The Lotus Chinese Floating Restaurant

Great dim sum at budget prices!

We live walking distance from Lotus and are so glad we have finally found a place for authentic cheap dim sum without needing to go to Chinatown! From the nondescript appearance and tinted windows of this boat we always assumed it was either failing miserably or completely abandoned, until we walked in 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!
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Samantha Tan
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Sunday, March 29, 2009

The food is pretty good. However, if you have small children, DO NOT GO!. The maitre d' is one of the rudest wait-staff I've come across anywhere (including such notorious places as France and even China itself). Suggest you go elsewhere, unless you are a glutton for abuse.
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-J
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 3
Sunday, February 08, 2009

Just one word: EXCELLENT . Everything was excellent, the food, the place, the staff, they were very helpfull and polite. It is worth your money. I go there once a week. Its a lovely place to go for dinner i even left big tips everytime. If you dont like it there then you dont like chinese food because this food was quality not some frozen stuff left in the freezer. It tasted fresh. I recommend it to everyone. Only thing that can be improved if there was more space to move about but thats just a resturant isnt it. It cant be helped. 5 Star resturant .
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Alyssa
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Have been here a couple of times. Considering the "out of the way" location in a desolate area of Docklands, for a Sunday afternoon, it was quite busy!

Set menu at £22 per head is very good value for money. Food was nice, apart from my "sizzling lamb with spring onion & ginger" - not very nice, tasteless and the lamb was very 'stringy'!

Staff were very helpful and service was good. Just wouldn't have the sizzling lamb again!
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Sue (Essex)
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Please take note of the reviews that have commented on the rude staff and bad service at this restaurant - they really are true. I have given this restaurant two chances, but never again.

The food is ok - nothing to rave about. Ambience - nil. Service - absolutely TERRIBLE, from the amount of time it takes for food to arrive to the downright rude staff. I would really recommend that you go elsewhere if you don't want a horribly frustrating dining experience!
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Julie
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 2
Friday, July 04, 2008

We had a birthday celebration at the Lotus yesterday and we had a lovely time. We went at about 3.00pm so it is a bit quieter and you can still get Dim Sum. We were a mixed party from 5 to 79 years old and everyone had a good time.

The food was great, we always like it. Very tasty prawn dim sum, kids loved the spare ribs and the noodles. Staff - especially Yin - were friendly and helpful. We love it here. We will be back soon. Great value at £20 per head.
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louise
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Sunday, June 29, 2008

The food here is amazing and I have recommended it to so many people. Brilliant service and the food is the best quality Chinese ive had. I agree if there are alot of Chinese people eating there then it just shows the food must be good!
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- View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Saturday, April 05, 2008

Good restraunt but the problem is its a bit dirty .
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jardinhoingdoink
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Thursday, April 03, 2008

I can't believe the complaints that the Lotus have received. We have been eating there for the past ten or more years. We have taken small groups, large groups,English, European and American and the verdict has always been the same excellent food, service and ambience.
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Pamela Brown
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, March 29, 2008

I am sure some of the bad reveiws on here must be written by the competitors of the Lotus! Just had a lovely meal, food hot and delicious and the waiters and waitresses were friendly and good fun. Nothing was too much trouble for them and we had a lovely evening.

Large prawns were particularly good, not like the small shrimps you get in other restaurants and scallops were really tasty.

The restaurant was full and buzzing with both Chinese and European customers which made it an authentic atmosphere. They say you can always tell a good chinese restaurant when there are many Chinese customers.

Great evening, thanks to all the Lotus staff!
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Janine
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Monday, March 24, 2008