Lotus Chinese — Restaurant in Austin

This may be my new go-to Asian option in town. There are two basic reasons. First, the people here provide great service -- it's speedy and everyone is friendly and gracious. Second, the menu is a perfect combination of a few of your classic Chinese favorites, but done at a much more artisan level.

I came by last Thursday and am still raving about this place. My dining companion and I over-ordered and both of us left happy. We first tried their pork egg rolls. They were crispy and fried well without being greasy. The sweet chili sauce that came with them was a great accompaniment and a welcome change from the almost sickly sweet sweet and sour sauce most Chinese restaurants serve. We also tried two different dumpling dishes. The boiled pork dumplings are, without a doubt, the best I've had. (FYI, the boiled dumplings here are what most places call steamed.) The dough and filling are perfect together and the ginger soy sauce goes great with them. We also tried the Szechuan Chili Sauced dumplings, which we both liked after the initial surprise of a different seasoning and being less spicy than we expected.

My entree of sweet and sour sesame chicken was a refreshing retake of a classic Chinese takeout option with better quality meat and a fresher sauce that didn't taste overly sweet. My dining companion tried the spicy Szechuan chili noodles with shrimp, which she compared to the Szechuan dumplings.

Even with all of this food, I went back to order the crispy (AKA fried) pork dumplings, which were every bit as good as everything else we ordered. The entrees aren't the huge ones you get from the lower quality Chinese restaurants, but they're also not as overwhelming and leave you plenty of room to try the various appetizers.

I'd describe this as the best Chinese small plates restaurant experience...

Horrible Service and Cold Food. I only gave it a one star because the post required it to be posted.

I stopped in for some lunch and it started off okay. We were with our two dogs so we sat in the patio area, no biggie. After we ordered via the QR code and paid, we ordered a soda, appetizer, Bao, I believe and two entrees, chicken and rice dishes. We received our drinks and bao appetizers, they were fine, decent, nothing to complain about with that. One of the entrees arrived, luke warm, but edible. After waiting 10 min, the 2nd entree still hadn't been received. While waiting for the 2nd entree, food of another table who sat and ordered after us, started arriving. Hot plates, I could see the steam from the food rising, were taken to them. I went inside to check the status of my order. The girl behind the counter very rudely said they were busy and my order was up next. A few minutes later, a bowl of cold noodles and chicken and broccoli were served to me. It was colder than room temperature, like the broccoli was right out of the refrigerator cold. I took my bowl in to express my dissatisfaction. The rude employee offered to warm up my food. At that point when I spend $50 for food, it shouldn't need to be warmed up. I requested a refund. Another employee made the refund transaction, it's been 16 days and I still have not received a refund. After an awful experience, I went to the bar across the street and even the bartender said...

Lotus + Cleaver brings a friendly, modern spin on authentic Cantonese food. They are killing it! I would recommend coming with a group of people and sharing all the dishes. (I love that eating Chinese food is a communal experience.) It was hard to pick a favorite because ALL of the dishes were fab.

The shrimp and avocado toast has shrimp infused INSIDE the crispy bread. Delicious and hard to want to share! Suddenly, I love bread with sesame seeds over the crust. The ho fun (bacon in stir fried noodles) is a must try The crispy fish had great flavor and crispiness I was most surprised by how much I enjoyed the SLAW. The server told us it was made with 16 ingredients. It had so much flavoring and perfect to eat during the summer. Very refreshing! The scallion and egg fried rice was yummy and a much needed change from the typical frozen peas and carrots in a fried rice. Expect fresh ingredients here! *The half chicken with sauce is a delicious Cantonese dish done perfectly *Char Siu is the Chinese pork BBQ. It was juicy and tender The wings were delicious as any wing should be. I liked it without the spicy sauce. The pork bao had a juicy slice of pork belly, veggies, and a kick of spice inside a warm steamed bun. You MUST try the Thai basil lemonade. It's got half Thai basil lemonade and half Topo Chico. I've never had this anywhere else and it...