Golden Lotus Thai & Asian Cuisine

After hearing great tell on a new chinese in south hobart, I chanced on this, mistaking it as the one. I guess one would have to call it Thai fusion, as indeed the proprietors and chef are mainland chinese. I liked the ambience of the place, it would be a great venue for a wedding reception. I imagine all the hard stone surfaces would reflect a bit of noise once you had a few punters in however. To be honest, I can't really give an appraisal of the food as I only had a nasi goreng $21 (never did find the king prawn in there though) and a interesting take on fried tofu (battered) with a cold peanut sauce and drizzled in ketchup manis. Throw in a beer for good measure and we have topped out at $39. If I ever were to return, the set banquet menu for four looks like okay value. I guess it's not a budget eat by any stretch, and whilst I do begrudge paying over twenty notes for some fried rice, that's okay if it's using high quality ingredients. I checked with the staff on the oil used to deep fry the battered tofu, and it turns out to be...wait for it...vegetable oil! Well, no surprise perhaps. Basically could be anything. My guess is cottonseed blend, that's always cheap. My advice is avoid any deep fried food anywhere though. The nasi goreng was good by the way. I sincerly wish the owners well in there business endeavours, it's an amazing venue and no doubt has a lot of potential. It is in a low traffic location and is priced on the higher side, so some work building patronage may pay off in the long term. My guess is takeaway would be the mainstay of this operation. If only a venue like this could assure the use of top ingredients like tasmanian seafood and local produce it would be a winning formula and certainly stand out from the crowd but of course, I'm dreaming. As it is, another formula Thai, I just rate it as average and will continue looking elsewhere. However, I would always prioritise good food over atmosphere, YMMV.

Good ambience, excellent service - attentive but non-intrusive. We had the satay chicken and the tom yam soup for entrees; the chicken pieces generously sized and the satay sauce was nice but would prefer to have the nutty pieces more finely chopped. For mains, we had the tofu and vegetables in lemongrass sauce - a simply wonderful dish and the flavour was lemony sour and spicy; and a whole fish deep fried in sambal and coconut milk sauce - fish was generously sized and very fresh and well fried but not crazy about the coconut milk sauce, quite bland which let the fish down. We will definitely return but will ask for the fish to be done in a sweet chilli and sour sauce (which the staff assures us could be done). All in all, we enjoyed our meal.

In conjunction with a dozen work colleagues and partners I had a wonderful meal at the relatively new Golden Lotus Thai and Asian Cuisine in Macquarie Street, Hobart. The service was attentive, but not intrusive and was delivered by the friendly and professional wait staff. . The atmosphere which was warm and inviting really added to the evening. The range of meals chosen by the group was certainly diverse and reflected the extensive and well thought out menu. The fact that there was not a negative comment amongst the group and looking at the other beautifully presented meals, means that my wife and I will certainly be returning to the Golden Lotus in the near future. Thank you Bill and your wonderful team, you have added another gem to Hobart's great food scene.

The meal itself was quite nice, and service was very fast and polite. We had a table of three, we all had a different entree and main and we enjoyed every meal. We were the only ones in the restaurant so hopefully they start to get a few more customers soon. By the glass wine selection was quite limited, but hopefully this will increase once trade picks up a bit.

I can't give a full review of the food since I only tried the $21 nasi goreng (couldn't find the king prawn in it) and a unique dish of battered tofu with cold peanut sauce and ketchup manis, totaling $39. The set banquet menu for four seems like a better value. While it may not be budget-friendly, the high-quality ingredients justify the price. I found out that they use vegetable oil to fry the tofu, which wasn't surprising but still disappointing. I would recommend avoiding deep-fried dishes altogether. The nasi goreng was tasty though. I wish the owners success as it has potential, despite being in a quiet area and on the pricier side. The main letdown was the lack of high-quality local ingredients. If they focused on using top-notch Tasmanian seafood and local produce, it could elevate the dining experience. Overall, it was an average experience for me, and I'll likely continue exploring other options. However, others may prioritize ambiance over food quality, so your mileage may vary.