Lotus Land South Asian Foods

2 Photos

by Trevor Postma & Airlie Ellsworth
on Monday, August 11, 2008 12:00 AM

Born of the inspirational travels of two friends through India and Nepal, Lotus Land is an intimate, friendly restaurant with bona fide Indian fare created by a chef from Mumbai.
Immediately upon arrival it was clear that this restaurant had that ‘something special'. As we sank into the comfortable futons, cushions a plenty, we were wrapped in the gentle sound of chanting monks and greeted by a collage of hundreds of smiling faces of the people (and animals) of ‘Lotus Land' itself, taken during the owners' travels. So captivated by the honesty of the wall covering, it was several minutes before we got around to reaching for the menus which we found to be full of similar, beautiful snap shots, not to mention endless options of reasonably priced, authentic South Asian dishes.
With so much to choose from we decided to start with Chicken Tikka - chicken cooked in the tandoor oven, and Plain Papad that came accompanied by a trio of tongue tingling dips - mint, sweet & sour, and spicy & sour. After warming up our taste buds, we moved on to Chicken Saag with Spinach, and Goan Prawn - prawns in a creamy mustard seed and coconut milk sauce. And what Indian meal would be complete without some Butter Naan and steamed rice to soak up every last bit of the delicious curry sauces. While the curries weren't painfully spicy, we did need a little something to cool our mouths down. With a wide selection of drink options, from cocktails, wine and, of course, Indian teas, we settled on a satisfying banana shake. Our admitted over-indulgence on the main courses left no room for dessert, but we are certain that any one of the choices would have been every bit as pleasing as the rest of the experience.

Will we be returning to Lotus Land? Absolutely! Maybe next time we'll wander up to the third floor before our meal to work up an appetite in their soon-to-be ready yoga studio!