Updating my long-ago review: Lotus Pond is - sadly for the community - closing on April 30, 2023. I picked up what is probably my final meals from them today. All good food. Tasty Szechuan sauce on the eggplant dish! Always-good turnip cakes, which I remember from their lunch-buffet days. Chow mein, fresh vegetables, mushrooms, tofu skins. I will miss this place. Open 4-8 pm, closed Mon-Tue. Old review: In the heart of downtown. Buffet (pay by weight) and full menu. All vegan. Chinese style. Buddhist, so I think they avoid onion and garlic. Well-prepared, home-cooked, tasty and satisfying food. I especially like the turnip cakes and potato cakes. Buffet has stir-fries, stews, spring rolls, noodles, vegetables (some with seitan veggie meat), dumplings and more. Tranquil background music. Pleasant staff. Updated from previous review on 2018-04-20
Mackenzie Bird
Favourite takeout place in town, love that everything is vegan but omnivores love it too. My favourite dishes are the turnip cakes, Szechuan chili eggplant, Ginger B, and any dish with bean curd layers.I appreciate how much care they take in wrapping the to-go orders up to prevent spilling!
Meowmeow
Lotus Pond is seriously the best vegan restaurant in Victoria. Possibly the whole of Vancouver Island. I also think it may be the only entirely POC owned vegan business on the Island. I think they even give the two Buddhist vegetarian restaurants on the Kingsway in Vancouver (Po Kong and Sun Bo) a run for their money. Some favourite items: Turnip Cake Buddha's Feast Lemon Chick'n Mapo Tofu (extra spicy) Green beans Spring rolls But you honestly can't really go wrong and should get the combo if you want to save some money. It's too bad they no longer do dine in and at the same time I see why they stopped, the space is small and doesn't have “Sunday dim sum” at the round table ambiance.
Meowmeow
Lotus Pond is seriously the best vegan restaurant in Victoria. Possibly the whole of Vancouver Island. I also think it may be the only entirely POC owned vegan business on the Island. I think they even give the two Buddhist vegetarian restaurants on the Kingsway in Vancouver (Po Kong and Sun Bo) a run for their money. Some favourite items: Turnip Cake Buddha's Feast Lemon Chick'n Mapo Tofu (extra spicy) Green beans Spring rolls But you honestly can't really go wrong and should get the combo if you want to save some money. It's too bad they no longer do dine in and at the same time I see why they stopped, the space is small and doesn't have "Sunday dim sum" at the round table ambiance.
Sanjay I
Excellent Vegan (Asian) food! Loved the noodle soups, Schezwan tofu, Chow mien and everything we ate there. Good customer service also (the stewardess was patient in taking our order and helpful).Heads up : Take out only - no Dine inVegetarian options: All vegan menu.
matt m
The capital city of BC is home to the best Chinese food restaurant I've ever visited. I've heard Victoria has the 2nd oldest Chinatown in North America, est. just 10yrs after San Francisco's in 1858. The "Lotus Pond" offers an exclusively vegan menu, making it an easy choice for local and visiting vegans and vegetarians. The quality of the food should put it at the top of EVERYONE'S list. It is the only restaurant where I have tried multiple menu items (at least 25 visits and counting) and consistently been delighted with my meal. The servings are generous, the prices are shockingly modest, and the staff is friendly and never seems to have "bad days". We have always been made to feel welcome. Nothing ruins a dining experience faster than being made to feel you are an inconvenience. I recommend Lotus Pond to everyone I possibly can. I truly cannot praise it enough. Personal favourites are the Buddhas Feast chow mein, mushroom fried rice, and their broccoli dish. Virtually everyone overcooks the small trees, resulting in washed out limp mush, but the dark, vibrant green vegetables served here have been cooked to perfection, with just the right amount of crunch and full of flavour. The Lotus Pond is truly a magnificent culinary experience
Andrew Lingbloom
Delicious, and fair price for the big serving size (dishes likely meant to be shared, we had lots of leftovers). Vegetarians rejoice, and the omnivore of our group was also very happy with the taste!
ChantalPoulin
The food was ok, good and not very expensive, but it's a very ordinary restaurant, not very tastfull food. When we went it was only for take outs. The only chinnese vegan restaurant in Victoria.
Lampbell
Delicious food for a decent price, which means a lot with inflation right now. Check to see if the chef's special includes vegetables. Their very popular lemon ‘chicken' is only that. We ordered Buddha's Delight and rice to go with it. As a dinner for two we had leftovers, which just adds value to the meal.
Angela Opper
We has lemon chick'n, sweet and sour balls, veggies and chick'n in peppercorn sauce and vegetable fried rice. Delicious!
I'm not at all a fan of Chinese food other than Indian-Chinese but wow I was truly impressed with this place. The service was helpful and friendly, the food was steaming hot for pick up and everything we ordered was delicious. We ordered the Shanghai noodles, the mapu tofu (could have been spicier), the oyster mushroom "calamari" (salted spicy oyster mushroom on the menu) and the hostess' recommendation of the turnip cake. Every single thing was delicious and the portions were huge! Not at all salty or overpowering like the food can sometimes be. Highly recommend!
scrddck
Lovely vegan food with lots of options to choose from
BellaCiclista
Super nice people, seems to be family-run, great variety of very tasty Chinese food.
Sarah K.
Lotus Pond A Chinese vegetarian restaurant I Victoria with a high rating on google maps and happy cow The service is super friendly and helpful with choosing items of the menu The chefs menu includes a spring roll, a soup (I chose the wonton soup) and one dish with rice I got the lemon "chicken" vegan which was very good, crunchy and well seasoned The wonton soup was lacking flavor as well as the Black Bean Tofu with veg. I asked for no rice and more veg which was possible. Still felt quite small with only four pieces of tofu and the dish called black bean tofu. Springroll was good - not too oily, only the sauce that came with it was more like jelly than expected (wished for a proper sweet and chili sauce) The black bean sauce was lacking flavor and tasted very bland so I had to add lots of salt and soy sauce - maybe because they don't use garlic and onions.... Mhhh All in all I wouldn't go again because it's not as tasty as expected also including tax over 18$ for take out is more expensive than vancouver (in Richmond are great Chinese options!) Don't get me wrong maybe Victoria isn't just the best place for food but I have been to quite a few restaurants and have high expectations- it's only about the food Service is amazing and friendly no wifi no dine in
Sarilein
A Chinese vegetarian restaurant I Victoria with a high rating on google maps and happy cow The service is super friendly and helpful with choosing items of the menu The chefs menu includes a spring roll, a soup (I chose the wonton soup) and one dish with rice I got the lemon “chicken” vegan which was very good, crunchy and well seasoned The wonton soup was lacking flavor as well as the Black Bean Tofu with veg. I asked for no rice and more veg which was possible. Still felt quite small with only four pieces of tofu and the dish called black bean tofu. Springroll was good - not too oily, only the sauce that came with it was more like jelly than expected (wished for a proper sweet and chili sauce) The black bean sauce was lacking flavor and tasted quite bland so I had to add lots of salt and soy sauce - maybe because they don't use garlic and onions…. Mhhh All in all I wouldn't go again because it's not as tasty as expected also including tax over 18$ for take out is more expensive than vancouver (in Richmond are great Chinese options!) Don't get me wrong maybe Victoria isn't just the best place for food but I have been to quite a few restaurants and have high expectations- it's only about the food Service is amazing and friendly No dine in because of Covid, no wifi (no buffet only pre Covid)
Updating my long-ago review: Lotus Pond is - sadly for the community - closing on April 30, 2023. I picked up what is probably my final meals from them today. All good food. Tasty Szechuan sauce on the eggplant dish! Always-good turnip cakes, which I remember from their lunch-buffet days. Chow mein, fresh vegetables, mushrooms, tofu skins. I will miss this place. Open 4-8 pm, closed Mon-Tue. Old review: In the heart of downtown. Buffet (pay by weight) and full menu. All vegan. Chinese style. Buddhist, so I think they avoid onion and garlic. Well-prepared, home-cooked, tasty and satisfying food. I especially like the turnip cakes and potato cakes. Buffet has stir-fries, stews, spring rolls, noodles, vegetables (some with seitan veggie meat), dumplings and more. Tranquil background music. Pleasant staff. Updated from previous review on 2018-04-20
Favourite takeout place in town, love that everything is vegan but omnivores love it too. My favourite dishes are the turnip cakes, Szechuan chili eggplant, Ginger B, and any dish with bean curd layers.I appreciate how much care they take in wrapping the to-go orders up to prevent spilling!
Lotus Pond is seriously the best vegan restaurant in Victoria. Possibly the whole of Vancouver Island. I also think it may be the only entirely POC owned vegan business on the Island. I think they even give the two Buddhist vegetarian restaurants on the Kingsway in Vancouver (Po Kong and Sun Bo) a run for their money. Some favourite items: Turnip Cake Buddha's Feast Lemon Chick'n Mapo Tofu (extra spicy) Green beans Spring rolls But you honestly can't really go wrong and should get the combo if you want to save some money. It's too bad they no longer do dine in and at the same time I see why they stopped, the space is small and doesn't have “Sunday dim sum” at the round table ambiance.
Lotus Pond is seriously the best vegan restaurant in Victoria. Possibly the whole of Vancouver Island. I also think it may be the only entirely POC owned vegan business on the Island. I think they even give the two Buddhist vegetarian restaurants on the Kingsway in Vancouver (Po Kong and Sun Bo) a run for their money. Some favourite items: Turnip Cake Buddha's Feast Lemon Chick'n Mapo Tofu (extra spicy) Green beans Spring rolls But you honestly can't really go wrong and should get the combo if you want to save some money. It's too bad they no longer do dine in and at the same time I see why they stopped, the space is small and doesn't have "Sunday dim sum" at the round table ambiance.
Excellent Vegan (Asian) food! Loved the noodle soups, Schezwan tofu, Chow mien and everything we ate there. Good customer service also (the stewardess was patient in taking our order and helpful).Heads up : Take out only - no Dine inVegetarian options: All vegan menu.
The capital city of BC is home to the best Chinese food restaurant I've ever visited. I've heard Victoria has the 2nd oldest Chinatown in North America, est. just 10yrs after San Francisco's in 1858. The "Lotus Pond" offers an exclusively vegan menu, making it an easy choice for local and visiting vegans and vegetarians. The quality of the food should put it at the top of EVERYONE'S list. It is the only restaurant where I have tried multiple menu items (at least 25 visits and counting) and consistently been delighted with my meal. The servings are generous, the prices are shockingly modest, and the staff is friendly and never seems to have "bad days". We have always been made to feel welcome. Nothing ruins a dining experience faster than being made to feel you are an inconvenience. I recommend Lotus Pond to everyone I possibly can. I truly cannot praise it enough. Personal favourites are the Buddhas Feast chow mein, mushroom fried rice, and their broccoli dish. Virtually everyone overcooks the small trees, resulting in washed out limp mush, but the dark, vibrant green vegetables served here have been cooked to perfection, with just the right amount of crunch and full of flavour. The Lotus Pond is truly a magnificent culinary experience
Delicious, and fair price for the big serving size (dishes likely meant to be shared, we had lots of leftovers). Vegetarians rejoice, and the omnivore of our group was also very happy with the taste!
The food was ok, good and not very expensive, but it's a very ordinary restaurant, not very tastfull food. When we went it was only for take outs. The only chinnese vegan restaurant in Victoria.
Delicious food for a decent price, which means a lot with inflation right now. Check to see if the chef's special includes vegetables. Their very popular lemon ‘chicken' is only that. We ordered Buddha's Delight and rice to go with it. As a dinner for two we had leftovers, which just adds value to the meal.
We has lemon chick'n, sweet and sour balls, veggies and chick'n in peppercorn sauce and vegetable fried rice. Delicious!
Restaurantji Recommends
I'm not at all a fan of Chinese food other than Indian-Chinese but wow I was truly impressed with this place. The service was helpful and friendly, the food was steaming hot for pick up and everything we ordered was delicious. We ordered the Shanghai noodles, the mapu tofu (could have been spicier), the oyster mushroom "calamari" (salted spicy oyster mushroom on the menu) and the hostess' recommendation of the turnip cake. Every single thing was delicious and the portions were huge! Not at all salty or overpowering like the food can sometimes be. Highly recommend!
Lovely vegan food with lots of options to choose from
Super nice people, seems to be family-run, great variety of very tasty Chinese food.
Lotus Pond A Chinese vegetarian restaurant I Victoria with a high rating on google maps and happy cow The service is super friendly and helpful with choosing items of the menu The chefs menu includes a spring roll, a soup (I chose the wonton soup) and one dish with rice I got the lemon "chicken" vegan which was very good, crunchy and well seasoned The wonton soup was lacking flavor as well as the Black Bean Tofu with veg. I asked for no rice and more veg which was possible. Still felt quite small with only four pieces of tofu and the dish called black bean tofu. Springroll was good - not too oily, only the sauce that came with it was more like jelly than expected (wished for a proper sweet and chili sauce) The black bean sauce was lacking flavor and tasted very bland so I had to add lots of salt and soy sauce - maybe because they don't use garlic and onions.... Mhhh All in all I wouldn't go again because it's not as tasty as expected also including tax over 18$ for take out is more expensive than vancouver (in Richmond are great Chinese options!) Don't get me wrong maybe Victoria isn't just the best place for food but I have been to quite a few restaurants and have high expectations- it's only about the food Service is amazing and friendly no wifi no dine in
A Chinese vegetarian restaurant I Victoria with a high rating on google maps and happy cow The service is super friendly and helpful with choosing items of the menu The chefs menu includes a spring roll, a soup (I chose the wonton soup) and one dish with rice I got the lemon “chicken” vegan which was very good, crunchy and well seasoned The wonton soup was lacking flavor as well as the Black Bean Tofu with veg. I asked for no rice and more veg which was possible. Still felt quite small with only four pieces of tofu and the dish called black bean tofu. Springroll was good - not too oily, only the sauce that came with it was more like jelly than expected (wished for a proper sweet and chili sauce) The black bean sauce was lacking flavor and tasted quite bland so I had to add lots of salt and soy sauce - maybe because they don't use garlic and onions…. Mhhh All in all I wouldn't go again because it's not as tasty as expected also including tax over 18$ for take out is more expensive than vancouver (in Richmond are great Chinese options!) Don't get me wrong maybe Victoria isn't just the best place for food but I have been to quite a few restaurants and have high expectations- it's only about the food Service is amazing and friendly No dine in because of Covid, no wifi (no buffet only pre Covid)