Lotus Asian Bistro — Restaurant in Davenport

We arrived for a late dinner shortly after 8 pm. In spite of many cars in the parking lot, we were seated immediately. For appetizers, we ordered the Kimchee Fries. The kimchee was one of the best I have ever had. It had a thicker marinade that provided a nice sauce on the fries. The 3 dishes our family ordered were Crying Tiger (Steak on a Bed of Lettuce with White Rice and a Spicy Bird's Eye Chile Sauce), Pad See Ew (Chicken with Rice Noodles), and Pork Belly Pad Kra Pao (Basil Pork Belly with Wide Noodles). The Cring Tiger is a dish I frequently order. Their dipping sauce is moderately hot and sweet with cilantro. Usually, this sauce is hot enough to make a Tiger cry, but this is balanced well to please anyone who likes Spicy food. The portion size on this was smaller, but it was exactly what I was looking for. I didn't want to eat a huge plate of noodles at 8:30 pm. The cost was $19. The Basil Pork Belly Noodles were delicious. For our personal preference, we would have liked more Vietnamese Basil leaves, but my husband had no difficulty polishing off the large noodle stirfry. His comment was, "I shouldn't eat this whole thing, but it's so good I just can't stop myself." The cost $15. The Chicken with Wide Rice Noodles is also one of our favorites. My daughter chose chicken as her protein. The portion was large. My daughter saved half of hers for later. The cost was also in the $15 to $16 range. We split a Mango Sticky Rice for desert. The mango was freshly sliced and ripe which was a perfect ending to a delicious meal. The...

Recently visited on 12/07/2024 and was extremely disappointed. The atmosphere remains the same, which is a good formal casual. The food has since changed and it's heavy on american flavoring. All dishes are far too sweet and barely thai fusioned. I ordered spring rolls, sesame chicken, mango jalapeno margarita, cream cheese puffs, tom yum, larb salad, singapore noodles, salmon, and crab cakes. The crab cakes, cream cheese puffs, and spring rolls were good. The soup, overly salty and lacking in flavor. The larb was sweet with no spice or lime detected. The sesame chicken was made with red sweet and sour. The cocktail was overly sweet with no spice present. The chicken featured in nearly all of the items ordered was overcooked, or more likely, very old. The Singapore noodles were simply soy and sugar. I do not believe anyone in this establishment knows what they are doing, unless the object is to scorn customers. I would recommend for people who enjoy overpriced low quality american chinese food, but not to those who enjoy fresh traditional thai fusion. The service itself also lacked, minimal greeting, untimed presentation of ordered items, and I am not sure dishes would've been removed if they had not been stacked and pushed to the side for obvious removal. I am reading now there was potentially a gratuity added to our bill atop of everything else, and the additional tip left. This was not disclosed to our group of three and truly unheard of for a group of that size. I do not...

I've long enjoyed the Tantra Asian Bistro. They serve great tasting Asian American food in a space that's a bit more on the fine dining side than many other Asian restaurants or takeout locations around the Quad Cities. I was a bit bummed they were closed for a few weeks near the end of 2022 and start of 2023 - I had a craving in December that went unsatisfied as a result. Well, they were open today, so I was going!

Much of the interior is the same as it's always been. There's a prominent bar off to the right of the entrance, a large wine rack in the same area, and a combination of booth and table seating throughout the dining space. A reddish brown ceramic tile lines the floors, while a drop ceiling with a combination of recessed and suspended lighting fixtures is seen overhead. At night, the lighting is dark and cozy, but even during a grey, overcast day like today, it suits just fine.

I opted for cream cheese puffs (what any other Asian restaurant would call Rangoons) and spicy basil fried rice with beef. Both were out to me within 10 minutes of ordering. The cheese puffs were great - crunchy and soft at the same time, with creamy filling. The fried rice was similarly fantastic. It was light and had well softened and sweet vegetables. The beef was similarly well cooked and tender. All in all, the food was as great this trip as before.

I look forward to my next visit to Tantra, and I hope they stay open for many years to come....