Lotus Garden - Plainsboro

My relationship with this restaurant spans over two decades. Lotus Garden is not beautiful it has outdated decor and the lights in the dining room are dim, not for ambiance but it is a staple in the Plainsboro community. Sitting here now, as I wait for my family to arrive, other parties come through the front door and the owners welcome them in with familiarity. Everyone comes here. The menu includes your typical American Chinese fare the General Tso 's is excellent every time. They have plenty of lunch specials. But most come here for authentic dishes. My mother nudges me What 's that? What are they eating? at everyone else 's spreads. You can 't come here and order just one thing. Today, we ordered our favorites seafood pan fried noodle, whole fried chicken, General Tso 's (excellent again, no surprise). We also ordered a new favorite, crispy spicy pork chops. Crispy onions and peppers top tender and fried pork pieces that are lick your fingers salty. There 's plenty of parking in the strip mall complex. I think any negative reviews are expecting more from this place, but Lotus Garden has been a constant in my life and I think it 's just great the way it is.

One of the best and most authentic Chinese spots in central NJ. I've never had a bad meal here and order from here every year for Thanksgiving. Whether it is a quick weeknight meal or a large gathering weekend dim sum, this place offers quick and no-frills service with incredible dishes. My favorites are the Taiwanese style pork chops, Szechuan diced spicy chicken, and the salt and pepper squid. I also believe this place is BYOB so what is not to love about not getting ripped off for alcohol?

Feeling like some Chinese and but too lazy to drive all the way to Edison or Hamilton we figured it was time to revisit Lotus Garden...It had indeed been awhile as we were frequent diners there back BC....{before Covid}. Walking up I was gratified to see they were doing well as all the window tables were occupied with happy Chinese diners diving into some interesting dishes... Good sigh Right? Checking out the half full front dining room with happy patrons we were finally greeted by a rather hurried gentleman who led us immediately to the half lit, deserted side dining room and dropped 2 English menus and 2 pairs of knives and forks...Bad sign Right? Now here 's the thing...Both myself and my wife is 1/4 Chinese {even though I may not look it} and spent most of our lives dining on Chinese food all over the world with chopsticks. So as soon as a restaurant presume we can only dine with silverware I know we 're getting the Lo Fan {old rice... what Chinese call White folk} menu...More bad signs Right? Sure as ****... the sticky English menues was populated with the same old Beef and Broccoli, Roast Pork lo mein and the insipid General Tso 's chicken....with only a small section of so called Authentic dishes...Getting worse Right? Time to go.... we left but not before I took another look at what was on the tables of all those happy Chinese diners..... none of which was on our menu. Look... the first wife was from a NYC Chinese restaurant family so I know there is a Secret menu just for chinese diners but tossing us into a dark, deserted dining room,not giving us the benifit of the doubt of chopsticks and a real menu while all attention is focused on Chinese diners in the bright ,airy front parlor just chaps my ass and quite frankly insults me...Bad Bad sign! Drove to Scezhuan House in Hamilton and enjoyed another excellent meal with not a Knife and Fork in sight....Good Sigh Right?...Good sigh. In conclusion....to dine well at Lotus Garden you had better look the part and speak Mandarin.

I grew up on Lotus Garden take-out and that was nearly 40 years ago. I have not been here in years. After seeing some of the recent negative reviews, I was a bit nervous to go back, since I have just fond memories of the restaurant and their food. I'm happy to report that my experience with the food and service was solid! I was here for lunch with a friend. The lunch prices are definitely at a higher price point as with most restaurants. I ordered the Chicken with Broccoli and my friend got the Shrimp Chow Mein. Both entrees came with soup (Wonton and Hot and Sour). We both enjoyed our meals and didn't have any complaints.

Very tasty lamb chop. Water spinach was very oily. Rice was good. We've come here for years. The waiters are nice and fast. The authentic chinese food is on the back of the menu, but it is a bit more pricey. The restaraunt is big, not many people. It's a good place for the area.