I’ve always been a huge fan of Lotus Restaurant. The first time I went to the one in the Galeries (and been there a dozen times or so since!), followed by a trip to the original Lotus down on Hickson Road. I know it’s terrible to admit, but before this trip to Lotus I had never been to Barangaroo before! I found it a bit daunting, like I would walk along there and find all the food options just too overwhelming. Now I think I’m addicted. Took my parents to Cirrus the following week (look up for y post in a few weeks!) and cannot wait to go back! But I’m getting sidetracked…let’s talk Lotus.
The menu is slightly different to the other Lotus outlets I’ve been do. For the life of me I can’t remember which dumplings SMcT and I got…was it prawn? They were wonton-style dumplings for sure, with a thinner skin than normal. A bit on the spicy side as they were sitting in chilli oil. However, it wasn’t too hot, even for me (a non-chilli eater!).
The Crystal ice plant salad with cucumber, enoki mushrooms and tamari dressing ($16) are a staple for me whenever I go to Lotus. Who else is obsessed with crystal ice plant?! It’s the weirdest sensory experience, thinking there are water droplets on the leaves but realising the whole plant is crunchy. I love that Lotus utilises such native plants as well. It’s so ironic that the ice plant is native to Australia, also known as the country that is basically a desert! The simplicity of this dish also blows me away. Just a little bit of sauce and it lets the vegetables speak for themselves!
I am a cautious seafood eater. Sure, I eat crab and lobster now. But it’s taken years to enjoy those crustaceans. When SMcT suggested we try the Pipis (500g) – wok-fried with ginger and shallot ($39) I though this could be my chance to expand my seafood palate even more! I would normally never order something like this, so I’m glad she suggested it. You can have the pipis cooked in ginger & shallot as we did, or with XO sauce, or with chilli and black bean sauce. I think that ginger & shallots is such a classic Cantonese combination that you can never go wrong. You can pretty much cook anything with those ingredients! I was definitely pleasantly surprised by the pipis, not to mention it’s a huge portion! They were super tasty little morsels in every shell. Eat them with a bowl of rice to savour the sauce as well!
I think the Fried lamb riblets with cumin and chilli ($28) were our favourite dish. First up though, what even is a riblet?! They looked just like normal ribs to me. Seriously, this dish was finger-lickin’ good. No point using cutlery here, just go straight in with rip that meat off the bone with your teeth. They were kind enough to put the chilli on the side for me! Again, I love how the dish was really quite simple with not many ingredients at all, yet still so good. Highly recommend ordering this one!
And finally…Dessert time! I’d been following Lotus on Instagram recently and seen some of the cool dessert dishes they’ve been concocting. We picked the A Mandarin Picked From The Tree – A mandarin filled with Salted caramel ice cream, mandarin caramel, mandarin sponge and crispy pearls on a bed of brown butter soil ($17). While I’m not a fan of the chocolate + orange flavour combination, this went above and beyond my expectations. It’s quite a large dessert so I’m glad we shared. That caramel flavour! We both loved this dessert so much. Keen to head back to Lotus soon to try out some more!
Lotus at Barangaroo
Shop 8/9 Wulugul Walk
Barangaroo, Sydney
http://www.lotusdining.com.au/restaurant/barangaroo/
