Lotus Barangaroo

Depends on what you expect. Dishes are rather sweet for Asians but probably suitable for Aussies or Westerners. Service is good and atmosphere is above average. Prices above average but acceptable. Best is the waiters will bring a cake and sing Happy Birthday loudly.

Modern Chinese dining, pricey, good but not amazing. Can’t really go wrong with xiao long baos but the skin of the dumpling was thicker than what I’d like. I was really excited to try the Singaporean chilli soft shell crab and while it was delicious, there was a bit of a tang to it that was a bit too much. Octopus was nice and tender and on the menu it’s served with ‘seasonal vegetables’ so I was not expecting… brussels sprouts. The wok fried hokkien noodles had a good ‘wok hei’ to it. Could have had more xo sauce in it. Cocktails were also good but not great. There was also a smaller banquet menu suitable for 2-3 people so that’s a good option to try other dishes. Service was great! Our waiter was very friendly and attentive.

Ordered the Whole fish, steamed with ginger and shallots $45. Size wise it’s a pan size snapper. Steamed just right.

Good food. I am usually skeptical about places like this, expecting the food to be more tourist focused. But I was convinced otherwise. Really enjoyed my dinner.

Was met with a rude and hostile woman on Sunday evening (29.10.23) We were in the area at 5.30 and asked if we were able to get a table, the restaurant was empty apart from one other couple. The hostess was very short with us and said you can but you have to leave in 1.5 hours which was fine as this time we didn’t have a booking. I then asked if we could sit at the front near the water as all tables were empty, she then looked at me, rolled her eyes and said NO they are reserved for later that evening. I was shocked at her cold attitude so we left as I don’t think we deserved to be spoken to like that. We went to another restaurant near by and had a fabulous meal, cocktails, champagne and wonderful service. Will never dine at lotus again.

Had lunch for our 25th wedding anniversary on Saturday 22/7 and like all our visits to Lotus, it was outstanding. It is our go-to lunch place with a cute ferry ride from Glebe park to the door. Always something happening in front of the water there - today was the South American Football (Soccer) exhibit/activites which was so much fun to watch.

On sunday night 16/7 i went to dine in at lotus barangaroo. The food was excellent, full of flavor and the ambiance is good. However the most unpleasant one was only the service provided by the seems like manager or supervisor as she was wearing blazer unlike the others. She was unfriendly and she doesnt seems to be professional on her job that totally ruin the night. Other than that good food and would definetely be back. Our waiteress was good though

We visited Lotus Barangaroo last night (Sat, June 19th) and had a 6pm dinner booking for a large group (11 pax), and although the food tasted great and came out quickly, the service was atrocious!
I understand it is Lotus’ company policy for bookings to last 2 hours for groups over 8ppl, but we were constantly reminded throughout the night by our waiter Dalton that we “only had 2 hours” as we requested staggered service of entrees, mains and dessert, which is standard for any a la carte restaurant. Service was not met with a smile, and Dalton was incredibly rude and dismissive of our table, often sighing loudly and at times walking off while we were ordering.
The food came out quickly and tasted amazing, and dessert was finished by 7: 30pm, there was no reason for us to be rushed to order or made to feel like an inconvenience. We were even asked to leave before 8pm because the next group of people were waiting to take the table.
We reluctantly paid a 10% group booking surcharge on top of our bill even though we did not feel our large group booking standards were met, and our waiter was not fit to serve/handle a large group booking.
I suggest you increase the seating duration to avoid this happening in the future, as it made us all feel really uncomfortable, and Dalton desperately needs some hospitality training.

We celebrated my wife's Birthday here - she got surprised with a dessert and live Birthday song by the Restaurant Team at the latter part of our meal.
Special thanks to the Chefs for the impeccable food.
The service was superb Thanks to Macey, Joseph, Cuong, Mina and the Sommelier Manny
Surely will come back again and recommend to our friends a very warm welcoming ambience, food and a good wine list, simple but good selection- we love the Riesling **hoping on our next visit add more selection on off-dry Riesling to compliment some of the spicy foods! Cheers!

Their other restraunt not in barangaroo is much better. Dumplings were good but everything else was ok. Just expected a bit more.

Good food. Nice atmosphere. Friendly serving staff. Was pretty busy but they still got us a table despite us having no reservation. Dumplings and fried rice were great but the steamed fish was excellent

This place is one of, if not, my favourite place to dine at in Barangaroo. The view from this place at sunset is just gorgeous but unfortunately, we missed it this time round.

The banquet is the easiest thing to order, as you get to experience some of their signature dishes. We went for the $89 banquet which seemed pretty generous serving wise!

We started off the evening with ‘Tasmanian Ocean Trout sashimi with apple ponzu, pickled mustard seeds and shiso’. It was absolutely gorgeous. Fresh and the mix of flavours was just divine.

We were then served some ‘Vegetable and tofu spring rolls’ which were nice and crispy on the outside.

Next came the dumplings, ‘Lobster, scallop & squid ink’ and ‘BBQ duck & spinach dumplings’. I mean, I could eat a thousand of the squid ink dumplings as they’re my favourite!

The ‘Singapore chilli soft shell crab’ is always a winner for me. There is just enough chilli to give the dish a little kick but not ruin the flavour of it. Squeeze a little lime and lord, it’s heaven in your mouth! I only ask they should double the serving because it’s so good.

Then came the ‘Wok fried black pepper beef with broccolini, corn and truffle oil’, ‘Steamed fish fillet with ginger and shallot’ and ‘Steamed Asian greens’. The beef was cooked to perfection and was full of flavour. The fish was cooked very well but the flavours were nothing to get excited about. Both dishes paired well with the steamed greens and boiled rice though!

Not included in the banquet, we ordered some dessert to finish off the evening. ‘Mango sorbet, coconut foam, rice crackle, blueberry & ume. ’ When it came to the table, we were a little underwhelmed by the presentation until we took a spoon to it.the colour inside just popped! It was fresh and it’s exactly what we needed after dinner.

If you haven’t been to this place yet, book a table and try and get it just as the sun sets. It’s just gorgeous.

An all-round favorite for business lunches, family dinners, or a quick bite to eat.

I stopped in for a light lunch on a Saturday while waiting for my kids nearby. Wearing track pants and a hoodie didn't seem to matter. I was treated with the consistently high level of service that I've come to expect from my regular business visits. The food, of course, was as lovely as ever.

Many thanks!

The food is sooooo delicious. It is suitable for more people, so you can taste more different dishes. The environment is great. And the staff are nice.

The food is so good! Really good location and all the staff were so kind and helpful. Would definitely recommend

Booked a group of 13 for a suprise birthday dinner for my girlfriend. Paid the full bill myself of 1,383.
Noticed later there is a random %10 surcharge on the bill.
Called up to figure out and was told there is always a %10 surcharge for more groups of more than 8 and that this is advised while booking online.

At no point during the booking process is this listed. Apparently it's in the booking terms and conditions which is a link that takes you to a seperate page. Who in there right mind is clicking on the terms and conditions and reading them when making a booking to a restaurant.

It's also listed in the booking confirmation email, right at the bottom of a long page. Again. It's a booking confirmation, I skimmed it, Saw the booking is confirmed which is what I needed to know.

They say the surcharge is for if additional staff are needed to help with large groups. The booking is made well in advance and the number of seats in the restaurant remain the same, this is ridiculous in itself, and we were basically served by 1 staff member the whole night.

Going through the reviews I can see others were caught off guard by this as well, clearly they have had the same feedback I've given them hit made no attempt to make it clearer to customers when making booking, absolutely disgusting behaviour.

In regards to the food it was tasty but nowhere near worth the price they were charging, even without the surcharge.

The service was pretty average too but at least they made and attempt at accomadating for the birthday event by providing candles and singing happy birthday.

I won't be coming back to a lotus venue ever again and I'll be telling any friends and family to stay away, I can easily find similar places with cheaper prices and better banquets and service.

Not the best experience

firstly, location is great

from here there are some disappointing experiences had.

We had the set menu for a table of 16.some of the food was good, however not enough for 16 people. Additionally there was little notice taken of those with specific dietary requirements. We had to remind the staff twice about this and to bring food out for these guests. Once again when they did, portion sizes were small.

They even took back a plate of dumplings when they noticed 1 too many had been served! Haha

We were also over charged for drinks we did not have.there are better restaurants on this strip than here.

Dinner on a chilly Monday night was superb. Amazing food. Great wine. Fantastic service. Will definitely be back!

The service was appalling. We had a large empty plate on our table and as it was impeding our dinner, my partner politely asked the waiter if he could take it away. The waiter then “jokingly” suggested to put the plate next to him on the seat.he implied that my partner should have put a dirty plate next to him, where other people are eating. That is not only rude, but entirely unprofessional. Once we had finished our dinner, the same waiter proceeded to clean our table, furiously wiping it, suggesting for us to hurry up and leave. In my entire life, I have never had something like that happen. We weren’t there for long so I don’t appreciate being hurried when I am paying for this experience. We also noticed that another customer had a similar experience to us, in which they were left shocked at the waiter. On the whole, the waiters lacked professionalism and created an extremely awkward atmosphere. There wasn’t even common service etiquette. It is quite unfortunate as the location is beautiful. The food was nice, although overpriced. Didn’t stay for dessert as the vibe was so off.

Had lunch at Lotus this weekend. We weren’t seeking to over indulge ourselves and so chose for a light lunch of two dumpling dishes and a crab fried rice. The restaurant atmosphere was vibrant and welcoming and location, in the heart of Barangaroo, was perfect. The dishes, although pricey for yum cha style meals, were delicious. A note on the crab fried rice, don’t expect to see or taste the crab. It was extremely difficult for us to distinguish this dish from any other standard fried rice with bits of prawns and eggs and for $39, one was hoping for some taste or texture of actual crab in this dish. Sadly, it was a disappointment. Probably not a place I would visit again.