Lotus Garden — Restaurant in City of Utica

I never like writing this sort of review, but it has to be done.

The good: The interior is nice. There's a lovely outdoor dining space, though it had no chair set out, so we didn't know we could sit there. The bartender did her best, though she had no front of house help whatsoever. The Cambodian fish curry- (Amok) was delicious. A bit sweet for my partner, but I loved it.

The bad: sadly, pretty much everything else. The spring rolls- whoever made them was unable to roll them properly, as all of them split open and spilled everywhere, all down the top. Use bigger pieces of rice wrapping, maybe. The shrimp tasted off. It tasted old and fishy. I am honestly a little concerned that I may get sick.

The XO sauce beef- Oh, this made me so sad. :( I found a few fragments of what might have been dried scallop in it, but it was mostly just a thin, watery, generic brown sauce with oddly sweet tones. The beef itself was WAY too sweet. I don't know what happened to it. I do know it wasn't tenderized in any way, however. It was incredibly tough, dry, overcooked, and grey. It's a shame. A cow died for that.

The flat rice noodles (we got the Chinese style ones with shiracha, but I do not remember the menu name) seemed like they must have been really old. They're only good for about half a day after you make them. Either they were cooked and ended up dried out after spending time in a fridge, or they were just undercooked and not separated properly when being stir-fried from the start, as there was a very hard, dry chunk in the middle that seemed uncooked. Almost all the noodles were stuck together in a clump. Chow fun style noodles should be tender, not mushy, and not hard and dry.

Two of the dishes we got were supposed to be Chinese food, and if you want to judge the quality of a Chinese restaurant, try their beef and try their flat, wide rice noodles. They are a bit of a challenge to get right, but if the chef cannot make them right, don't bother with anything else either.

I was surprised by how good the curry was compared to the rest, but I haven't had Amok before, so I have no Cambodian dining experiences to compare it to.

The menu is so incredibly eclectic that it is easy for one to get lost. I see the appeal in having a little something for everyone, and a wide variety of things to try from that you might not have access to anywhere else in central new york, which is not exactly a culinary Mecca. It's easy, however, for such a concept to fall apart in execution. So many different dishes prepared in so many different styles. I would advice refining the best dishes and letting the rest go. Make the menu smaller, and really work hard at making the things you do keep shine, as well as ensure that all the ingredients are fresh. Maybe it'll take less than an hour to prepare the food...

My wife and I just ate there, and I think this restaurant hits the spot for both Americans and native Cambodians. I've been to Cambodia a few times, I've eaten at their restaurants, home cooking, in the city, and the countryside. I've also had Cambodian in the US and Quebec.

I have very high standards when it comes to my food. When I give a five star review, it means something.

I was surprised by Lotus Garden. It was very inexpensive, they used fresh vegetables, they fried tofu just right (my wife and I are Orthodox Christians so we eat vegetarian during specific fasts), and they had a good amount of spice. I had the Cambodian Curry and it was better than the curry I actually had in Cambodia (though in Cambodia I had it on Phnom Penh's riverfront, which is for the vacationers/"Paran.") Though the vegetables were mostly American (other than the bamboo shoots), the sauces tasted legit and we're in America and they're cooking for mostly Americans, so I expected this.

If you are a little wary of the "Exotic" nature of Cambodian cuisine, I'd recommend ordering the soups. They serve Pho (which is Vietnamese), and if you like Chinese soups, you will definitely like Pho (because it taste a thousand times better.)

Lastly, the service is good. They are prompt, friendly, and polite. This is what I like about Thai or Cambodian restaurants compared to Vietnamese, Chinese, or Japanese (which in the USA are just Chinese cooking Japanese food.) Cambodians and Thai are much more professional and better with customer service.

Best food I have had in Central New York....

I don’t normally leave bad reviews but I just had such a bad experience here. We did go during the pandemic so I was trying to patient but it didn’t go well and the food was terrible...

We were seated outside, 4 adults and 2 kids and asked for a high chair. She said ok but never brought one. We ordered right away as we were hungry and have kids, after 2 more time of asking for a high chair over the next 15 minutes my mom just went inside and got it herself. There was only one other family sitting outside so didn’t look busy. My drink came out right away. The high chair straps were broken so not helpful at all. After 30 min of no food the waitress came out to say our food would be delayed as they were short staffed on the kitchen. I asked if she could bring anything to help tie over my kids, even a cracker, something Easy she said she didn’t know ( I started to wonder if she understood English). My husband and I walked 15 min to a Stewart’s to buy snacks for our now screaming crying child. Our food still wasn’t there when we’ve returned. After nearly 90 min of waiting food came out it was bland and tasteless and every dish lacked vegetables!! Advertised with veggies and yet mine was just noodles and tofu and my moms fried rice was just rice and broccoli. It was all bad, same for the pad Thai. My husbands meal just never came when after asking so we finally just paid ate 3 bites each and brought our distraught family home. I’ll never be...