Lotus Indian Kitchen — Restaurant in South Derbyshire

Lotus is a great place to eat, incredibly good food, and a choice you don’t get on normal Indian menus, the street food idea works really well especially when you go with friends. Choice of drinks are excellent with mocktail versions of each cocktail and tasty teas such as Masala Chai tea.

Standout dishes were the: • Bombay Chaat, which is Chickpeas, yoghurt and tamarind in crispy wheat puffs • Gobi Manchuria, which is battered cauliflower in a chilli garlic Indo-Chinese sauce

These were truly fantastic and I whole heartedly encourage you to try them.

The location is great at Mercia Marina providing lovely views over the water and ideal for a nice stroll after dinner.

We visited on a lunchtime and I have just the following gripes. The first is the staff were not the most attentive, in fact one of the staff looked at our empty plates on what must have been 6 occasions and just ignored them, now I could understand it, if it was busy but it was very quiet at the time and we waited a good 15/20mins, so we attracted another staff member with the request of desert, who then cleared our plates and provided us with the deserts menu.

It was also let down when we asked about what certain dishes were and the response was not particularly descriptive or enthusiastic, you want to feel excited to try foods you’ve never experienced before so I feel they let themselves down in this regard.

The next gripe is the kitchen staff are all dressed in matching uniforms but the waiting staff are wearing jeans, T-shirt’s, trainers etc, and not smart versions of these, which I feel let’s down the overall image of the restaurant and takes a bit of the special shine off.

My final gripe and I didn’t experience it as it was very quiet but it’s pretty obvious when it gets busy this must happen. The hand dryer in the men’s toilet is right by the urinal and it’s not a big toilet area, so with it containing two sinks and two urinals, basically if there are three men in there and two are using the urinals and you want to dry your hands you are forced to get a little bit too close to the other person at the urinal, think ‘invading personal space’. Probably better to have one sink and move the hand dryer.

That being said they have a fully fitted disable toilet and baby changing facilities and it was very clean and well equipped.

So gripes aside they should in no way dissuade you from dining at Lotus, it really is a great restaurant and well...

Restaurants like these are putting Derby on the UK’s culinary map. This eatery is based around street food and the kind of dishes you’d get in an Indian home - designed to be shared at a table rather than the lumpen, unattractive mounds of food you can find in a typical curry house. Dishes are brought out in bowls. You serve yourself on your plate - it feels like tapas in many ways except you’re feasting on delicious Indian fare.

I started my lunch with the mushroom kurkure which was stuffed with cheese and peppers in a light batter - and squid pepper fry for starters. Among my mains was the tariwala chicken (a boneless curry based on the chef-of-the-day’s recipe - so it subtly changes based on who is in charge of the kitchen) and a tarka dal which melted on the tongue. My mouth is salivating again at the memory!

This would have been good enough except I have to say something about the decor and location. I can only describe the ambience as light, airy and Scandinavian-inspired. There are no white tablecloths or yellow-painted walls in sight - what you might normally expect in an Indian eatery... It gives the place a very relaxed air and it is set by a marina so we were able to watch the sun dapple off the water as we had our food and drink.

The restaurant makes a brilliant use of the light through its spacious windows. But at the same time, there are some authentic touches - I wanted to take home the 150-year-old apothecary’s chest with me. It’s from Kerala. I sat underneath a beautiful wooden door - apparently sourced from Rajasthan.

The drinks also deserve a mention. I didn’t have a gin mixture but I would have tried one of their many offerings if it had been after dark. There’s a larger-than-usual wine selection with eye-catching Marlborough sauv blancs and fruity Riojas. Meanwhile, there’s also some local ales on tap to complement the lager - bottled and on tap. This felt like a nice Derbyshire touch.

The owners happened to be there and were welcoming. What was pleasing to hear was they didn’t want you to order too much - they’d much rather I enjoyed. They were understanding about my own predilections and sensitive palate too.

They are clearly hugely passionate about this project and they were happy explain the ethos of the place (which it clearly has as you can see above) - and also make some recommendations for me personally.

Just go and savour it. You won’t be...

Lotus Kitchen:

A restaurant that’s been on our list probably since it’s opened!!! Located proudly at Mercia Marina, boasting with confidence, it’s food and service, with its inviting aromas. You CAN NOT go to the Marina and not be enticed or indulged into the Lotus Kitchen. An absolute Gem! Parking is Free at the Marina, including the restaurant, which is always a Bonus. You’re warmly welcomed by staff and a bar, to start your evening. There are a good number of seats whilst you wait for your party to arrive. The restaurant has ample places to sit and is utilised well with the tables and chairs spaced out well, not invading the privacy of tables. The Service is great, professional and friendly. Our waiter was Fraser. A fantastic young man. He knew his menu well. Advised on what was available and what additional items were available that weren’t on the menu. His customer service was excellent. Thank you Fraser. The Menu. Wow! The Menu had some amazing choices, leaving you either wanting to order it ALL or return to try out another dish. Either way a great menu. We were all really pleased with our food. It was cooked well, traditionally. The Tandoori naans we’re done very well and in a proper Tandoori oven. (This was impressive). The Kitchen is open so you can see you’re food being prepared. Prepare yourself for it being served. It is Divine! and you will not be disappointed. A definite must!!! We will most definitely be returning to try another dish. The only (pedantic) improvement I’d say, is the ambiance and the vibe. This could be improved. The staff could also be given a uniform. But other than this, it was fantastic!!! Thank you for the Lotus Experience. 💫

Second Visit -

We returned to Lotus Kitchen again tonight. We never really like to go back to a restaurant once we’ve tried it, but Lotus Kitchen has you coming back, again and again. It really is a brilliant option. The service was great, the food was divine, parking is ample and free, the atmosphere was much better. Just another great Lotus Experience. Thank you to Kevin for looking after us. Very much appreciated. Great service. Friendly and professional. Thank you for another Lotus...