Lotus Hot Pot & Grill — Restaurant in Gladstone

Food is fantastic, but short staffing leads to errors.

I have been taken here by a friend on a couple occasions now, and the food is great, but it is pricey. We average $40 a person or more.

How it works: You order a broth, and either it is brought out and placed on a heating element in the center of the table, or you can have an individual pot for each person. I recommend the individual pot. They sometimes forget to ask you if you want communal or individual. Then they have to fix it when they get it wrong. They also bring you other items you order such as meats and vegetables and even quail eggs. Each item you order comes with it's own costs. The meat is raw but sliced super thin and takes only a few seconds to cook in a boiling broth. They don't have forks, only chop sticks and a spoon. After that it's chow down time.

The first time we went. my companion ordered the spicy broth, but they argued with her that it was too spicy for her, despite the fact she has had it before and can drink hot sauce straight. They brought her the broth without the peppers when she refused to change her order. They also no longer have the lotus, so they just changed it for something else we didn't order when bringing it out. Still, the food was fantastic, and the service was good until near the end when our server was gone forever.

The next time we went they forgot to ask us about individual or communal broth and brought out a large pot with a divider in it. However, my companion is highly allergic to my mushroom broth, so we had to have it taken back. This is a good time to mention that you should beware of allergies. The mushroom broth steam blew in my companions direction and she ended up sick for several days. Since it is in steam, I suggest you don't order something that anyone at the table is allergic to just to be safe. The rest of the evening we had a hard time getting service, even though we were the table next to the kitchen, Apparently when we asked for the check, our server went to Dollar General to shop before they closed instead of getting us a check, leaving my companion sick and waiting to go home. The other diners got their bills for some reason and we were left alone in the dining area waiting for her return.

The herb broth was better than the mushroom, but both were good. My companion adores the spicy broth and orders it every time. The meat platter comes in small and large, and it really depends on how hungry you are. The large platter is a LOT of food with 4 kinds of meat, where as the smaller one is 3 kinds of meat on a platter about half the size.

They can't get enough staff to manage the place, and that is a drawback. Overall the service lacks because of staffing, but otherwise it's a good place to eat if you...

I recently had a truly disappointing experience at this restaurant. From the moment we arrived, the staff seemed agitated, and the introduction was far from welcoming. The server bluntly asked, “Do you guys have questions or no??” which implied the answer before we even had a chance to respond.

Things quickly escalated from there. The server spilled eight glasses of water on two of us, soaking our laps and torsos. We were moved to a new table, and despite the mishap, we remained gracious and understanding, as accidents do happen.

However, the service only got worse. Instead of politely placing items on the table, the server shoved extremely hot metal cooking equipment between a family member and me. In the process, sizzling hot oil splashed onto me, causing a painful burn on my skin. I didn't say anything at first, not wanting to overreact, but when I jumped from the oil hitting my arm—an entirely natural reaction—there was no apology from the server.

When we asked for more silverware and bowls, as we hadn't been given enough, the server responded rudely, saying, “If you guys keep asking for stuff, then I won’t be able to give you your food.” This kind of attitude was completely unacceptable.

At the end of our meal, when we inquired about compensation for all the issues we encountered, the staff member coldly replied, "You guys didn’t have a problem with service until it’s time to pay." This was frustrating for two reasons: 1) No one ever checked on us to see how we were doing, and 2) We had been trying to make the best of the situation. We had to ask for refills multiple times, and at one point, I had to get up from my seat and walk to the back corner to order rice while the server was eating and watching a TV show on her phone.

To top it off, we were told not to let the soup get to the bottom because it would burn and cause extra cleaning at the end of the night. This was both strange and unprofessional.

Youml apologized for the service at the end, but the other lady (of Asian decent) glared at us from the other side of the restaurant which was both awkward and uncomfortable.

While the food itself was tasty, the poor service completely overshadowed the experience. This was particularly disappointing as we had a guest visiting from Florida with first time introduction’s with us. Given how we were treated, I would not recommend this restaurant and definitely will not...

This place was recommended by a friend. It was not quite what I expected. I'm okay with the dated strip mall that it's in and even with the humble atmosphere of the place. There are a lot of divey looking places with great food. The premise of this place is kind of cool, but they have not done a good job at all and making the menu intuitive or even understandable. If you've never been there before you're probably going to be lost and you certainly aren't going to know what order or what quantities things come in.

Looking around the restaurant everything looked pretty small portion-wise so we ended up over ordering. We ordered the recommended groupings of items (meats and veggies) which I definitely would not do again. Much better off picking the exact meats and vegetables that you want rather than relying on the groupings that they give you.

Also, when it comes to the broths, my advice is just pick one and probably the first one on the list. Then you can add spices or sauces as you like. Instead we got two broths the first one on the list and then the second one which is basically a spicy version of the first one and then we got a bunch of spicy condiments that came with everything that would have turned the first one into the second one. So save some time and money and just get the one broth. Same save time and money and just get a few meat vegetable items to start. Things that you know you like. Then you can always order more if you still need to.

My three-star rating is because nobody there was able or willing to really explain any of this at the restaurant. The menu doesn't explain it, the staff well extremely nice didn't seem to understand either. They didn't help at all with describing what the portions would be like before bringing them out. The broths basically taste the same and having one regular and one spicy honestly just ruined the regular one because the spicy one was crazy.

I would eat here again, especially now that I know how things work and I could probably save $20 or $30 by only ordering one broth, taking the free sauces that come with a meal, and ordering the meats and vegetables al a carte. The food was definitely fresh so they have that...