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Lotuspond Vegetarian Restaurant
Categories: Restaurants Vegetarian Restaurants Chinese Dim Sum Vegetarian, Dim Sum [Edit]
3838 Av MidlandScarborough, ON M1V 5K5
Neighbourhood: Scarborough
(416) 412-3140
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
16 reviews for Lotuspond Vegetarian Restaurant
16 reviews in English
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Review from A.J. S.
1/16/2012 1 Check-in Here
Reading about this Restaurant at first made my mind shout "Give me some, Vegetarian Dim Sum!"
I was actually very surprised that there was a vegetarian dim sum place in Scarborough of all places. So, one Sunday morning I went to check it out. I ordered about 6 different dishes in total. Most of them I enjoyed. I was not a fan of the "Deep Fried Milk" which seemed to have no flavour. and they gave me a place of sugar with it for some reason I don't know. I wasn't a huge fan of the Vegetarian Chicken steamed bun. I liked everything else though, even the egg plant was good, which is impressive, because I normally avoid egg plant.
I have to take off some marks for the service, which was tediously slow, and the staff was not very attentive at all. I would however, definitely want to go back to this place with friends, I think it could be a really great place to go back to again. -
Review from U U.
Toronto, ON
5/13/2012
I came here with my parents and two of their elderly friends. We were immediately excited (and perhaps a bit overwhelmed) by the sheer number of options on the menu, including a separate Dim Sum menu. We ordered a spicy eggplant dish, stir-fried veggies (celery, carrots, mushrooms) with some sort of mock-meat, mock-chicken and veggies on chow mein, and corn soup. The food was excellent - the mock chicken was amazing, and the corn soup was awesome. This is definitely one of the best vegetarian Chinese restaurants I have been to, in terms of quality and variety of menu items.
I would have given this restaurant four stars, but the service was terrible. We asked for water twice, but never got any - the waitress seemed almost indifferent when we were asking. One of my friends ordered one item off the Dim Sum menu, but it was never received. Worse, I tried to make sure that we were not charged for it, but it was not clear whether or not we were - the receipt was written entirely in Chinese, and I'm not sure the waitress understood my question when I was asking for it to be removed from the bill.
Overall, a positive experience, which made me reflect on a conversation I recently had with a buddy. We are beginning to feel that the best Chinese food is found outside of the core - I am beginning to think that he is right. This is perhaps true for Indian food as well.
P.S. I'm a little confused by the name of the restaurant - the bill says that it is called "Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant", so not sure why it is called "Lotuspond" on Yelp? -
Review from Ada T.
Toronto, ON
9/27/2011
best vegetarian restaurant i've tried! and things actually taste like the real thing too. my fav was the smoked duck. they even made it look like duck. and the fake jelly fish was just like the real thing. very impressed. you can probably skip the stir fry "fun see". it wasn't anything special. altho they did have fake "fake crab" which was interesting.
can't wait to go back and try the other dishes. -
Review from Yvonne T.
12/26/2010
Went to Lotus Pond for some vegetarian deliciousness on Friday. We had the Bamboo Pith soup, sticky rice, vegetarian duck, lo hon chow mein, chive dumplings, turnip cake, osmanthus jelly and thousand layer egg cake aka "Malay Cake".
I found that their dishes had varying levels of saltiness. I would pass on the Osmanthus jelly as they cheat and make it with Chrysanthemum tea. I was really disappointed. The soup was great. My faves were definitely the egg cake (very smooth and eggy) and the vegetarian duck (so flavorful!) the lo hon chow mein could've used more salt.
My only complaint was the service was crap. Understaffed and slow.Listed in: Scarberia, "Chow" Away, (Dim) Summing it up!, Meatless in Toronto
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Review from Aman B.
Toronto, ON
4/1/2011
Went here on a recent trip home and I'm impressed at this hidden gem.
I was in a rush, so did not sit inside the resto - space is limited but it was fairly empty (Sunday night)
Menu is fairly extensive, and as a vegetarian, I cannot say if the dishes actually taste like meat, but it was a nice change in my palate.
Prices - I have to laugh a little. Each time I come back to Toronto, I chuckle at how high the prices are, esp with taxes. It was almost $80 for 4 dishes and a couple of sides. I have had similar food in Chicago, and it was half the price. So this is why I gave it 4/5 stars.
Back to the food,
-Got the chicken balls x 2 - this was really good and the taste and portions were excellent. One dish is enough for 3 people, I got an extra one for the road. Sauce was not too heavy, there was some pieces of pineapple which added to the tangy taste. I would come back for this dish
-Noodle with chicken - this was fairly good. I felt there was maybe a little too much salt, but I might be alone on this feeling
-Fried rice w/duck - this was OK . Maybe that is how duck is supposed to taste, but I did not eat a lot of this dish. The fried rice is typical as every other place.
-The other dishes (from what I remember) were some Pork dish that one of my friends said was one of the best things on the menu. Maybe I have an aversion to Pork but I was gagging at this item. Another friend loved it, while the 3 said it was okay. I'm sure its one of those things you will either love or hate.
Service wise, I did ask about dishes and the staff were quite helpful. Waiting time while meals are being made is about 20mins. So if you already know what you want, maybe calling ahead for pickup.
I was told by my friend that this place can be packed and its normal to be waiting for a table.
Is this the best place for Chinese-Veg food? I'd probably go back to Chicago as they had more variety for a much cheaper price. But when in Toronto, I would not mind this over cardboard pizza. -
Review from Kai C.
Toronto, ON
5/20/2011
Simply delicious.
- Try the special fried rice that comes wrapped in bamboo leaves.
- The birds nest is quite good.
- Most of the soups are nice, especially the fish maw and the shrank fin soups.
- For most of the dishes, you can still tell it's not real meat, but the Kung Pao chicken probably was the most successful at tricking my senses and it was quite good too
Who knew vegetarian cooking can be so tasty!
Prices are reasonable and the service was fast and friendly. I've been back a couple more times since first trying it out. -
Review from Reiko K.
North York, ON
6/12/2011
They have the very exciting Chinese vegetarian food! I've been here at least ten times this year and there's still tons of stuff I've never tried. My favorite is the mock shark fin soup (it has "fa cai" in it, which is pretty hard to come by in Canada) and the taro and fermented bean curd mock fish. I also love savory dishes made with sweet ingredients such as their mock chicken and pumpkin in black bean sauce. Each dish is like an orchestra of taste. All of the flavors complement each other in an interesting and delicious way. It's definitely the yummiest vegetarian place I know.
The only problem I have is that the food is pretty pricey. If they lowered the price, maybe more people would come? I know I would definitely come more often. I'd hate to see this place lose business to all the average Chinese restaurants. -
Review from Maritza L.
Scarborough, ON
10/29/2011 1 Check-in Here
I found it too greasy as some veggie dishes were fried and flavored as meats for example BBQ pork flavored gluten. Vey flavourful menu though!
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Review from Min Min T.
Scarborough, ON
6/9/2009
My family come probably come here once every month or two, as it's one of few Chinese vegetarian restaurants in Scarborough. It's rare to see the place crowded, so you won't have to suffer waiting for a table if you come here on the weekends.
Even if you're not familiar with Chinese cuisine, you won't be disappointed even if you blindly choose dishes off the menu. The food is great no matter what time of day you come. For morning dim sum, the guilt-free version of shrimp 'har gow' is tasty. If you're looking for something different, try the fruit spring rolls (although not vegan and loaded with mayonnaise). For dinner, we often order mashed taro, fried after shaped into a large fish and decorated with slices of raw papaya. The curried Portuguese-style vegetables go well with an order of rice.
Lotus Pond is great as the prices are more affordable than Graceful Vegetarian, further north by Pacific Mall. As an additional bonus, Toronto Vegetarian Association cardholders get 10% off their bill.
The only downer is that the food tends to be greasier than needs be and secondly, the cooks use MSG in a few of their dishes.
3.5/5 starsListed in: Herbivore Heaven, Scarborough Hangouts
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Review from Julianna N.
Pickering, ON
11/19/2010
I'm a bit torn with this restaurant, mostly because I think that I keep ordering the wrong things!
Both times I've been here I ordered noodle dishes, and both times I was disappointed (but I should have learned, really). The first time my noodles were soggy (I'm pretty sure they were supposed to be though, as that was the style) and the second time the mock fish tasted terrible (but it's mock fish.. I'm not sure what I'd expected anyway). My boyfriend who is a meat-eater really enjoyed the mock-steak, and I didn't mind the lemon chicken. The second time I went we ordered some "veggie sausage" or something of the sort. While it had no resemblance to and tasted nothing like sausage, it still tasted good!
I found the service here to be quite mediocre though, which is the reason why this place is getting 3 stars instead of 4. The food came out very slowly, and the waiters rarely (if ever) came by our table to ask if we needed anything (which we did, since our tea was filled maybe once). The first time I went, we had to wait at the door for at least 5 minutes because there was absolutely no staff in sight.
Overall, I find the whole "mock meat restaurant" concept interesting, and I think that I would go back due to a lack of many alternatives to this type of restaurant. There is a lot of variety and I would recommend trying this place at least once. -
Review from Michelle P.
Toronto, ON
2/16/2010 4 photos
I was really excited to go here because I've never been to an all vegetarian restaurant.
When we got there the place was like empty (one family sitting in the back, which I hoped were not the workers). It is also a very dreary looking place. It took about ten minutes for someone to come and greet us...
When we finally got seated and got our menus I had NO idea what to order. I guess that's sort of a part of the low rating. The menu was all over the place and not really organized. MOCK DUCK MOCK CHICKEN MOCK BEEF MOCK OYSTERS. WHAT TO CHOOSE?? We ended up settling for Veggie wontons, some steamed bean curd roll (i was hoping it would be like inari), some fried bean curd roll, sweet and sour chicken balls and some spicy beef noodle. The only problem was it took about 15 minutes for the waitress to get back to us. It was actually a man who came through the door for pick-up who directed her over to us... I guess he could see that we were getting sort of annoyed.
The food didn't take long to come, which was good. But I didn't get my coke until about halfway through eating.
The wontons were okay... sort of tasted like they were fried in old oil and the filling had sort of a bitter taste to it.
The steamed bean curd thing was soo gross. I guess it just wasn't my kind of thing but it sort of tasted like it had some gnarly fake ham flavour.. and the texture was not appetizing at all.
The fried bean curd thing was really... odd. It was like a spring roll but the outside texture was really gross. It was like *tries to describe* you know when you fry an egg and there's sometimes the crispy clearish part near the outside? Well... like that.
The chicken balls were probably the best part and I didn't think they were that great. They had a good flavour and the batter was good but they took SO much effort to chew. They were really really rubbery.
I barely touched the beef stir fry thing. It looked more like soggy noodles with soup on top. It was suppose to have tofu or whatever in it and the tofu looked like it was just cut up and placed in, rather than being fried.
On another note.. I'm not sure if it was because of this place but I spent the next day violently throwing up. I'm sort of scared of ever going back there, but if someone can recommend dishes to try I might.
I feel really bad about rating this place so much lower than everyone else but that we my experience. -
Review from S D.
Toronto, ON
11/17/2010
Can anyone say "yummy in my tummy"? I use to go here weekly when I was vegetarian, definitely worth the drive and it never got tiring. They have such a great variety and for affordable prices. It's best to pick 3 or 4 things (depending on how many people) and split them between everyone because the quantity is a lot. I've been to A LOT of vegetarian restaurants and this is by far one of my favourites in the Toronto area.
It may take a few visits to figure out the kind of things you like and don't like but its worth the experimentation.
I wish I lived closer cause I would still go weekly even though I'm not vegetarian anymore. It's even great for non vegetarians (if they're open to eating mock meat). -
Review from Helen L.
Toronto, ON
1/8/2010
Lotuspond Vegetarian Restaurant is one of the larger and more popular vegetarian restaurants in Scarborough. I've been here quite a few times and the food is always pretty good and the restaurant is always busy but never packed. Dim Sum here is good but I prefer going to Graceful. Menu is heavy on mock meat and seafood. If you have a TVA discount card, I think they offer 10% off.
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Review from Joanne W.
4/11/2010
Amazing Vegetarian dishes for a cheap price. My mother and I always go there whenever we have time. However, it's quite packed on Buddhist holidays - so remember to make reservations on those days.
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Review from Simon N.
Scarborough, ON
7/30/2009
"The one with the meat that wasn't meat ."
The Good:
Great quality; vegetarian entrees that resembled and tasted like meat equivalents; fast and professional service; good value
The Bad:
Everyone might not agree with the atmosphere/ambiance
Overview:
My father being a vegetarian, we've taken him out to many Chinese vegetarian places and I can without a doubt say this is one of the best (if not the best) in terms of food quality, service and atmosphere that we've had in the GTA area. With a large selection of entrees and very reasonable pricing, I highly recommend this place, whether you're a vegetarian or just curious! Like any other Chinese restaurant, you're not limited to just one waiter/waitress, which can either be a pro or con depending on how nice everyone is. All of the waiters/waitresses were very friendly and responsive. Food was served quickly and always with a smile.
At some times, I couldn't even tell I was eating "mock-meat" but the way they cook it and present it surely fooled me! I definitely recommend a particular soup called (using Chinese Ping Yum) "so-sam-see gung", which roughly translates to "vegetarian three strips soup". It serves about one bowl for a party of 6 and it's like a Vegetarian Sharks-Fin Soup which they have too, but I found that to have too much mushroom. The staple entree everyone gets is their "sai jai" or "small vegetarian dish". You'll see these foods on your right when you enter the restaurant and it's a random medley of vegetarian foods made from soy in various sauces and colours. Dessert normally comes complimentary and this is normally red-bean dessert which my friends and family seem to find pretty good compared to others, but I personally don't like any red-bean dessert so I can't comment. They also have dim sum in the morning to early afternoon and I actually like this the most. Try the "boon tong gow" or "half soup dumpling", my favourite which is a dumpling filled with mushrooms and other spices in a soup bowl. Serves one person each, but highly recommended!
The place is pretty large with a second floor below. There are about 6-8 large sized tables upstairs which can hold about 8-14 people or so. Washrooms are kept tidy and the place itself has a very elegant ambiance to it. Decor might seem a little too "traditional" for some (at times it feels more like someone's living room than a restaurant).
Dinner comes out to about $10 per person if you have a hefty, sizable meal which is definitely worth it considering there's no meat to really fill you if you're normally not a vegetarian (I'm not, so I normally have to eat a LOT if I'm not eating meat to get full).
- Simon -
Review from Norman S.
7/20/2009
my cousins brought me here for some vegetarian. i thought nothing could be as good as the vegetarian chinese places in nyc. i was pleasantly surprised because this place had some really good food. very flavorful. not greasy. lots of dining space.
