Lotus Pond Vegetarian Restaurant

This place was horrible. I’ve been to a few vegetarian Chinese restaurants in Markham and Scarborough and this is the worst one. The service was horrible we had to spend so much time to get the waiters attention throughout the meal. The food came but the «meat» was so tough it was hard to chew and the noodles were dry like uncooked ramen mixed with softer noodles. I came here because of the great reviews but clearly it has gone downhill since then.

Great restaurant for vegetarians. Everything is vegetarian and the meat is imitation meat mainly made of tofu or gluten. I didn’t find that the fake meat actually tasted like real meat. It mainly tasted like tofu. I got a chicken fried rice which was great — very salty just the way I like it. Had the vegetarian duck but it tasted like bean curd. Still tasted good. Also had seitan (gluten). For some reason it was served cold and I found it contrasted with everything else I was eating which was hot. Food comes pretty quickly.

My family and I went here for dinner on a Friday night. We went for an early dinner so there were not that many people at the time. Love the food. Even my father who is pretty much a carnivore loved the mock meats haha. When my family and I go out to eat, we usually ask for our dishes to be cooked with less oil and less salt; the chef (s) did a great job and we were very satisfied with our dinner!
We ordered (sorry I can’t remember the exact names of the dishes on the menu):
— bean curd sheet roll/​mock chicken (appetizer)
— smoked pork and stir fried Chinese broccoli
— deep fried taro fish
— lo han jai stir fried noodles
Honestly, I loved everything. The mock smoked pork looked and tasted like the real thing, the Chinese broccoli was tender on the inside but still crisp on the outside. The Deep fried taro fish was fried well. The stir fired noodles has just the right amount of sauce and lots of veggies/​seiten.
Service was also good. My family and I will definitely be coming back again to try their other dishes!

The only thing that makes this place worthwhile is the price.
As far as sit-​down Chinese restaurants go, this is one of the most reasonably priced. Great if you ever need to feed a larger group of people. The standard menu items are pretty drab and uninspired. Just the same few mock meat dishes and pretty much everything tastes the same. Thick, salty sauces and MSG is the backbone of everything that you can get here. They have dimsum for weekend lunches — it’s passable.
Bottom line is you’re better off paying a bit more and making the 5-​minute trek to Graceful Vegetarian, located by Pacific Mall, where the food is much better. Wutai vegetarian, near Woodbine/​7, is also a great option. Both of these places do dimsum (and standard dinner items) much better than Lotus Pond. If you aren’t trying to feed a large group of people, then you can hit up one of the vegetarian food places in one of the nearby food courts for an even cheaper option that is comparable in quality and taste.

I went for take out, probably with higher expectations than I should have had after I read some positive reviews. The atmosphere of the restaurant is nice and quaint, but the vibe I get from the servers is that they are understaffed and have a generally annoyed disposition. They weren’t too friendly, but friendly doesn’t feed me so it doesn’t really matter.
The menu was pretty extensive and I took a while deciding what I should order. I decided on spicy szechuan tofu and chicken fried rice. The tofu was almost flavourless, let alone spicy. The rice was ok but the chicken bits were so small that you couldn’t really taste the flavour of them. They also used frozen vegetables for the rice. The only reason I am giving this place 3 starts is to give them the benefit of the doubt, in case I just ordered the wrong thing or they were having a bad day. I will be back, but only once more to try something different to see what all the positive reviews are about.

The food is good. But the service is bad. It’s very busy and there’s one server. We ask for serveral things, napkins, forks, hot sauce all at once and never got it. I just basically got up and helped myself. That’s easier. Also told us when she got us the bill that this doesn’t include tip. Hint hint tip her. Wow. How about my tip, since I self served.

came here on that chinese new year day where you have to eat vegetarian.
jammed pack. and the menu? what menu? they only were serving 1 thing that day… one set combo that everyone must get. (unless you know the staff or manager. then you can order special dishes)
price was insane… ended up paying 50 bucks a person for a very very weak tasting combo… not tasty at all… we ended up ordering something not on their set menu. a pop corn chicken chow mein which was the saving grace for us … otherwise i would give this place 1 and half star…
the stuff tasted like manchu wok with the heaviest cornstarch sauce on top of it all.
cornstarch sauce… i mean no taste jelly coat on top… you know what i mean.
anyways. it could be cause i came on a bad day. but still… shame on them for having no menu that day. tsk tsk.

The place is located in a small strip mall facing away from Midland Avenue and is a drive from where we usually eat and shop but we were looking for something new. There are lots of Chinese restaurants and businesses in the area. There is a sign on the marquee and then you drive into the parking lot to find the restaurant facing west. It is a small place with the cash at the front and the kitchen in the back and a group of round tables covered in plastic cloths as found in most Chinese restaurants. The décor is simple and basic and the staff exuberant and helpful. The menu is extensive featuring an array of Buddhist styled vegetarian dishes, so any vegetarian will be thrilled to be able to order anything from the menu. For those unfamiliar with Buddhist menus everything is written with the names of the animal equivalents, but the dishes feature no animals. Everything is created using vegetable, gluten or tofu equivalents to create the taste and texture of the meat or fish. We tried the gluten appetizer, some har how, some fried wontons, then a selection of entrees including Chicken balls, Szechwan Beef, a shrimp dish, a dish that featured the most amazing walnuts and a noodle dish. It was a pleasure to be able to order from such an extensive menu.

it’s not the same lotus pond. new management. the food is not the same anymore. it’s very greasy and they kitchen uses a lot of canned products. you can tell. service is okay. we used to go there a lot but have stopped. we are vegetarians but this place is really bad. all the original waiting staff have left. too bad, i really miss the old lotus pond.

This is my go-​to vegetarian restaurant place if I ever wanna… heh heh… lose weight. I sometimes go to Graceful as well, but parking there can be a farce due to Pacific Mall/​Market Village traffic.
I highly recommend you start here with a soup, small or large (actually preferably small if you’re less than 4 people). Seaweed with bamboo pith or corn with veggie ham are both my recommendations.
I sometimes order dim sum, which also taste good (especially the siu mai). I also order the crispy seaweed roll (I think they call it shrimp roll) from the cashier counter.
The main dish usually consists of seafood fried noodles (ho-​fan) for me, which I warn you is a gigantic dish. I’ve eaten with as little as 2 people or as many as 4 people, and not once have I completely finished it, yet it’s soooooooooo good… I’m always more than glad to have part of it to go so I can enjoy it the next day.
Service is good, but they can be understaffed at times. A full house when I went a few days ago, yet only two waitresses (one of them being the cashier), and hope you don’t mind walking down some stairs to use the washroom.

Went there last week with my brother again, figure I’ll give them a second chance. However, the food was again very oily and tasteless. Don’t think I’ll come back again.

We have been coming here for years. I think its under new management/​ownership and its called The Lotus or The Pond, but no longer the Lotuspond. Regardless, it has maintained its (good) standards and in fact, has even more variety now. Good, solid, vegetarian food. Mostly Chinese patrons and have seen a Holy man from the temple there as well. The food is fresh and thankfully, not too greasy. Lots of variety. Their noodles and soups take centre stage, their vegetable dishes are also very good. Additionally, their assorted gluten platter is a nice way to start the meal (they have it pre-​prepared) while you wait. The wait staff have all been there for years and years and it is a happy, pleasant, stress-​aggro-​free dining experience. Go there with a few people so you can order a lot and share/​taste. My only criticism is that the tea isn’t really that great. We always bring our own and ask for a pot of hot water. One of the best Chinese vegetarian options available.

Reading about this Restaurant at first made my mind shout «Give me some, Vegetarian Dim Sum!»
I was actually very surprised that there was a vegetarian dim sum place in Scarborough of all places. So, one Sunday morning I went to check it out. I ordered about 6 different dishes in total. Most of them I enjoyed. I was not a fan of the «Deep Fried Milk» which seemed to have no flavour. and they gave me a place of sugar with it for some reason I don’t know. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Vegetarian Chicken steamed bun. I liked everything else though, even the egg plant was good, which is impressive, because I normally avoid egg plant.
I have to take off some marks for the service, which was tediously slow, and the staff was not very attentive at all. I would however, definitely want to go back to this place with friends, I think it could be a really great place to go back to again.

best vegetarian restaurant i’ve tried! and things actually taste like the real thing too. my fav was the smoked duck. they even made it look like duck. and the fake jelly fish was just like the real thing. very impressed. you can probably skip the stir fry «fun see». it wasn’t anything special. altho they did have fake «fake crab» which was interesting.
can’t wait to go back and try the other dishes.

They have the very exciting Chinese vegetarian food! I’ve been here at least ten times this year and there’s still tons of stuff I’ve never tried. My favorite is the mock shark fin soup (it has «fa cai» in it, which is pretty hard to come by in Canada) and the taro and fermented bean curd mock fish. I also love savory dishes made with sweet ingredients such as their mock chicken and pumpkin in black bean sauce. Each dish is like an orchestra of taste. All of the flavors complement each other in an interesting and delicious way. It’s definitely the yummiest vegetarian place I know.
The only problem I have is that the food is pretty pricey. If they lowered the price, maybe more people would come? I know I would definitely come more often. I’d hate to see this place lose business to all the average Chinese restaurants.

Simply delicious.
— Try the special fried rice that comes wrapped in bamboo leaves.
— The birds nest is quite good.
— Most of the soups are nice, especially the fish maw and the shrank fin soups.
— For most of the dishes, you can still tell it’s not real meat, but the Kung Pao chicken probably was the most successful at tricking my senses and it was quite good too
Who knew vegetarian cooking can be so tasty!
Prices are reasonable and the service was fast and friendly. I’ve been back a couple more times since first trying it out.

Went here on a recent trip home and I’m impressed at this hidden gem.
I was in a rush, so did not sit inside the resto — space is limited but it was fairly empty (Sunday night)
Menu is fairly extensive, and as a vegetarian, I cannot say if the dishes actually taste like meat, but it was a nice change in my palate.
Prices — I have to laugh a little. Each time I come back to Toronto, I chuckle at how high the prices are, esp with taxes. It was almost $ 80 for 4 dishes and a couple of sides. I have had similar food in Chicago, and it was half the price. So this is why I gave it ⁴⁄₅ stars.
Back to the food,
–Got the chicken balls x 2 — this was really good and the taste and portions were excellent. One dish is enough for 3 people, I got an extra one for the road. Sauce was not too heavy, there was some pieces of pineapple which added to the tangy taste. I would come back for this dish
–Noodle with chicken — this was fairly good. I felt there was maybe a little too much salt, but I might be alone on this feeling
–Fried rice w/​duck — this was OK. Maybe that is how duck is supposed to taste, but I did not eat a lot of this dish. The fried rice is typical as every other place.
–The other dishes (from what I remember) were some Pork dish that one of my friends said was one of the best things on the menu. Maybe I have an aversion to Pork but I was gagging at this item. Another friend loved it, while the 3 said it was okay. I’m sure its one of those things you will either love or hate.
Service wise, I did ask about dishes and the staff were quite helpful. Waiting time while meals are being made is about 20mins. So if you already know what you want, maybe calling ahead for pickup.
I was told by my friend that this place can be packed and its normal to be waiting for a table.
Is this the best place for Chinese-​Veg food? I’d probably go back to Chicago as they had more variety for a much cheaper price. But when in Toronto, I would not mind this over cardboard pizza.

Went to Lotus Pond for some vegetarian deliciousness on Friday. We had the Bamboo Pith soup, sticky rice, vegetarian duck, lo hon chow mein, chive dumplings, turnip cake, osmanthus jelly and thousand layer egg cake aka «Malay Cake».
I found that their dishes had varying levels of saltiness. I would pass on the Osmanthus jelly as they cheat and make it with Chrysanthemum tea. I was really disappointed. The soup was great. My faves were definitely the egg cake (very smooth and eggy) and the vegetarian duck (so flavorful!) the lo hon chow mein could’ve used more salt.
My only complaint was the service was crap. Understaffed and slow.

Amazing Vegetarian dishes for a cheap price. My mother and I always go there whenever we have time. However, it’s quite packed on Buddhist holidays — so remember to make reservations on those days.

My family come probably come here once every month or two, as it’s one of few Chinese vegetarian restaurants in Scarborough. It’s rare to see the place crowded, so you won’t have to suffer waiting for a table if you come here on the weekends.
Even if you’re not familiar with Chinese cuisine, you won’t be disappointed even if you blindly choose dishes off the menu. The food is great no matter what time of day you come. For morning dim sum, the guilt-​free version of shrimp ‘har gow’ is tasty. If you’re looking for something different, try the fruit spring rolls (although not vegan and loaded with mayonnaise). For dinner, we often order mashed taro, fried after shaped into a large fish and decorated with slices of raw papaya. The curried Portuguese-​style vegetables go well with an order of rice.
Lotus Pond is great as the prices are more affordable than Graceful Vegetarian, further north by Pacific Mall. As an additional bonus, Toronto Vegetarian Association cardholders get 10% off their bill.
The only downer is that the food tends to be greasier than needs be and secondly, the cooks use MSG in a few of their dishes.
3.5÷5 stars