Lotus Express — Restaurant in Newcastle-Maitland

Thought I would treat myself to a breakfast this morning and decided on an old favourite. Well some things should be left as memories. Atmosphere...well it's an open cafe (thank goodness). Wait staff were indifferent. Coffee came quickly though tepid and so full that it spilled all over the saucer (had to ask for a napkin as none were supplied). Order eggs ben (poached eggs) with bacon. Not sure I wanted to pay $24 for a cold breakfast with burnt bacon and under cooked eggs...thank goodness for the Turkish bread. Such a shame that the quality of this cafe in Kotara has slid so...

After eating there over a dozen times, and consistently rating it 4-5 stars, we’re down to 2. And that is being generous. See, we realise that if you get there at the height of lunch, you are going to have a bit of a wait. But it shouldn’t be more than 30 minutes. Ours was an average of 45. Did you raise your eyebrows at “an average?” Yeah, my meal arrived after 40 minutes, and my wife’s meal a full 10 minutes later, by which time mine was cooling and our idea of eating a meal “together” had gone out the window. Very, very poor time management....

Older lady serving wasn't the most pleasant, given it was only the start of the day, however I had ordered so had to go with it. Food looked great but the plates, cups and utensils were filthy that the food came out on. Seriously filthy. There was food still on the utensils, teapot was stained all over with beverage splatters and a bit of hair. Plates were stained with food/dried beverage. I mentioned this to the waiter and he said they'd been washed. I used to like bringing the family here pre Covid, but will look elsewhere...