Loving Hut — Restaurant in Orlando

A vegan restaurant for also the vegan-curious!

I’ve always enjoyed the lemongrass noodles. Last year, it was $7.95, but now it’s $9.95. I’d still go there for that dish though! I tried this dish two different times. Consistently, the lemongrass flavor is definitely there but not overpowering, the textured protein was tender, the noodles were cooked just right (not too al dente or not too soft), the fresh lettuce is crunchy, and their specialty sweet chili sauce is addictive. The only difference between the two times I ordered this dish was the onions. The first time, the onions were caramelized well. The second time (today), the onions were more on the slightly raw end which made me sniffle. Or shall I admit that the dish was still so good it made me cry on a rainy Friday early evening?

I had the “smiling” dumplings too, which were also good! Ingredients have always tasted fresh and fragrant. I ought to order more than the lemongrass noodle dish, but that is what I always crave every time I go to Loving Hut. The aromas are so soothing, so maybe that’s why I’ve ordered this twice.

The prices increased to about $1-$2 for some dishes. The combo dishes stay at the $8-9 range, if I recall correctly. Still, regardless of the price increase, I’m in love with Loving Hut.

The times I’ve gone were on weeknights, around 5:30p-7:30pm. The crowd picks up around 7pm. There was only 1 server the times I’ve gone, so she wasn’t able to attend to all tables to follow-up to ask how the meal is or ask if I needed the check when I was almost done. I can understand, so my tip is to simply go to cashier side and ask for what you need. Waiting around will take a long time, so don’t be offended if you find one server not being more attentive than you might expect.

Second tip-be careful driving into and out of the narrow alley that leads to the parking lot! Easy to miss the alley if you’ve never been, as also a bit dangerous to exit out because it is one-way. I can’t recall another way to exit the lot.

Only for the time I went, I noticed Loving Hut’s tables had only one sheet of napkin without any napkin dispenser in sight. One might think this is a sign of thriftiness but I think it’s environmental mindfulness. I had no straw for my cup and the server asked if I was going to use the silverware when she handed me chopsticks for my noodle dish. With these things in mind, you may need to politely holler at the server or just go to the cashier counter and request additional things you may need, as mentioned above.

Overall, Loving Hut is still...

I am going to preface this by saying that I was SO EXCITED to eat at loving hut today. Also, I am not one to leave bad reviews so have that in mind.

We went in and ordered the tofu and sushi as appetizers I ordered the orange yogi rice and my husband ordered the sautéed noodles.

First, the tofu came and it tasted off, like old oil. But again, we aren’t going to complain for something small so we didn’t. Then my husbands food came out and it was pretty good, but mine was taking forever. We had only received one appetizer by that point and I was waiting on my food a long while. When I did get my food, the “orange chicken” substitute tasted like pure oil. We had resolved to just eat the food whether we liked it or not, I went to eat it with the white rice and but down and felt a hard crunch. My rice had a very very hard piece in it, I told my husband and he took a bit as well. Hard bite down, he spit it out. So I left the rice and ate the meat substitute. Then the sushi came out, it had a very bland taste and then crunch. Hard rice. So rather than complain that we didn’t enjoy the flavor of anything we received, I decided to let the waitress know that the rice was very hard and crunchy, therefore, we couldn’t eat any of the sushi. Then she come with the check, SUSHI STILL ON IT. We had a full plate just sitting there. We ask her about it, and why we would pay for it

We were met with I swear !!! : “I ran my hands through the rice to check and everything seemed fine”

You did what ? And basically calling us liars at that.. Anyway, we ask that we please not have to pay for it, and she says she will ask the owner if she can omit it.

No apology at all, just annoyance. She brings back the new check and says nothing as she places it on the table and walks away. We pay and she sees us leave and says nothing. We spent almost $30 and didn’t enjoy any of the food, We brought up 1 thing (hard rice) and get called liars in essence.

So, my friends who want to try good vegan food... look further, if it wasn’t just the food not being up to par, it’s...

This visit makes for my fifth trip to the restaurant. This particular visit left me questioning if I will return. I usually do not leave negative reviews of establishments as my opinion might cause others not to spend their dollars. Today I ordered the C4 which includes drumsticks, two spring rolls, yellow rice and mixed veggies. Before pulling off I checked my to go order. It looks as though there was only one drumstick. I go back inside to inform the gentlemen that took my order. He in turn gets the owner/chef. The owner/chef looks in my box and says yes that is two drumsticks. Now, the product they use for the drumsticks I actually use at home and know that it was one drumstick cut in half. I inform her of this and then she states oh yes, I cut the drumsticks in half. (These drumsticks are already small, no need to cut in half to save a dollar). I stated, okay. Well where is the other drumstick? In the picture there are four pieces. ( the menu description is plural not singular, causing one to assume there would be more than one on their plate). She said oh that's how I took the picture. I stated if I knew there was only one, I would have not ordered that. She then says nothing. Before noticing the portion of the drumstick, I did notice the over done veggies and over compensated amount of yellow rice. Also, the lack of flavor. This is more than likely my last time visiting...