally, it’s the one you’d least expect to succeed, given its location amid the seedy motels that pepper Broadway south of Kellogg. It’s not the Cantonese take on American Chinese food that is the draw here, of course — Tom’s has long been one of the only places in the city to get dim sum, aka Chinese brunch, aka I’ll have one of those, and one of those, and what are those? I’ll take them, too.
It says something that the dish we finished first was the beef stomach. Not that I would claim to be a particular fan of that part of the cow, the tenderness of that particular body part and the way it was cooked in broth with plenty of bell peppers and chiles not only made it more visually appealing, it added contrast and texture in a way that indicates that the cook has been preparing this for a long time.
The runner-​up for most popular dish was the glutinous rice, thanks to the umami-​filled mushroom and sausage mixture that topped it. It was so starchy that the little bowl of rice could have been picked up in its entirety with my chopsticks, had I not given any consideration to my dining companion to let them try some, too.
Keeping in mind the crowds, I purposefully went later on Sunday, around 1 PM. There were still a good number of people in the dining room, but not enough to impeded the flow of the food. Within ten minutes of sitting down we were presented with three different carts of food and soon were questioning whether we could eat it all. Shumai, squid, stuffed mushrooms, taro cakes, and a variety of dumplings all found their way onto the table and into our mouths. My sampling nature would have preferred to keep going, but my full stomach required it wait for another visit.
For many years, Tom’s has been the only dim sum place in town. There is now another, but it’s not as good. This is the one that has kept the seats filled and this inconspicuous Chinese restaurant flourishing for decades. It is absolutely deserving of its pedigree.

If you’re in Wichita KS, this is the only place I’ve encountered that provides dim sum style lunch/​dinner. But the service leaves much to be desired. My wife and I found ourselves constantly flagging down servers to request our food. The workers claimed they’d push the food cart around, but in the 45min-​1hr that we were there, the cart never moved to us. Upon drinking all our tea, the waitress took our kettle and never returned it to us! What the Heck?! We had to request ice waters 3x to actually get it. We also requested other dishes but half of the requests were forgotten. The food wasn’t bad at all; it had good taste, but definitely not the best I’ve had. I’d consider coming back except the service convinces me not to; not for a $ 45 bill for 2 adults and 2 small children! The servers/​waiters were kind but not very professional. Customer service was definitely not on their priority list. The men’s restroom needed serious attention and renovation – you are able to see into the next toilet stall as you sat/​stood in the stall you were using, and the flush lever for the toilet that I used was broken! Dude. There you have it. But don’t take my word for it, judge for yourself and I think you will agree with me!

Horrible place for Dim Sum. Coming from California I am use to eating good Dim Sum, but Tom’s was the worst I ever had. We came and and was seated and that was it. No one asked us if we wanted anything, the food was horrible and hard. The service was poor as well. Will not be coming back.

Dim Sum and restaurant isn’t as good as it used to be. I give it 3 stars because I know they can cook really good food, as they cater to large wedding parties alot by reservation so they order good quality products. So, if they know ahead of time your order its better. Don’t stop by for quick fix, because you just might get whatever they can dish up. The place can use a makeover.

Great dim sum. Actually, it might be the only place for real dim sum in Wichita. Not as good as you might find in the big city, but it’ll do in a pinch. Service is sometimes a little slow, so make sure to order several trays of food when the cart comes by!