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Lotus Thai Bistro (Thai cuisine)  $$

 8
JaT Rating

425 California Avenue, Palo Alto, 94306  (Directions)


650-289-0907


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Cramped thai restaurant with upscale appeal and smallish menu


Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 992
Reviewed: 3/14/2008
Rating: 8
My photo gallery 		Thanks to Justin for submitting Lotus Thai Bistro. A long overdue review but thank gawd for taking notes. Lotus Thai Bistro is located off California Avenue in the old location of Mediterranean Wraps was. It's a small narrow restaurant with a great view of the kitchen if you're along the wall.

We arrived at a bad time, 12 noon. This restaurant was jam packed and had doubts we would be seated in a timely manner. They pulled through but at the cost of Terry sitting in a walkway. We had a party of 3, the tables along the wall would be modded with an extra chair that was to be in the middle of the main walkway. It was absolutely the worst location of the restaurant next to the door so anytime someone would enter/exit the restaurant, Terry would either have to scoot in or feel the gust of cold air. Hopefully his food will outweigh his terrible seating arrangement.

I was told by Justin to order the Eggplant and Spicy Chicken. For about $8, you get steamed rice, soup, and main dish. Soup arrived within minutes of us placing our orders. It's your common vegetable soup you see at most Thai restaurants and good. My complaint was the lingering taste of fish sauce.

As with most Thai restaurants, the delivery of food is remarkably fast. Even with a packed house, they were able to deliver the dishes within 15 minutes.

Right off the bat, if you look at picture #6, the steamed rice is undercooked. You can see the difference between the top portion which appears to be 1 glob of smooth rice compared to the cooked stuff on the bottom, individual rice kernels. I asked for spicy but not thai spicy and I think they forgot the peppers as it wasn't spicy at all.

Even with as much bitching as I already wrote about, the Eggplant and Chicken saved the whole lunch for me. It was a very healthy tasting lunch. They used breast meat for the chicken and didn't overcook it. Eggplants weren't overly too soggy and did a good job of absorbing the essence of the chicken. Moist chicken and a mixture of Thai flavorings along with a well executed grilling of vegetables are the workings of a balanced meal.

It's a good thing the Eggplant and Spicy Chicken was as good as it was or we'd be sitting in the 7's. I would have given an 8.5 if seating situation was better so we'll sit comfortably with an 8. I'd easily make a return visit for Lotus Thai Bistro.
 
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