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Lotus Pond Vegetarian Restaurant
Category: Restaurants Vegetarian Vegetarian [Edit]
617 Johnson StVictoria, BC V8W 1M5
(250) 380-9293
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
14 reviews for Lotus Pond Vegetarian Restaurant
Review Highlights
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"...the only downside is the fact that it is pay by weight." In 4 reviews -
"I have never tried the lunch buffet." In 5 reviews -
"I'm in love with their turnip cakes and lemon soy balls." In 3 reviews
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14 reviews in English
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Review from Carolyn H.
Halifax, NS
4/9/2012
This is my favourite restaurant! I've had many things from the menu, and everything is good. I strongly recommend the turnip cakes and the wonton soup. It's so hard to find vegan wonton soup. The Buddha's Delight is also excellent.
The best thing is to go with a big group of people so you can order a variety and share. The combo plates are ok, but if you don't try some of the single menu items, you're missing out. -
Review from Sarah Louise F.
Calgary, AB
11/23/2011
I love and miss you Lotus Pond!
Although, I have to agree with Malloreigh M. that I am a much bigger fan of your lunch buffet than your dinner menu. Actually, let me rephrase that. While I am a big fan of your dinner menus, my friends last time I was here really took some convincing to join me here, especially when they discovered you do not include garlic and onions in your food as a basic principle. They were also not a big fan of your fake meats, but I think that's just because they are fake meat prudes and that is something they need to get used to.
The lunch buffet, however, I have never had any problems dragging pals to. Two words: TURNIP CAKES! Best ever. I love that one can fill their plates with noodles, dumplings, turnip cakes, and other delicious vegan things and be stuffed for $10 or less, even if you don't watch them at half price times.
(22/30) -
Review from Veronica D.
Vancouver, BC
11/3/2011 2 photos
We went here twice. Once for dinner and once for the lunch buffet.
For 4 people I think it's a better deal to order off the menu. That way you don't pay by weight and you can try 4 or 5 dishes you really want.
Looking around almost every single table ordered the Lemon "chicken". I never really liked real lemon chicken, it was all soggy in the takeout container and not crispy. But this faux chicken, I swear tastes like Mcdonald's chicken nuggets. You know that intense chicken flavour that stays in your mouth for like an hour? Yeah it tastes like that, at least what I remember Mcnuggets tasting like. And then it comes in a lemon glaze.
We also got the "chicken" balls. The sweet and sour sauce was good, they are almost like a real chicken ball, but kinda like crossed with a Timbit.
We also got some veggies and noodles. I think those were way too greasy. They have so much on their menu that it's hard to choose what to get because it sounds so similar with the veggies, noodles and rice section. So it'd be good to get a recommendation next time.
We also tried the lunch buffet. Be careful! It's very expensive if you get some of everything. It can run you $12-$16 for a modest plate.
Some people seem to think these pay by weight places scam you and charge you the weight of the plate, but they can have a weight of an empty plate programmed in as zero, and then your plate plus food ends up just weighing the food. So I doubt they are scamming. That's just bad business when scales can account for that.
I still think dinner is better. Since there's no lemon chicken on the lunch buffet, and some of the items are not so great. The turnip cake is good though, but filling so only get one!
If you have a small appetite then lunch would be a good deal for you, but not if it's your breakfast & lunch. -
Review from Michelle V.
2/26/2012
We asked someone on the street where we should go for good vegetarian and they pointed us in the direction of the Lotus Pond. I'm so glad they did. It was a great dinner experience. The service was lovely and the food was tasty. Plenty of vegetables and flavor. We had two large plates, brown rice, soup and a pot of tea for $30. Check out the combos on the back of the menu, great deals! The mock chicken ball was delightful. I highly recommend. My meat loving husband enjoyed this place as well! I will be back.
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Review from Maddie S.
11/15/2011
Check out Lotus Pond!!!
I'm a vegan and am always on the look for good vegan restaurants, though it says vegetarian on the title it's 100% vegan. Noise level is usually quiet, and its a small cozy restaurant. Good service usually, buffet or menus, your choice. The buffet is pay by weight, haven't tried it yet though, I usually stick with menu. The menu food is super cheap mostly, especially if you just get an appatizer (potstickers!!) and soup. They do a pretty amazing job on their fake meats and seafoods and their soups are to die for! Good for business dates, dinners, taking kids to, you name it! I've taken my meat eating father here and he approved of the fake meat, so bring your meaty friends too! -
Review from Matthew L.
Edmonton, AB
1/23/2011
So, the Lotus Pond is pretty awesome, especially if you live with a vegetarian who does not allow meat in the house, and you want to eat at home and eat something that tastes like meat. They also deliver, though delivery may take up to 90 minutes. I generally tend to pick this up before I head home from work.
Their faux lemon chicken (aka lemon wheat gluten) is better than probably every actual lemon chicken I've ever tried. Though I have no idea why they try to pass their "chicken balls" off as something other than dessert - they taste like Tim Bits (just significantly more delicious)
They also do chow meins and fried rices well and without the grease I'm accustomed to with Chinese food.
Of course, the catch is the price. With my other favorite Chinese Restaurants in town (J and J Wonton or Purple Garden), our orders contain twice as much food for the same or a lower price. Of course, Purple Garden does not feature any fake meat, which requires quite a bit of labor.
I also wish that the restaurant would have some ambiance. If I'm going to spend $40 on dinner for two, I'd like to be able to eat it in a nicer room.
I have never tried the lunch buffet. -
Review from Malloreigh M.
Vancouver, BC
12/29/2010
I've ordered off the menu here for dinner in the past and while it's not unsatisfying, after the cacophony of the lunch buffet, Lotus Pond dinner just doesn't do it for me.
I spent a year and a half of my post-highschool life living in Victoria on very little coin. I ate a lot of Lotus Pond. Why? Well, at 3:00 they close for two hours before dinner, so at 2:30, their lunch buffet goes down to half price. For $5 you can stuff yourself until you feel sick, which is great when your next meal might be Lotus Pond again the next day.
Of course, word travels quickly, so it didn't take too long before every other hip kid in Victoria knew about the buffet, too. Excuse me while I pretend that I invented and/or discovered it. Lineups can be fierce at 2:30; after all, jobs are scarce in this tourist town. Funnily enough, Lotus Pond sells many times more lunch buffet during the half-hour before they close, which they've caught on to. Oh, poverty stricken Victorians with mismatched clothes shoplifted from Value Village.
This is a True Victoria Experience for me. I have done this so many times, and now it's almost a tourist attraction; when I bring friends to Victoria I always include this as part of the city tour. Lotus Pond and the Legislature.Listed in: Victoria
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Review from Honesty J.
5/11/2011
Yumm!
I love that it is all vegan. The downside is that it is so hard to choose. I went with the buffet - and my waist is grateful that it was a pay by weight buffet. And it was reasonably priced. There were good choices that were both tasty and healthy.
I've only eaten there once but from what I could see from other customers who did order from the menu the service was quick and good. I hope to try it when I visit Victoria again. Unless I can convince them to relocate to Portland. -
Review from Penelope F.
Vancouver, BC
11/23/2009
I love Lotus Pond! Unfortunately my meat-a-tarian significant other (and usual dining companion) does not, so I rarely get the opportunity to eat here. It's not that there is anything wrong with the food - it is delicious - but there is a certain type of person who stubbornly shys away from anything labeled "mock meat".
Anyways, the lemon "chicken" is my favorite thing on the menu. It seems to be the most famous as well and it's reputation is well deserved. In fact all of the "meat" they serve tastes like what it is supposed to represent.
In my opinion the only downside is the fact that it is pay by weight. I am not a fan of pay by weight buffets. I am just not that good at determining just how hungry I am before I start eating. If you want something more it is a hassle to have to get up, get back in line and then pay again.
The buffet becomes half price in the half hour before they close at lunch (2:30pm I think?) but I would actually recommend avoiding it at this time because in my experience it becomes a competitive free for all for the remaining food (they stop making new food at the same time so everyone clamors for the good stuff).
Bottom line - delicious, vegetarian Chinese food! -
Review from Genevieve L.
Victoria, BC
2/22/2011 2 Check-ins Here
I'm in love with their turnip cakes and lemon soy balls.
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Review from Stacey E.
11/28/2008
Buddhist vegetarian chinese food. Order from the menu for the freshest experience. I really like the food here and highly recommend it for a casual dinner. The dining room is always very cold, dress accordingly.
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Review from Beth C.
Victoria, BC
10/7/2008
Lotus Pond isn't fancy. It's a Buddhist vegan buffet (I believe everything is vegan. Everything is definitely vegetarian) involving dishes with rice, noodles, nots of veggies, turnip cakes, spring rolls, sweet and sour mock meats, and more. The selection isn't vast, but it's all pretty good. You fill your plate, and then they weigh it, and determine how much you pay by how much food you took. It's a small, plain place without any real atmosphere, but for what it is, it's really good, and I'll go back.
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Review from josey r.
Victoria, BC
4/20/2010
Reviews of Lotus Pond tend to be mixed--either you love it or hate it. I'm firmly in the love category.
Once every few months I get the inescapable craving for greasy, sweet, delicious LP buffet. While it's not masterful or, I'd imagine, terribly authentic, Chinese food, it's yummy, greasy, and fills that need for a variety of overly-sauced, overly-starchy goodness.
Plus, I've always found the service to be friendly and accommodating. I showed up at 7:58 one Sunday night, unaware that they close at 8, having already discovered the lack of vegan-friendly restaurants open on a Sunday night and was initially turned away, told that they were closed. As i went sadly to unlock my bike, resigning myself to being hungry for the next several hours (I was on my way to the Film Festival) the woman came out and offered to make me take-out. My evening was saved! -
Review from Melissa L.
Calgary, AB
12/20/2010 1 Check-in Here
Whenever I'm back in Victoria, Lotus Pond is my first stop for a dinner out with friends or family. As a true Buddhist restaurant, Lotus Pond dishes up AMAZING, HEALTHY, DELICIOUS food that is totally free of artificial colors or flavours, MSG, animal products and five vegetables said to ignite passion or anger (onions, garlic, leeks, shallots, chives). Eating a meal at Lotus Pond reminds you of just how good food can taste when it's natural, earth-friendly and made with love. My favorite thing to do is to order a combination from the back page of the menu. The dishes are designed for family-style sharing and I would recommend ordering one main dish per person in your group (four people could share four mains, for example). In addition to your main dish you'll receive rice, soup (wonton or hot and sour) and spring rolls... and the whole thing won't cost more than $12 per person! My favorite mains are definitely the Szechuan Eggplant and the Pineapple Mock Chicken Balls, but I often like to balance that out with an extra vegetable or noodle dish. Everything on the menu is great, and I'm sure their lunch buffet is equally enjoyable. This is a great Victoria restaurant!
