Lotus Thai and Sushi — Restaurant in Cincinnati

Went on a Monday evening. My friend and I were the only ones in the restaurant at first, then a few more people came in later. We ordered edamame but they were out of it. We ordered a S.E.A. sushi roll (salmon, eel, avocado, topped with sauce). The first two pieces of sushi had no eel, and there were only tiny amounts in the rest. I dissected a piece in front of our waitress to look for the eel and there was none. At first I thought they brought out the wrong roll, but had two different people come out to explain that because of the way the roll is made and cut, the end bits don't have all of the ingredients (?? I've never had this experience or excuse before and commented that you can't call it a S.E.A. roll if 25% of it doesn't have the 'E'. I've also never had a restaurant admit that something was made "wrong" on purpose because that's "just the way it is made.") The rest of the roll was tasty, though. They remade the roll even though we said that wasn't necessary, and the second time around, they forgot to add the sauce. So far, in my experience, this 'sushi' restaurant doesn't know how to make sushi. That is the only roll we tried, though. The coconut chicken soup (Tom Kah Kai) however, was delicious. For my entree, I ordered the stir-fried eggplant with basil from the vegetarian menu (then was later asked what meat I wanted on it, lol, but no big deal) and it was tasty, and my friend had the Tom Yum Moo Dang (red pork soup with noodles), which also was good. I ordered Diet Coke which was kept refilled. My friend asked about the types of teas available and ordered Jasmine tea, but was served Green tea (she wanted to avoid caffeine this late in the day but we decided not to mention it). Service was exceptionally slow. I'd like to give one star for the sushi (as a sushi restaurant, I expect better), and four stars for the entrees, but the slow service, incorrect tea, and argumentative staff drops it down to a generous two stars. With Saki Bomb (who makes great sushi rolls!) just down the road, it will be difficult to pass them up in order to give Lotus Thai a second chance for sushi, but I may. I do see myself possibly ordering the soup and an entree as a to-go order in the future, but with the fabulous 3 Ladies Thai Cuisine in Florence and on DoorDash, again, it would be a risk. Overall I do not recommend, but if I try it again and have a better experience, I will update my review...

EDIT: After being open for a couple of months now, I can genuinely say I wanted to love this place. I love Thai food and I work on fourth street, it should have been a match made it heaven. However, this business seems to do everything in its power to make eating here inconvenient and feel unwelcoming and uncomfortable. Online ordering for the first couple weeks was a disaster, orders would be cancelled more than an hour after placing them, food wouldn't be ready when promised, and even ordering inside the restaurant resulted in an hour+ wait for food. In reviews, owners blamed guests for the long waits, telling them to use order online if they can't afford to wait over an hour on a weekday for food. But as I stated, even online ordering was not feasible for the business folk downtown who have limited lunch hours, often times resulting in getting no food and going hungry. They now have doordash available for carry out, but you cannot order any of the lunch specials even during lunch hours. They also charge $1.50 for ginger and wasabi with their sushi which is outrageous. Mr. Sushi two streets over has a tuna roll for the same price as Lotus, but it comes with 2 more pieces and free ginger and wasabi. Not to mention they haven't had sushi available in WEEKS. This place needs to step it up or they are not going to last long.

Original review: Very good flavors and incredibly friendly, patient staff. Attended their grand opening on fourth street. It took almost an hour to get my carry out order. I understand it was their first day, but a warning about the wait would have been nice. I had the thai spicy (delicious) and a tuna roll (also tasty). The tuna roll felt a little small for the price (six small pieces for $7) but I haven't ordered sushi in a while to compare to other restaurants in the area. I'll definitely be back, but I plan to order online instead of waiting...

Authentic, Thai-managed, fresh & familiar delicious meals. Generous portions served with a positive attitude. I dined in here for lunch Friday 21st June 2024, without booking, as a day tourist to the city, and am counting my lucky stars that I did. The sweet & sour shrimp soup (tom yum goong) hit the spot on a hot summer's day, without being burn-your-face-off overpowering. It was a relatively cheap and filling starter. The green curry with chicken (plus complimentary rice) (kaeng khiao wan gai) was as close to ordering the dish in Thailand as I have found in the USA. Sure, there were no peppercorns, round green peppers, or as much galangal as I would have liked, but the green curry paste was obviously homemade to an original recipe, lush, and had subtle elements of lemongrass, lime, kaffir, holy basil, and all the essentials, to transport me back to fine dining in Bangkok/Chiang Mai/Phuket. There were carrots, but not an obnoxious amount. The staff were happy to offer off-menu customisation (e.g. more/less fish sauce) to suit accustomed tastes. Plus they were just the sort of really nice and cool people you want to meet after you have been traipsing around ballparks, riverwalks, etc, in the hot sun. I really hope Lotus Thai & Sushi thrive, I would be happy to drive here from Dayton again just for this...