Lotus Garden Chinese & Thai Cuisine — Restaurant in Kauai

Potential food poisoning

Ah, the only failure of choice when it comes to food on our week-long trip. We erroneously chose to eat here after seeing that it scored a borderline passable score of 4.0 on Google Maps. We should have seen the red flags popping up when we got to this place.

We were rather drained from our mucky hike down to the Queen’s Bath (what a blast!), and didn’t really want to spend a ton of energy choosing a place for dinner before leaving Hawaii later in the evening.

This place nestles in a strip mall, near several other restaurants and bars that were just waking up to the dinner crowd at 4 in the afternoon.

On the main island, we have a general presupposition for places that serves food from multiple cuisines — that it won’t be authentic, and it probably won’t be that delicious. Of course there are always exceptions.

And yet, we got lazy here on our last day. And rather than stuffing more meat on buns or poke, we decide to swing it and go for something Asian. Without delving into the reviews, I decided that 4.0 is good enough.

We ordered a couple of dishes — the shrimp green curry and a garlic fish stir fry. A Chinese dish and a Thai dish respectively, hoping that they would at least get one cuisine right.

Well, the green curry came watered-down. It’s as if they had a powder of green curry and added a couple cups of water and stirred before dropping a few pieces of shrimp and pepper in. And the garlic fish stir fry has bell peppers that were ‘medium’ — a term reserved for the likes of beef, duck, and lamb.

To make matters worse, my wife started feeling sick after taking a few bite of her shrimp green curry, and described the taste as something that seemed to have gone bad. That sickness turned into stomach ache and lasted for a day or so.

We did not finish our food.

For a restaurant on the border of going under 4.0 on Google Maps, they are really not making an effort to impress.

For your health and your vacation’s sake, I would not...

I'm not one to do a negative review. In this circumstance I tried talking to them directly about my frustration in the value of the food I purchased. Had they not made up excuses and rudely waved me out of their restaurant, I wouldn't have written this. I purchased the "summer roll" also known as a fresh roll or spring roll. I paid $7.50 for the appetizer. I was told it was "vegetarian" after I ordered it. When I got it, all it was cabbage wrapped in rice paper with 2 mint leaves in it. Nothing else inside. Three very cheap ingredients. I did enjoy the flavor of the peanut dipping sauce though. At the same time, I had also ordered a $5.75 fish taco from the restaurant next door to this restaurant. As I was eating my cabbage "summer roll" and comparing to the amazing fish taco that I paid less for it became very apparent that I got ripped off. I waited until they didn't have any customers and asked if they were open to some feedback on their "summer roll". I suggested having more then just cabbage, maybe avocado especially for the price they were charging. He said they weren't that kind of restaurant to have the ingredients to add other vegetables to the roll. Really? Then why have it on your menu and charge top dollar for it? He was rude, and possibly because I wasn't the only person that complained? I read other reviews and see that others were disappointed in the value of what they received with getting small meat portions in their dishes. I feel frustrated because it seems that he gets away with charging top dollar for mediocre food with cheep ingredients and gets away with it because they serve tourists and doesn't have to accountable. Eat at the Mexican restaurant next door, better food and better value. I even...

Lotus Garden is a hidden gem. Tucked away inside Princeville Center, it's a no frills, casual joint in a breezy (but covered) public eating space. With Thai and Chinese co-owners, it boasts a menu that is both diverse and surprisingly bold. Beyond covering classics like Pad Thai, Kung Pao Chicken, and Honey Walnut Shrimp, they impressed me with an ambitious array of dishes that included Thai Curry Ono, Singaporean Street Noodles, Spicy Garlic Seabass, and even Peking Duck Stir Fry! Seriously, there's something for everyone here.

Now, I had great food all around Kauai, but the most remarkable dish during my visit was unquestionably the Fresh Kauai Shrimp at Lotus Garden. Yeah, I'm surprised too. It might just be the best crispy shrimp I've ever had. It's seasoned with a fantastically addicting garlic chili sauce and lightly fried just right. They shell the shrimp for you, leaving only the head and the crispy tail (my favorite part) on. Plump and juicy on the inside, crunchy umami bits on the outside. It also comes with rice and vegetables. We ate THREE orders of the shrimp, and we will be going back for more.

All in all, Lotus Garden is one of my favorite places for dinner in North Kauai. It's nice to have a great...