Lilly’s Dim Sum Then Some

Hands down the best service in Little Rock. The food was excellent. My fiancé and I both ordered the ramen soup and shared the dumpling platter as an appetizer. We loved the food, but the cherry on top of our night was easily the wonderful service provided by our server, Julie. She was so sweet and attentive. She really makes you feel like you’re the only people in the whole restaurant. I cannot say enough about her or the fantastic food at Lilly’s. We will most definitely be back soon!

Thought I liked this place after trying some of their spring rolls. Then I went in and ordered the pad thai – yuck. It is basically designed to give you a peanut allergy, it is so overloaded with peanuts and peanut sauce. Liked the pork dumplings I got on the side but when talking to the staff I found out that those come frozen. Better to go to Three Fold or Southern Gourmasian.

Best Americanized Asian for Little rock. Wednesday is half off bottle of wine day and used to be pretty well priced. My favorite is the beef and broccoli with udon noodles. The pad Thai is awesome as well along with their house salad with chicken!

I love the food… the dim sum of course, but also the Thai food. Only thing: DO not use your cell phone! There are signs that indicate this but they MEAN IT. My friend and I went there for lunch and we work for a hospice agency. She answered her phone and the owner immediately disciplined her. My friend timidly explained it was work and the owner said «I have doctors eat here and they can’t use their phones either!». So I guess go outside or let the person calling die or be in pain. I’m neutral about it. It’s annoying when people talk on their cell phones but to be yelled at was not pleasant either. But there were signs posted, it’s her business, I get it.

The first time we went it was fantastic. Loved it. We bought a curry dish and dumplings. So good. The second time we ordered pad Thai, and it was the most disappointing pad Thai I’ve ever had. Tasted like heavy peanut butter noodles. No lime or flavor or spice. Very unpleasant. We ended up tossing it after three bites.

The food was good, we ordered the Beef and Broccoli, Ramen Soup and the Kung Pao Shrimp. The beef and Broccoli was the only complaint I have, it was so dry. I figured it would come with some kind of sauce on top but it was a bed of rice with dry meat and broccoli on top. They gave us Kung Pao chicken instead of shrimp but it was delicious anyways. I would definitely eat here again, just stay away from the Beef and Broccoli.

Doesn’t taste like real Asian food. Ordered shrimp Kung pao noodles and is drenched with sauce, noodles were so sloppy. Crab cake doesn’t even taste like crab and sauce that came was mayonnaise with ketchup. The dim sum tastes like store bought ones, very very thick covers. No chili sauce, just sriracha! Not even Asian. So disappointed. Paid $ 47 for all the crap. Fast food Asian food tastes better.

Love this place! They have awesome food!

Ask for Sydney. She is a great server! We love the yasai and crab cakes with brown rice.
Weird mix of music

Ramen Soup and Thai Coconut Soup with Grilled Shrimp: two of the best and best-​value dishes in Little Rock. Great to-​go, too.

Freshest ASIAN flavors in town. 27 sauces made daily, dim sum hand rolled. Soup, salads, noodle bowls. 12 years voted «best of» in Arkansas readers’ polls. Wine, beer list. Hot tea list with over 15 to choose from.

Fresh food that will tantalize your taste buds. Price is very comparable to what you would pay for the nasty processed frozen foods u pay for in the local drive thru’s…great lunch specials with a nice variety to choose from and the staff make you feel very welcomed, especially the owner that always likes to add a personal touch to your dining experience !

Warning is not Chinese dim sum disappointed even though we was warned by owner. Over price & small portion

We had to wait 45 minutes for our food and we were the first bunch of the lunch crowd to arrive. My curry consisted of peas, chicken, and rice. I payed $ 12 for a smaller lunch plate with hardly any vegetables. The spice was legit, but I didn’t get my money’s worth. Not impressed.

OK. Let’s start with the Cucumber Salad. it’s a salad, yes? if i wanted a weensy dish of mediocre marinated cucumbers, i would have hit up the salad bar at my local grocer. tasty? eh.
moving to the spring rolls. which, needless to say, left very little to the imagination. very. VERY. little. those suckers were tiny. i know this is supposedly a dim sum joint, but the menu design and implementation suggests anything but. did i mention the spring rolls were cold, dry, and had DEFINITELY been sitting pre-​made in a stock fridge all day? mmmmm!
listen Lilly — if you’re gonna offer spring rolls, MAKE THEM FRESH. it ain’t hard. i done it — and i’m a white girl.
and now let us discuss the «tamari dipping sauce» — which is less of a «dipping sauce» and more of straight up tamari in a cup. come ON Lilly. put some effort into this. that’s what i’m paying for. if i wanted tamari in a cup with dry pre-​made spring rolls, i would have asked my mother to bring me «something asian».
you have potential. make it like you mean it.

Lilly’s is a great experience. Owner Nancy Tesmer creates lovely, tasty Asian fusion to accommodate any dietary need. The food is fresh and well-​prepared, and comes steaming-​hot from the kitchen. And if it takes a few minutes, as sometimes it does, they have a kick-​ass wine list! It’s small and intimate and quiet, but never stuffy. Annd be sure to sample the gomae and the dim sum dumplings. I don’t get there near enough, but when I do, I leave with a happy tummy!

It’s unfortunate that our 2^nd experience dining at Lilly’s was completely different than our first! In fact, I haven’t had such a negative, rude customer service experience in a long time.
It all began when we had 5 people dining in, which is apparently a «group». As a few from our party were running late, they had us wait at the entrance as they don’t seat partial parties. We understand some restaurants have this policy, so we were fine waiting (despite the fact that they only had a few occupied tables, and the entire B-​Side section was empty.)
Once all members from our party showed up, we asked to be seated. The hostess was VERY dry — she wasn’t friendly, didn’t smile, and overall wasn’t someone that I would hire to be a hostess. With that said, she mentioned that they would need to push two tables together, but then came back and said that we would have to wait for the party to leave from the «larger» table (that sat 6). It took another 10 – 15 minutes until we were seated. During that time, we discussed going elsewhere, but kept thinking things may get better.
Once seated, it took awhile for our waitress to check on us and take our orders. Thankfully, our waitress was friendly, but admitted that she was the only server and quite busy, so service was a little slower than normal. A friend ordered wine, and when it finally came, the glass had lipstick all over the rim. Our waitress apologized and came back with a new glass (with more wine than normal), which was appreciated.
Despite the food being good, and our friendly waitress, the rest of the staff we encountered was not pleasant. Another lady brought our food to the table, and also did not smile and her demeanor was very off-​putting. Overall, they just seemed very annoyed that we were there, and I really am not sure why. Was it because we all arrived separately? Was it the «group» of 5? Was it the 9 year old? I have no clue. Yet, I don’t think I’ll be going back anytime soon.

I was happy with my ginger noodles with tofu, but my family said their checken was dried out. Friendly waitstaff, great side salad (particularly the dressing).

After hearing so much about Lilly’s Dim Sum I decided I wanted to try out the place! :)
My first visit I got a dumpling sample platter featuring 2 of a few of their dumplings. I must say that the experience was a bit of a let down, but not too terrible. The little cuties were a bit smaller than I expected and seemed suspiciously made from frozen. For my entrée I ordered their specialty crab cake platter! Golden crispy crab on the outside, warm rich center with a special tangy sauce. On the side: white rice, lima beans, purple cabbage, cilantro, and a lime wedge. The combination was flavorful.
My only complain at the time were the staff. I’m picky when it comes to cell phone etiquette. If you’re on the job, make it not so obvious when you talk on the phone, or receive/​sending a text. While waiting for our food my love and I were able to hear the kitchen staff’s phones ringing and being answered. Just a situation that bugs the f***ing h**** out of me.

Lilly’s was in Memphis at least five years ago. At the time, it was one of my absolute favourite restaurants. They were in the building which is now Celtic Crossing. Then they moved to Little Rock. We kept saying that we would have to find them and try them again in their new location.
Well, we found them on Friday. I’m sorry to say, it was a bit of a disappointment. When they were on Cooper street, they had a cool location with great atmosphere. Now they’re in a strip mall. The food was good, but not as exceptional as when we had it in Memphis. My favourite appetizer, cold sesame noodles, tasted a bit gummier this time. One of my remembered main courses, Korean Bibim Bop, was still good, but seemed to be watery. It didn’t help that the restaurant seemed awful warm (AC not working right?), the food was very hot, and it was spicy. It made for an uncomfortable meal.
Maybe we rememebered them with rose colored glasses, but I don’t think so.