Lotus 1 Vietnamese — Restaurant in New York

I would describe this place as an order-to-go restaurant. This small place has 3-4 tables. I stumbled upon this place on Yelped. I was shopping around LIC and I had sudden cravings for pho. It was this or District Saigon. We drove passed District Saigon and it didn’t seem authentic and it seems pricey. So we ended selecting the cheaper place. I ordered a beef pho, viet iced coffee, a classic bahn mi, dumplings, and grilled pork to share.

Everything was in a to-go container or paper plate. I didn’t mind given that I knew this was a more of a to-go spot.

Viet coffee was on point! Strong and sweet. The beef pho was just okay. The broth was a bit bland. No raw meats like how most viet restaurant makes their pho. I didn’t mind it was still good but I wish it was a bit more flavorful.

Bahn mi was out of the world. Super fresh bread and ingredients. I wanted to order another one immediately. I would totally recommend their sandwiches.

The rice was not that great. The grilled pork was too dry.

The dumplings were nothing special. If anything it was overkill for me.

Overall I would definitely go back but just for their banh mi and iced coffee! :) you should try the classic.

Oh! And it was...

Ordered take out via Uber eats. This was truthfully the worst Vietnamese food I’ve had and I’m by no means an expert on Vietnamese food. I am not a picky eater at all, but that food was virtually inedible. I ordered the chicken vermicelli bowl and shrimp summer rolls.

The only good thing about the bowl was the chicken. It was well seasoned and had a really nice flavor, hence the two stars. The noodles were slimy and they were the thickest vermicelli noodles I’ve had in a vermicelli bowl. I’m not sure why, but the bowl was not cold or lukewarm, but hot. Even the lettuce they packed at the bottom of the bowl, to make it appear like there was more food, was hot. The cucumbers were not pickled and the pickled carrots were horrible. Also, I was given rotten mint leaves.

The summer rolls were the smallest summer rolls I’ve ever had. My hands were bigger than the roll. For some reason, the rolls were also hot. The rice paper was incredibly slimy, as though it had been sitting out for hours. The peanut sauce had too much peanut butter and not enough hoisin. It also had a film on top which leads me to believe that it had been sitting...

Despite being off the beaten path of Astoria eateries, I will happily trek to the depths of residential pathways to enjoy a hearty, delicious bowl of pho. I love this place for the way they treat vegetarians as equals and provide them as much variety as omnivores. It was refreshing to see so many options beyond the usual tofu entree, I regret that my first visit here wasn’t made on an empty stomach, I would’ve ordered so much more. I ordered the veg chicken pho, fresh summer rolls and veg fish bahn mi. Summer rolls were a great light appetizer, like a little rice noodle salad with fresh peanut sauce. The bahn mi was incredibly delicious, the bread was soft and warm. Veggies were fresh and absolutely loved the soy fish that was like marinated tofu with seaweed. The star was definitely the pho, the broth was so savory and mock chicken was like a tofu roll with gluten based for a more accurate texture. The service was phenomenal, our server was incredibly attentive and friendly. I highly recommend this place for vegetarians especially, I will definitely be back to try...