By Franz Scheurer
Lotus Bistro is a terrific little restaurant tucked away in Potts Point with a funky bar, a good-sized, comfortable dining room and some outside seating, weather permitting. Everything with the décor works; it’s a credit to Bettina Hemmes’ design talents and attention to detail. Lotus is always packed and it is imperative to make a reservation. Even the bar is jumping, but then that shouldn’t be surprising with such talented bar-people mixing your cocktails.
We started with a round of cocktails and the ‘Burnt-orange margarita’ stood out, closely followed by the ‘Pomegranate 2nd’.
The menu is a great read and the difficult part is not what to order but what not to order. Simple solution: come back.
We ordered a dozen oysters while we were making up our mind and on that day they came from the Hastings River in NSW and were shucked to order.
For entrées we tried ‘Grilled calamari with morcilla and romesco salsa’ ($22.00), ‘Slow cooked pork belly, garden peas, tarragon and pork crackling’ ($23.00), ‘Seared scallops, duck ham, Jerusalem artichoke, mushroom jus’ ($24.00) and an asparagus and poached egg ($23) that was not on the evening menu. Every dish was perfectly presented and excellent. If you want to stay dainty and in the background then don’t order the pork belly as the crackling is irresistibly crunchy and the noise, while you crack it with your teeth, is rather loud. The morcilla dish stands out, both flavour-wise and texturally, but the apparent simplicity of flavours in the scallops is rather moreish. For mains we tried the daily special, a chook cooked in masterstock then deep-fried to order to crisp it (This dish is for two, at $ 35 each), ‘Spaetzle with shitake, cauliflower, parmesan and hazelnut crumbs’ ($32) and the ‘Steamed snapper with capellini, jalapeno, crab and ginger’ ($32). The chook was the star, tender, juicy, crisp skin and earthy, smoky flavours. Mind you the vegetarian dish with the spaetzle was not far behind and the snapper was excellent with just enough heat to add to the overall flavour profile without detracting from the delicate fish.
We started with a bottle of Grosset Polish Hill Riesling 2009 ($90) and predictably it was steely, dry and marvellous. Then we moved to a Rex Hill Pinot Noir 2007 from the Willamette Valley in Oregon and it was a fleshy, savoury wine, perfect with the chicken and ok with the other two dishes. The wine list is excellent, easy to read and understand and there are 15 wines by the glass. For a small, suburban restaurant all I can say is: “bravo”.
For dessert (and yes, there’s always a dessert stomach) we tried ‘Hot fudge sundae with raspberries and honeycomb’, ‘Lychee granita, coconut sorbet, mango, pomegranate’ and the ‘Sauternes custard, berries and yoghurt sorbet’ (all $14). All desserts would have been a stand out on their own, in each other’s company it was hard to pick a favourite and the table stayed divided, each of us sticking with what we ordered as the ‘favourite’.
Dan Hong, who’s running the burners at Lotus Bistro, knows his produce, knows how to cook and present. His food is deceptively simple and approachable but there is no doubt in my mind that such ‘easy’ food needs a lot of skill and willingness to leave something out that would overcomplicate the flavours. Dan’s food is focused and bang on the money; the perfect food for this type of restaurant that attracts a casual clientele that knows and appreciates good food.
Lotus Bistro is popular and in demand, and rightly so!
Score: 7.5/10
For more information or bookings:
Lotus Bistro
22 Challis Ave
Potts Point
02 9326 9000
Want Lotus all to yourself?
Lotus Bar and Bistro are available for private functions. Phone: 9240 3000