Lotus Asia’s Best

Lotus is my favorite restaurant in SLO. I always get the shrimp spring rolls as an appetizer and a small rare and cooked beef phở. It never disappoints and is always MORE than enough food! The servers are always so nice and attentive. Jake is awesome! Sometimes they seem a little short staffed but the restaurant itself is pretty small and they get busy lunch & dinner rushes so it is what it is.
I tend to order the same thing on the menu every time but their other options always look appetizing as well. If your looking for the best phở in SLO, i would highly recommend you to Lotus!

WHAT A HUGE MISTAKE COMING HERE!
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If you want a San Jose Style Vietnamese Sandwich you will
NOT find one here.
I will NOT even dishonor the real sandwich by calling what unholy
concoction made here anything near a BM (which did provoke some
later).
Today, I went to Ralph’s (AMERICAN) Supermarket to get 90% of the fixin’s for a true BM. Tomorrow, I will stop by the European & Filipino store for a few more ingredients.
I will pickle my own Daikon & Carrot slivers, use Liverwurst (or real Pâté), use European HeadCheese, use Whole Foods Cold Cuts or AG Butchershop’s Housemade Ham, use Organic Cilantro, ordinary Mayo, some Maggi, toast two French Breads, & whatever else I can think of for a SJ Combo BM…
& roll my own tomorrow…
Even though it will be my first attempt, it will be FAR better (even farther than those Black Holes which collided about 1 billion light years away)
than the soft, soggy, pathetic excuse for a BM that they have the nerve to serve here.
THE MADE THE ANTITHESIS OF A BM HERE…
WHAT A SIN!!!
AND AT 2 – 3 TIMES THE PRICE!
THEY EVEN MADE «LEE’S SANDWICH»
LOOK LIKE A MICHELIN STAR RESTAURANT…
Even the nearby AMERICAN place, Blue Sky, used to have an amazing BM on their lunch menu… but alas, they no longer offer it.
If you have ever enjoy anything remotely like a true BM,
DO NOT ORDER A SANDWICH here… you will HATE YOURSELF.
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Moving on to the 1 out of 3 things that I ordered here that had any redeeming qualities… which would be their so-​called Egg Rolls. I definitely ordered meat ones, but upon cutting one in half, I found ample veggies, but really no significant meat (pork/​chicken). They appeared to be handmade, were crispy & hot, but lacked flavor… The plate also lacked the obligatory fixin’s like 4 – 5 large lettuce leaves to wrap the microscopic amounts of Basil into a roll that the other roll goes into. You then are supposed to then dunk each pending bite into the sweet sauce prior to each bite. In theory, the outer verge wrap that you make counterbalances then inner crunchy spring roll. So therefore, here you paid top dollar for ½ of the elements needed for real Vietnamese Spring Rolls.
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The RAW MEAT that I requested to be placed on the side for me add to their pathetic MSG ridden attempt at Phở,
looked like OLD MEAT!!! Only half was red & the rest was BROWN (like another type of BM). I really hoped that the small bowl of what they called «Phở» was hot enough to kill whatever may be growing on this.
I have never seen any place… let alone a way overpriced place in downtown SLO have the nerve to place this in front of me (but pics do not lie…& my eyesight is not that bad). The «Combo Phở» lacked the combo part. Apart from a few tiny tiny pieces of tripe, the promised tendon & other fixin’s were MIA.
The few slim pickings of the vege fixin’s dish were really not significant.
Between the MSG & the high Sodium levels, I barely could finish half the dish… as I kept wondering if the beef was spoiled.
In many Asian dishes, Fish Sauce is an essential ingredient… I of course asked for this & I expected to receive it in a proper dispenser…
Nope, not here, they poured something like ¹⁄₈ of a cup or more into a small dish. It was impossible for me to titrate this out by drops onto the dishes…
extremely lame.
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It was an early weekday night with very few customers besides me & they still somehow managed to screw things up. They stupidly brought out 2 of the 3 dishes right away & tried to serve the third twice… and I twice rejected it. I simply cannot eat 3 dishes at the same time, nor should I.
I did tell the hispanic waiter that I wanted «authentic» Vietnamese style food… just in case, there was any question. He attempted to reassure me that the cooks hidden in the back, were really Vietnamese, & really knew how to make Vietnamese food…
If I ever hear this type of empty reassurance again, I will surely
RUN FOR THE HILLS!!!
Besides, a year or two ago, I did try their Phở (HA HA!!) at their former location near the Amtrak… despite that horrid experience, I stupidly decided to try them again (AT DOUBLE THE PRICE) at this newer downtown SLO location.
ANOTHER ERROR…
Upon reflection,
I THINK I WAS THE MOST ASIAN LOOKING PERSON DINNING AT THIS PLACE… LOL
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The upshot… if you have NEVER tried this type of food before… maybe you want to waste some money on some none too fresh Ghetto Food Court type of stuff they gladly serve up here.
AS FOR ME… NEVER AGAIN!
AS ANOTHER WISE UnilocalER STATED… I FELT MOTIVATED TO OFFER THE INGREDIENTS OF THE RECIPE (IF NOT THE RECIPE) TO HELP THIS POOR MISGUIDED SOULS…
HEY…IT IS ON THE INTERNET FOR HEAVENS SAKE!!!

This is our first time to try out their Phở. My party of 4 ordered their combo Phở and make you own Phở. We were surprised when the waiter informed us that they were out of tendons! One very important ingredient for a good Phở. So, they offered to give us more tripes and more meat. When we got our order, the broth is quite good but we were deeply disappointed by the luke warm temperature and did not see any extra tripes or meat the waiter promised. Not cool.

Seriously the best Phở ever! I go there all the time with my significant other, and we usually order the vegetarian egg rolls and the Rare and Cooked Beef Phở. We are always pretty set on those two items so we haven’t branched out much yet, but we will!

Love the rare and cooked beef phở! Best customer service and the restaurant is beautifully designed. Thank you for making our short stay in San Luis Obispo a pleasant one

Went between lunch & dinner on a Saturday, and it was pretty quiet. Waiter was very considerate and concerned about any dietary concerns we had. Husband & daughter had beef phở; I sampled the broth which was delicious. My vermicelli noodle salad was very good; I definitely would have it again when we visit Cal Poly. (It was kind of cloudy and cold, so they closed the main front door. I heard the waiters discussing this before they did it; they were definitely concerned about their customers’ comfort.)

For being on the Central Coast this is pretty good vietnamese food. Nice phở and banh mi sandwiches and not toooo pricey.

Nearest Phở place to us. Friendly staff, cozy atmosphere and Phở hit the spot! We went on New Years Eve, so it wasnt too busy. I want to try more stuff off the menu on our next visit, so I will get a regular size portion next time, I got full ¾ of the way on a large bowl.

Very friendly service, amazingly great food, fresh. Tasty. Cool environment and fun back patio too… Locally owned. Excellent value.

Really boutique Vietnamese Restaurant. I were here with my family around 2pm. There was no guest when I walked in here and get pretty busy 5 mins later.
spring roll (the skin really hard) and papaya salad for appetizer. It’s really fresh and tasty.
The soups we ordered the duck and beef (both meat really tender and cooked perfectly, the phở is okay).
We also ordered the seafood curry (a little pricey but flavor not bad) and Korean BBQ Kalbi (the Kalbi overcooked)
Our five people totally spent $ 110+
Overall it is a good Vietnamese place with unique decoration in this small town. The taste was not bad for me and my parents like it too.

Amazing! Went today for lunch with the girls and got the soup! Great service and great location! We all enjoyed our food. They have a lot to choose from and everything is decently priced! It’s too bad I’m moving! If I come to visit I’ll definitely be back

I love vietnamese food!
Mikenna our waitress went the extra mile by offering hot lemon water to my very tired looking husband.
I will definitely be returning.

I honestly like the old place better.
More spacious and accommodating than this squished joint. The food is pretty much the same but it seems the prices went up a bit.
3 stars.

My wife and I love Lotus and regularly crave their banh mi sandwiches. We recently decided to try some new dishes so my wife ordered the combination phở and I got the Korean short ribs. Both were delicious! The short ribs were quite a bit thicker than I’m used to but they were some of the best I’ve ever had. The firecracker fries are very good as well. I haven’t tried anything here yet that wasn’t delicious. We will definitely continue to come back.

The phở was delicious & refreshing. Love love it!
The egg rolls & spring rolls crunchy & fresh & came with great sauces.
The BBQ Korean short ribs were perfectly spiced.
The lemograss ginger chicken was so moist & flavorful, the best chicken I have ever had.
The staff was friendly & the food came out fast!!!
Cool outdoor space with heat lamps & fire pit.

I came here with my husband tonight.
I ordered phở and Banh my. We were pleasure with service here. The waiter was very good. The food were ok. I prefer they can make phở broth better than now. The taste was not very good. Don’t put mint inside phở, please. It killed the taste.
I still come back here. I like the new place more than old place before. Good dinner.

Really, 3.5. The atmosphere was hip and comfortable, with a nice view of the street and really neat décor. The waiters were very friendly and accommodating. However, the food was too Americanized for our liking, when we were looking for authentic Asian food and the Thai tea tastes more milky than sweet. So overall, liked the restaurant for the feel of it rather than the food.

I’ve only come here for the phở. Ever since relocating to the central coast its been my mission to find a decent bowl of phở. Between this and dragon palace in grover beach its kind of a toss up. Dragon palace’s meat and noodles are spot on but their broth is incredibly greasy. At lotus the beef and broth are spot on but their noodles are a little off (harder/​thicker than all other noodles I’ve had in phở).
I’ll come back when I’m craving phở, but doesn’t compare to phở in the bay or LA.

Same old restaurant, new location. Nice new décor, same crappy food.
They had plenty of reviews at the old place but I guess they were trying to jettison the many bad reviews.
They’ve removed bun (noodle bowls topped with meat) from the menu entirely. That’s like an Italian restaurant removing spaghetti from the menu. According to the waitress, the only noodles are in the salad or the phở (which she pronounced wrong). When I asked if I could get some in place of rice it came all brown and greasy. Wahh???
I’ve been eating Vietnamese food my entire adult life, from Santa Rosa to San Jose. I’ve traveled all over Vietnam, from Saigon to Hanoi. The lunch I had today was not authentic in any way.
Google «Vietnamese Food» images and you’ll see certain commonalities w/​their grilled meat. First off, fresh cilantro on almost everything. White rice noodles (including in their cha gio). Julienned cucumber, carrots, and daikon are lightly pickled in rice vinegar and sugar and are a garnish on almost every dish. Fresh mint and Thai basil are also ubiquitous. As are mung bean sprouts and rice paper. One thing you won’t ever find: a big fat slice of tomato on the side.
Nuoc mam is sometimes made with vinegar but that’s usually only when there are no limes around. It’s equal parts lime, sugar, and fish sauce w/​a little water and garlic chili paste. Float some pickled carrot in each serving dish. There are variations, but that’s essentially it. The goal is a harmony of salt, sweet, sour, and heat. Lotus’ tasted like little more than white vinegar.
I’m so irritated at their crappy meat marinades that I’m posting my own personal go-​to recipe for ga nuong:
Chicken Marinade:
2 lbs chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 minced shallot
1 t garlic chili paste
2 T brown sugar
2 t lemongrass purée (avail in produce section!)
2 T lime juice
3 T dark soy sauce
1 cup chopped green onions
½ t black pepper, freshly ground
Fry up some chopped green onions til light brown and crisp. Remove from oil to paper towel. After the meat has been flame grilled, brush the chicken with the scallion oil. Garnish w/​the fried scallions.
You’ll love it.

New Vietnamese place! We were super excited to try it out! We sat outside on the beautiful patio in the back. We started with the Mandarin Fries and they were SO DELICIOUS. We were excited to see how our entrees were but they were just ok. Sad Face. The Phở was pretty good but not a lot of chicken and I prefer more green onions and veggies. The husband’s short ribs were really fatty and the flavor missed for some reason.
A couple of notes:
— I know we were sitting outside, but the flies were EVERYWHERE — so much so that I couldn’t even enjoy my dinner. We had it boxed up to take home. I know it’s not the restaurant’s fault but it you come, you may want to consider eating inside!
— The employees must park their bikes behind the patio because they were constantly going back and forth with their bikes through the patio. It was a bit distracting while we were eating.

Ok, so everywhere I go, I look for a Vietnamese restaurant to get some phở.
First off, the fries with the Chinese five spice, OMG. Where have you been all my life. Whoever came up with this simple yet strange combination should be given a medal. The dipping sauce which I am assuming is a mix of sriracha and hoisin is off the hook.
Now on to the phở. As always I taste the broth before adding the goodies to my bowl. The broth was very tasty with the right balance of spices. I have never been offered mint leaves to add to my phở. I figured, why not? This added an interesting twist to a soup that I absolutely love. I will be trying this again.
The only negative I have to say about this place is, the guy that was with me ordered the short ribs and I believe they forgot to put he order in because we had to wave down the waiter and remind him that his food had not come out yet. There was probably a 15 minute delay between me getting my phở, and his ribs showing up. With all that being said, they did discount the meal and apologized for the delay. This is the only reason I backed off to 3 stars.
If you are in the area, and like Vietnamese food. It is definitely worth the stop.