Lotus Thai Restaurant Tasting Session
145 Jalan Besar
Opening Hours:
Daily: 10am - 3pm (Lunch), 5pm - 10pm (Dinner)
https://www.facebook.com/lotusthai.singapore/
This was an invited media review. I did not pay for the meal during the free hosted tasting session.
Attended with representatives from HungryGoWhere, and Epicurious Caniggia.
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| Thai Style Fried Whole Grouper With Chili Sauce (SGD $28) |
Decent, Affordable Thai Chinese Cuisine
(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 6
Food & Beverage: 7
Service: 7
Value for Money: 8
Spent about SGD $24 per person.
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Beginning as a coffeeshop stall in 2007, Lotus Thai Restaurant has since grown and expanded across the island, occupying several foodcourt stalls across Singapore. In May 2016, Lotus Thai Restaurant finally made their 1st foray into the casual dining restaurant scene, offering decent Thai Chinese dishes at wallet-friendly, affordable prices.
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| Lotus Thai Restaurant Signage |
Ambience at Lotus Thai Restaurant is a step up from their foodcourt outlets. Modern, clean, and functional, the small and sparse area is simply and neatly lined with wooden and metal furniture. Warm lighting sets a comfortable mood, and small touches of Thai artwork and statuettes adorn the counter. Love that the large glass windows offer a nice view of the street.
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| Lotus Thai Restaurant Exterior |
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| Lotus Thai Restaurant Interior |
Service at Lotus Thai Restaurant is friendly, with staff offering greetings and goodbyes to diners. I commend their product knowledge, more than just recommendations, they are clear on the menu and ingredients of dishes, able to introduce each dish as it's served. Staff are proactive, quickly setting up cutlery and clearing away empty / dirty tables and plates. Pretty good standards for a casual dining restaurant.
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| Counter |
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| Seating |
Food at Lotus Thai Restaurant is largely Thai cuisine, with some elements of Chinese cuisine influence. Generally, most dishes are straight forward and tasty, with flavours catering to the masses. Don't expect to get authentic Thai flavours here, you'll be disappointed. That said, the food here will appeal to most. Portions are big, sized for communal dining of at least 3 - 5 people. Prices are affordable and wallet-friendly, budget about SGD $24 per person for a full meal here.
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| Menu - Appetizers, Salads |
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| Menu - Soup, Crab, Fish, Prawn |
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| Menu - Meat, Vegetables, Curry |
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| Menu - Noodles, Vegetarian |
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| Menu - Rice, Dessert, Beverages |
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| Menu - Set Meals |
The Beer Singha (SGD $8) is a full-bodied 100% barley malt pale lager, brewed by the Boon Rawd Brewery in Bangkok, in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region of Thailand. With a symbol of a powerful mythological lion, it has a light straw golden colour and a thin white foam head, with aromas of bread, malt, grass, and lemon citrus. The body is thin, watery, and light, with faint tastes of barley, wheat, metal, and hops. Has medium carbonation, sweet bitter notes, and a gentle dry bitter finish.
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| Beer Singha (SGD $8) |
Pretty good Iced Thai Milk Tea (SGD $4.50) here, creamy and milky in taste, yet you still get the strong flavours of earthy black tea beneath. Has a balanced sweetness, doesn't leave you feeling heavy. Good!
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| Iced Thai Milk Tea (SGD $4.50) |
The Iced Lemongrass (SGD $3.50) is properly refreshing with a delicate sweet herbal flavour. Goes slightly diluted near the end when the ice melts, making the drink thin. Still, very refreshing, goes well with spicy food.
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| Iced Lemongrass (SGD $3.50) |
Felt the Stuffed Chicken Wings (SGD $9.80) was underwhelming. Bordering moist and dry in texture, the minced chicken and vegetable stuffing is also rather bland, lacking in taste.
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| Stuffed Chicken Wings (SGD $9.80) |
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| Stuffed Chicken Wings |
The Prawn Cakes (SGD $9.80) are pretty good. Coated in a crisp, golden crumb batter that crunches satisfiyingly, then you get the delicate savoury sweet flavour of the prawn paste within. Pair with chili sauce for added kick.
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| Prawn Cakes (SGD $9.80) |
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| Prawn Cakes |
The best dish I had here is the Green Curry Beef (SGD $10.80). The green curry is rich in earthy grassy herbal flavours, sweet savoury and lacking bitterness. The pea eggplants are slightly tender, but the stand out item is the super tender, savoury meaty beef slices within. Highly recommended!
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| Green Curry Beef (SGD $10.80) |
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| Green Curry Beef |
Well executed Stir-Fried Baby Kai-Lan (SGD $8.80), fresh crunchy leaves of kai-lan / Chinese kale / Chinese broccoli in an earthy savoury oyster sauce. Simple but done well. Goes great with white rice!
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| Stir-Fried Baby Kai-Lan (SGD $8.80) |
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| Stir-Fried Baby Kai-Lan |
The Tom Yum Red Seafood Soup (SGD $13.80) is rather fiery. The chili spice builds on you, towards the end, we started sniffing. Generous amount of fresh seafood within, including sliced fish, squid, and prawns, along with straw mushrooms, pineapples, tomatoes, and various herbs. Good!
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| Tom Yum Red Seafood Soup (SGD $13.80) |
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| Tom Yum Red Seafood Soup |
The Basil Leaves Chicken (SGD $10.80) differs from other versions elsewhere, because it still has good savoury flavour but is much less salty in taste. Meaty and juicy, with fragrant notes from the basil leaves, making you yearn for more. Good!
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| Basil Leaves Chicken (SGD $10.80) |
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| Basil Leaves Chicken |
The Thai Style Fried Whole Grouper With Chili Sauce (SGD $28) is pretty good, and for the large portion size, is very affordable. The fresh grouper fish has a crisp savoury salty exterior, yet the interior is tender and moist. The sweet savoury fish meat comes off the bone easily. Despite looking fiery, I feel this wasn't spicy, as the sweet Thai chili sauce is mild. Worth ordering!
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| Thai Style Fried Whole Grouper With Chili Sauce (SGD $28) |
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| Thai Style Fried Whole Grouper With Chili Sauce |
The fragrant Pineapple Fried Rice (SGD $7.80) entices with its lovely aroma. The rice grains hold good savoury flavour from the wok, complementing the sweet flavour from the pineapple chunks and fresh deshelled prawns. Toss on the chicken floss for a depth of flavour. Wished they didn't use the frozen mixed vegetables though. Worth ordering!
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| Pineapple Fried Rice (SGD $7.80) |
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| Pineapple Fried Rice |
Loved the Thai Fried Bee Hoon Noodles With Seafood (SGD $8.80), with its thin, slippery glass bee hoon / cellophane vermicelli noodles coated in a salty savoury soy sauce stock. Each bite is just balanced enough, opening the palate. Easy to eat too. The fresh prawns on top require some effort to peel though.
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| Thai Fried Bee Hoon Noodles With Seafood (SGD $8.80) |
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| Thai Fried Bee Hoon Noodles With Seafood |
A decent Mango Sticky Rice (SGD $5.80) here. The sticky rice / glutinous rice is fragrant with the aroma of coconut milk. But I especially loved the intense fruity sweet flavour of the fresh mango slices. Could have done with slightly less coconut milk topping though. Worth ordering!
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| Mango Sticky Rice (SGD $5.80) |
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| Mango Sticky Rice |
The latest dessert to be added to the menu, the Tako (SGD $1.50) here features a pandan / screwpine leaf flavoured agar-agar / seaweed jelly base, studded with sweet corn kernels and crunchy diced water chesnuts, topped with a wobbly soft coconut pudding. Decent enough.
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| Tako (SGD $1.50) |
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| Tako (SGD $1.50) |
With over 10 years of experience serving up tasty and decent Thai Chinese dishes, Lotus Thai Restaurant is a pretty good casual dining choice for simple, satisfiying meals. While not truely authentic, the flavours will still appeal to the masses. With a clean ambience, friendly service staff, and food that is tasty and affordablely cheap, Lotus Thai Restaurant looks set to grow even further.
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Reserve a table now @ Lotus Thai Restaurant |
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