Great meals standard operating procedure at Provo restaurant
Orange chicken is available at Lotus Garden in downtown Provo on Tuesday. Lotus Garden offers a full menu along with a buffet and is located on Center Street across from the Provo City Center Temple.
Coconut chicken is available at Lotus Garden in downtown Provo.
The buffet option is available at Lotus Garden in downtown Provo on Tuesday.
Orange Chicken at Lotus Garden in downtown Provo.
The Coconut Chicken plate at Lotus Garden.
I’m always a bit hesitant when it comes to eating out at a Chinese restaurant. Not only can the prices vary greatly, but so can the quality, and, well, I’m pretty picky with my Chinese.
I grew up in Burley, Idaho, a tiny speck not even included on some maps, but that should have been on every map if for no other reason than the resident Chinese restaurant, Shon Hing, serves hands down the most amazing Chinese food my taste buds have ever had the pleasure of sampling.
Adding to my pickiness, I actually worked at said restaurant, owned by the family of one of my best friends, on and off for my last few years of high school and the summer that followed. I got to eat that amazing food every day for lunch, and, of course, head back to sample it again with family and friends when I wasn’t on the clock.
For that reason, I carefully avoided Chinese as an option for my dining reviews here in Utah Valley, anxious about inadvertently drawing comparisons.
That hesitance, however, evaporated as soon as I bit into a cream cheese wonton at The Lotus Garden in Provo.
Granted, the offerings are pretty different than what I was used to at my hometown restaurant, but I honestly think that’s part of what made the experience so great.
The Lotus Garden is nestled among downtown Provo’s businesses on Center Street, right across from the new Provo City Center Temple, and though parking can be a bit of an issue (isn’t it always on Center Street?), the food is well worth any walk you might have to make.
We made our way to The Lotus Garden late on a Thursday evening, and, based on reviews we’d read, were a little worried about getting adequate seating in the small restaurant. Walking in, however, we were greeted by a wide variety of tables in a space that extends seating into a second side for particularly busy meal times. Not only were we seated quickly and given menus to peruse, but we had a perfectly attentive waitress who was on the ball with keeping our drinks filled and excellent at offering tasty suggestions.
To try and round out our samplings, we ordered the Family Dinner option for starters (priced at $9.45 a person for a minimum of two). The deal came with the daily soup special (Egg Flower Soup), Egg Rolls, Paper Wrapped Chicken, Cheese Wontons and then an entrée of your choice with a list of six to select from (we chose Moo Goo Gai Pan and Beef with Broccoli).
We also sampled a family order of Cheese Wontons and Fried Dumplings ($4.45 and $5 respectively for six of each item), and rounded off our dinner order with Curry Beef ($8.05) and the House Specialty Tangerine Chicken ($9.45).
Though both of the latter meals came with a hot and spicy warning, we actually found them to have only a mild kick that was actually really delightful. I personally dug in to the Tangerine Chicken and loved the contrast between the well-flavored rice and the rich, orange-y taste of the sauce carefully covering each bite of breaded chicken. One of the best parts about the chicken was that the portions were generous enough I was able to have lunch for the next day, which is always a plus.
As to the Beef Curry, I was sincerely surprised at the mildness of the flavor, and not in a bad way. Sometimes curry seasonings can take over a meal, and drown out other flavors. In the Beef Curry at The Lotus Garden, the curry flavor was distinct, but not overwhelming, and not particularly spicy. I was pretty pleased that our Chinese-loving, Mandarin-speaking friend was as satisfied with the food as I was, seeing as this was his dish.
Sampling around our other plates for the evening, I was beyond impressed with the sauces both on the Moo Goo Gai Pan and the Beef and Broccoli. Often the sauce can come across as an afterthought, but it was a perfect flavoring for tying together the ingredients of each dish, and it wasn’t long before we were spooning up just the sauce and rice to appreciate the flavor a little more. Though the beef was a little chewy, I’d definitely recommend the Beef and Broccoli to anyone hesitant about trying a new Chinese restaurant, and the Moo Goo Gai Pan is perfect for anyone who likes their meals punctuated with deliciously crunchy veggies, including water chestnuts and broccoli, nestled with perfectly cooked chicken.
I was also a fan of our appetizers, but it doesn’t take much to love pot stickers, incarnated at The Lotus Garden in the form of chicken-filled Fried Dumplings. The wontons were crisped to perfection with a healthy portion of cream cheese that, although is less-than-authentic, is more-than-amazing when it comes to flavor.
Even the soup served with the specials was top notch, and the only form of Egg Flower soup I’ve genuinely appreciated the flavor of since my stint working at a Chinese restaurant.
Something else I really appreciated about The Lotus Garden, aside from the great food, were the affordable beverages. It’s just $1 for a bottomless fountain drink, which is an offering only really rivaled by McDonalds these days. Combine that with carry-out, delivery options and lunch and dinner combination specials, and it’s pretty tough to beat. Adding to the variety, the restaurant also offers a well-priced buffet option that runs most of the day, though, for the freshest, and most personalized dining experience, I’d recommend taking a moment to peruse the menu. The cooked-to-order food was definitely worth the wait, especially since ours was such a short one!
THE LOTUS GARDEN
Where: 56 W. Center St., Provo
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 4-8 p.m. Sunday
Prices: $2.50-$15.45, including single plates, appetizers and combination dinners. Lunch specials range in price from $5.45-$6.45, and dinner specials are $6.50.
Info: (801) 374-0753, lotusgardenprovo.com
NOTE: The Lotus Garden also does carryout, delivery and online ordering.
