Lotus Barangaroo — Restaurant in Sydney

Avoid for Special Occasions I booked Lotus for my birthday celebration with family . We were required to choose the fixed menu due to the size of the group. The food served looked and tasted fairly good (although I wouldn’t say it was any better than other quality Asian restaurant in Sydney). Definitely not value for money considering the serving sizes for such a big group. I actually ordered additional dishes to top up the food options - with one dish never being served yet was added to our final bill.

On arriving at the restaurant I had notified the servers regarding my birthday celebration (also stated in initial booking); I brought a cake to be served with the final course - I was promptly informed about the surcharge for cutting and serving the cake , which I said was fine.

There was a significant delay with serving the final main courses, and some inconsistent service with drink orders and serving them. As the petite fours were served (only a single plate for 10 people) I was informed by a waiter that we would need to vacate the table in 10 minutes as there was other guests requiring the table. I asked where was the birthday cake and no one had taken our coffee or final drink orders . The cake was quickly served but the experience here soured an evening that was meant to be a special celebration with family. My time was instead wasted with sorting out issues with the restaurant service team , even when trying to sort out the final bill.

I provided feedback to the restaurant and received an email stating "We are just as disappointed with your experience here at Lotus Barangaroo as you are", so not a real apology. The email then stated "Please allow us some time to regroup with the team to further look into your experience." I was expecting further communication but nothing to date, and it is almost a month later.

My recommendation is to steer clear of Lotus Barangaroo if you don’t want your meal or special occasion spoiled by poor service or want value for money. The staff seem to mostly be focused on turning over the tables quickly than providing premium service - which is what I would expect for the location, name and menu pricing.

Also note that although location at Barangaroo is prime along the waterfront, due to constructions on the wharf - the water views are...

We visited Lotus Barangaroo on 16/07/2025. It was a fantastic experience, with quality food and service.

This is what we ate:

Dumplings ⁃ Crispy prawn, calamari and ginger dumplings $21 ⁃ Chicken, leek and truffle spring rolls $18 ⁃ Tri colour chicken and veggie dumplings with sweet and sour chilli peanut sauce $16 ✨

Starters ⁃ Salmon sashimi with apple ponzu, pickled mustard seeds and shiso $28 ✨ ⁃ Singapore chilli soft shell crab $32 ✨ ⁃ Grilled half shell scallops with laksa butter and crispy curry leaves $32 ✨

Mains ⁃ Crab, prawn, furikake and flying fish roe seafood fried rice with egg $39 ⁃ Steamed jasmine rice $5 ⁃ Masterstock crispy pork with Thai chilli caramel, apple and mint $38 ✨ ⁃ Wok fried mix seasonal vegetables and tofu with garlic and soy $26 ⁃ Wok fried wagyu beef fillet with broccolini, corn and truffle oil $46

Dessert ⁃ Mandarin caramel tiramisu with toffee crunch $22 ⁃ Fried vanilla ice cream with strawberry coulies, chocolate rice puff & dried strawberry

✨= Must-have

The tri colour chicken dumplings are great if you like spice. Sashimi was lovely, nothing very unique, but loved the taste. Chilli soft shell crab was nice and crunchy with a rich sauce. The scallops were unique, I’ve never had them with curry and butter before, but they were great! The masterstock crispy pork is the definite must have - crispy and crackly on the outside and soft and melting in the centre.

We didn’t think there was anything special about the crispy dumplings, chicken spring rolls, crab roe fried rice, wok fried vegetables and wagyu beef fillet - they were nice, but just not amazing. However, some reviews seem to speak highly of them - so perhaps up to the individual taste.

The restaurant has outdoor seating only, so it can get quite cold in Winter. We were originally seated in an area with a broken gas heater, but the staff moved us once requested. Overall, a...

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...