Lotus Banh Mi — Restaurant in Oak Brook

The ONLY good thing about this place is that it looks nice. You'd think that from the polished website, cute photos and even the story sold there that this would have some ounce of authenticity to its origins - spoiler alert it doesn't.

Food Experience: 2/10 Chicken pho- this is the lightest broth with hints of onion. No star anise, cardamom, clove, ginger and no beef bones simmered. Easily one of the worst pho I've tasted in my whole life. 2/10

Garden spring rolls- So much damn lettuce?? and the vegetables are closer to an Asian inspired summer roll if anything. The sauce might as well have been vinegar and peanut butter, because that's what it tasted like. no salt, no nuc mom (fish sauce), nothing. 2/10

Curry tofu rice bowl- this order was actually forgotten about, leaving my guest hungry. We had to ask for her order and we waited another 15-20 minutes for it to come out. She took one bite and spit it out. Out of curiosity, I tried it and good god... this might as well have been called "simmered coconut milk". Not anywhere near curry. Why was it orange and why did it taste like turmeric??? -1000/10

Soy glazed tofu- extremely unmemorable. 3/10

Soy glazed wings- the sauce was okay, actually had some flavor but the meat was so tough and just dry. No amount of sauce could cover that up. 4/10

Bahn mi- god awful. "Pickled" daikon and carrots didn't have any ounce of fresh tang it needed, this tasted extremely watered down. The flavor of the chicken and tofu was Asian inspired but definitely no where near any identity. Bread itself was closer to a Spanish bolio roll not even "French". 1/10

Customer Service: 6/10 They certainly tried. It seems like a family of 7 is something they never expected (from an Asian restaurant? no way!). Got some of our order wrong, missed an order and didn't charge for drinks- which we addressed and paid for. At least they offered to clean the table up after?

Environment: 7/10 It was nice. I hated how close the tables were to each other.

Overall: For a quick expensive lunch this isn't anywhere near passable and I would have rather eaten at Subway. If it's claiming to be authentic, its not. As a "French-fusion" place where were the French flavors? Not worth any time or money if you've had the real deal. Other reviews seem paid for or just catering to the demographic in Oakbrook. You can tell me...

People are really sleeping on this place. The Pho and Banh-mi sandwiches were terrific and honestly was one of, if not, the best of the Vietnamese Pho restaurants I’ve tried in the western suburbs that my wife and I have been to.

My wife and I went on a lazy Sunday afternoon, and the restaurant was mostly empty, with the occasional delivery driver service dropping in and only one other couple stopped in while we were there. Comfortable “chill beats” for background music, kept a nice atmosphere to match the Zen aesthetics. As for food, we ordered a chicken banh-mi to share and beef pho’s for each of us. The ingredients tasted incredibly fresh compared to a lot of the Viet places we’ve been to. Heavy on the cilantro, which we were big fans of, but know not everyone is. The quantity of food received was on the better side. Plenty of noodles and beef in the pho compared to other restaurants and they didn’t skimp out on the sandwich either. And then we get to the broth. It was not overly oily/fatty and was a more clear broth, but was not lacking in flavor at all. Cilantro definitely contributed a lot to the flavor, so it may not be for those who taste cilantro as soap. Otherwise a very concise broth that I’d easily consider as one of the better pho broths in Naperville’s surrounding suburbs.

Overall highly recommend and we will be...

WOW!!!! My daughter and I moved to Dupage Co from the city a couple of years ago, and our favorite part of living in Chicago was being in walking distance to Little Asia, near Argyle/Broadway. We would hit our favorite Vietnamese spot at least twice a week for spring rolls, banh mi, and pho. Since moving here, we have found our go-to spot for every cuisine EXCEPT Vietnamese. We have searched high and low, trying every highly rated restrurant ---driving over half an hour in desperation of a pho that resembles what we used to get in the city...only to be disappointed time and time again. As of last night, we found our new spot!!!!!!! Yahooooo!!!!! :) The young man working was so nice and welcoming, the decor was very clean and cozy, and the food was absolutely phenomenal. We got the Veggie Spring Rolls, the Veggicado Banh Mi, and the Chicken Pho. Literally not a crumb left on our plates, and we were already planning our next visit before we finished eating. Soooo impressed! Your will not be dissappionted!!! Thank you for coming to Dupage, Lotus! We...