Akira O.'s Profile

I believe the food at Lotus Blue is authentic but in all honesty I do not know what authentic Chinese food really is.  I've had great Chinese food in Taipei, Hong Kong, Vancouver, Singapore, and to a lesser degree in NYC.  I suspect most "authentic" Chinese food I had was perhaps in Shanghai as a tourist and the food at Lotus Blue was similar to my experience in Shanghai.  But I have to say what I think is authentic is not what I typically enjoy, maybe you need to have some more acquired taste to fully enjoy Lotus Blue.  We tried pork meatballs in mushroom sauce, steam pot chicken, chicken mango stir-fly, and stir fried trumpet mushroom.  They were refined but none of them were interesting.  I would probably not return.

Unfortunately Big Gay ice cream did not do it for me.  The ice cream tastes like a combination of soft serve, whipped cream, and butter cream and is actually not icy cold.  I dislike butter cream and it gave me the same nauseous feeling as when I eat butter cream.  I vote for Momofuku milk bar.

When it first opened xx years ago I would have given 4-5 stars.  But now that there are many other alternatives for Israeli/hummus places I was underwhelmed.  What they call spinach shakshuka for brunch is really not shakshuka and it turned me off.  Hummus was just ok and the side salad was an afterthought.  It clearly lost its game to Hummus Kitchen.

I was here for lunch and left the restaurant unsatisfied.  I get the modern and clean concept but it deprived of that excitement you get from the intense Korean flavors which to me is the soul of the Korean food.  The portion is half of what you would get at other Korean restaurants with double the price.  It made me sad.  Maybe dinner experience is different but right now I do not think I will return.

I left the restaurant feeling slightly ill from the enormous amount of fat and carbs I had just consumed.  We had the $38 tasting menu which had a parade of deep fried and fatty dishes and carbs.  Their famous hot pot was not so great compared to what you'd get in Japan.  The tasting menu is a great value, but I'd recommend going a la carte so you can have more balanced meal.  

The dining room is very small and cramped.  Come in light clothes or you will sweat and your clothes will absorbe all the good fatty odor!

Very charming and pleasant atmosphere.  I had a burger and disco fries.  Burger was thick and juicy, and the fries had a lot of garlic flavor and were one of the best I've ever had (even considering I rarely have fries and was very hungry).  I also had a cosmo which was pretty weak.  

The only negative, as others wrote, is the slow service.  The wait staff seem novice and mostly concerned about how pretty they look.  But once we got their attention the rest of the service was smooth.

My friend and I arrived at 8pm on a Sunday and were seated in about 20 minutes.  It is a tiny restaurant and was extremely warm inside in the 70 degree weather.  I hope there is a good AC in summer.  There is something very cozy about the place however.

We started with yuba sashimi, steamed chicken meatballs, and kyona salad.  Portions are small and it's good to share 2-3 dishes for 2 before moving to soba.  The chicken meatballs were delicious and highly recommended.  Kyona salad too is good, almost an exact copy of Yakitori Totto chain, but is still good.  We then had cold buta shabu soba.  It was good but the sauce needed more soy and overall flavor was a little off.  I asked for extra sauce for $1.  I have not tried Cocoron's version but I think I prefer the simple zaru soba without topping, or just oroshi or tororo.

All the dishes are reasonably priced but alcohol was pretty pricey which seemed a little odd.  

I'd go back if I'm in the area, but this is not a destination restaurant when there are other good soba restaurants in midtown and EV.  Perfect for a quick (1 hr) dinner with a friend before heading to the bars.

Based on the reviews I had extremely high expectations.  But high expectations usually end up in disappointment.  Yes I think this place serves authentic tacos but I was not satisfied.  I had the tongue and al pastor tacos.  Lengua was good, but the meat in al pastor was completely dried out.  They both lacked in salt.  There is a taco truck that serves much better tacos for slightly less so there is no reason for me to go back to Tehuitzingo as long as my taco truck is around.  I'm afraid they are getting complacent.

Flew on Economy from Newark to Tel Aviv on 777-200, and Business First from Tel Aviv to Newark in Apr 2012.  The economy class was one of the worst flights ever.  I understand and take comfort in the additional security and passport check at the gate, but I was taken back by the fellow passengers who were ferociously pushing each other to board before others.  Once in the sky, the flight attendants were simply rude and it was clear they had no patience with the passengers right from the start.  One good thing about the flight was the breakfast - it was Indian food!  The return flight on Business First however was obviously more pleasant and service was attentive.  Although I went during the Passover week it seems Israel flights are almost always full.  I wish there was more competition on this route.

I waited too long to go to Soto.  Pretty amazing restaurant...  We ordered a number of small plates with uni, lobster, toro etc to start.   The garnishes were simply perfection.  For example, on marinated lobster meat is dried uni similar to bottarga flake, fresh caviar, and is wrapped in thinly sliced lotus roots.  Every dish had an element of surprise.  

We then proceeded to 12 piece omakase sushi.  I have to say sushi was not at all par with the appetizers and was rather a disappointment, hence the 4 stars.  I would STRONGLY recommend doing the omakase WITHOUT sushi, which I will do next time.  

To me Soto is the best Japanese restaurant in NYC.  I cannot wait to go back.