The lotus — Restaurant in City of Ithaca

As a Korean, I would have to say this wasn't the best but this is based on the 3 entrees my family ordered. Service was fine and pleasant but the table was still wet as we sat down and had that smell of being wiped with a musty towel rather than something sanitary. We ordered the nacho appetizer that comes with some bulgolgi beef but it was like a plate of melted cheese with a few specks of meat and barely any chips in it. My wife ordered an udon soup. Broth was watery, lacked flavor and depth and veggies were regular broccoli instead of a more Asian vegetable like bok choy or Chinese broccoli. My son ordered the pork belly, almost the most expensive dish on the menu, so was expecting something delicious. What he got was a few slices of pork belly barely seared and on top of a ton of raw sliced onions. came with a side of spring onion salad and white rice. The pork belly had no seasoning, which would be ok if served with dipping sauces. if you order pork belly at a Korean bbq place, you typically have 3-4 sauces. spicy Gochujang sauce, soy sauce, vinegar w salt and/or sesame oil with salt. Since pork belly has no seasoning unlike bacon, it makes it a blank canvas/vehicle for a restaurant to really show off its ability to elevate it. Didn't happen here. I finally had to ask for some sesame oil and some salt. Lastly, I ordered the Bibimbap with beef. This was probably the closest and better dish of our choices. The only negative I would say is the beef used. It was the same type of thin sliced beef used for the nachos. Not much flavor and not much meat. Many places serve it using seasoned ground beef w a touch of sesame oil. Not that you can't use this type of meat, but it should be seasoned authenticity for this type of dish. If you don't eat Korean food but in a blue moon then you won't have a comparison point of view and most of this would be fine. Except the amount of cheese to chip ratio, bland pork belly and...

Went for lunch. Terrible food, slow service, and not worth your money or time - go somewhere else!

First time going to this particular restaurant. Went on a personal recommendation, but did NOT have a good experience. Went for lunch, and when we arrived, we seated ourselves, and the waitperson did not come to take our order in a timely manner. Others arrived after we did, and he stopped at their tables and took their orders first. There weren't many diners there (and now I know why). When he finally did take our order, he did not seem like he wanted to be at work, let alone serve anyone. The items on the menu are not adequately described, and what you are brought vs. what you think you will be getting is a large difference. When someone questioned this, he made an excuse that they changed things up. However, the menu should be more accurate, or...if changes are made, when someone orders an item, the waitstaff should inform diners that the menu item is no longer available as described. (We received an official "eye roll" on this observation, from the waiter.) The food was substandard for the price, and really, if I could give this place a negative rating, I would. But a "1" out of 5 will have to suffice. The food was bland, the chicken patty seemed undercooked, and if you are not experienced with chopsticks, you may or may not get a fork if you ask for one. Initially you just get a spoon, chopsticks, and a napkin. I will never go back there, and I would suggest to others to steer clear as well. In their defense, perhaps dinner is an entirely different staff and experience, but I can say without reservation that our lunch was decidedly...

AVOID THIS PLACE!! The service was the absolute worst. We were seated after a bit of waiting but it took them 20 ish mins to even come get our order. The first red flag. Originally, my party of 2 ordered 4 items in total and we assumed that the waiter heard all of it as he didn’t even bother repeating what we ordered back to us. The second red flag. After 3 of our items arrived, we waited for a good 15 ish mins for the last dish before calling the owner over. We asked him what happened to the dish and the owner went to ask the waiter what happened. The waiter then threw a full fit with fingers pointing at us and the empty but unclean table next to us (the customers just left). Through my understanding of the bits and pieces of Korean, he kept saying that the table next to us ordered the dish but we didn’t despite that it was the first thing that we ordered. At this point, he was throwing a huge fit and about most of the restaurant was looking at him and I completely lost my appetite. We just took the bill and left. The owner owes three shops with two of them (Koko and Le Cafe) currently undergoing construction. I am a loyal customer of Koko and has been going constantly for the last two years. But this service of this place completely left me baffled and...