Lotus Thai

Lotus Thai is the first Thai restaurant I've enjoyed in the Ann Arbor/Ypsi area! And I've pretty much tried all of them. Everything I tried had a bit of a sour tinge, but otherwise was quite good! This will be my go-to when I'm craving Pad Thai.

The interior is very nice and clean, but since it's probably a family-owned business, there was only one waitress during the weekend dinner hour. So, it's best not to dine here if you're in a rush.

We tried to go to this location for lunch last Saturday at 1:50pm, then saw another couple ahead of us get turned away, so we left.

We went again yesterday and saw their hours. They close at 2pm and reopen again for the dinner crowd at 5pm

My husband ordered garlic chicken, and I ordered pad Thai. The food is basic. Their pad Thai actually seemed a bit greasy, like I didn't need lip gloss for the rest of the day greasy-nor did my digestive system.

Their service is ok and the food came out quickly, but wasn't one I'd write to my Thai mom and tell her that I finally found a place close to home that I liked. $20 for two lunch items and water, pre-tip.

Mom & Pops Thai restaurant in a strip mall should be the talk of the town but instead, the food had everyone wondering if a big bowl of ice-cream could sooth our damaged palates.

Inside, the place is nicely decorated, relatively clean and seems like a good place for date night or a family dinner. On the night we went, 3 out of 4 tables sent their food back (we were the lone cowboys who didn't).

We ordered two veggie dishes and were so sad that the vegetables were once frozen but had since had the living hell boiled out of them. There was no trace of crunch-factor left to the carrots, bell peppers and broccoli that sadly draped the plate. There was also little flavor other than some fresh basil thrown in at the end. Both dishes were 'medium heat' but it would be considered 'no heat' anywhere else.

The reasons why each person sent their plate back did not make me want to give Lotus Thai another try. My own plate only confirmed that.

Always a consistently good lunch presentation and delicious meal. It's still my favorite in Ann Arbor, though I wish they'd loosen up a bit on the menu with more Isaan dishes.

Very pleasant, contemporary surroundings and great service.

Shrimp salad was spot on. Lots of chilis (by request) & nam pla (also by request).

Overall this place is a decent relatively quick place to grab some lunch. I had ordered the chicken pad Thai medium, thinking that maybe it might be a little hot, but unfortunately had no heat.

I am not sure if it's just me but medium at other places in Ann Arbor can be really hot. The food was ok but there are definitely better options for the same prices all around Ann Arbor.

I think that the prices are a little high for the serving sizes as well.

I'm usually not one to write negative reviews, however my experience here was extremely subpar. Upon receiving our curries, my party was served four plates of rice. Each of my family members felt that it tasted and smelled funny. My brother noted that the smell compared to "when you take off your shoes after tennis." No joke! It tasted soapy in my opinion and I had to ask for different rice. Our waitress told us the rice is the same that everyone else had, rather than offering us new rice. Rice is the CHEAPEST food, it may cost them 25 cents to replace our mildew-smelling rice. We asked for brown rice, hoping it didn't have the same taste and smell. I explained that I wasn't going to pay $2 per cup of rice when the white rice was inedible. Upon receiving our bill, there was an $8 charge for four brown rice bowls.

A restaurant that does not comp for RICE is one cheap restaurant. I will not be coming back to this restaurant ever again.

We've been here plenty of times, and usually have very tasty, satisfying food. I was in need of some spice, and we decided to hit this location instead of Marnee (same ownership).

What's interesting to me is that this location seems to make things slightly spicier than Marnee -- not that I'm complaining! Just that when I've ordered something "medium spicy" at Marnee, I've wished for more heat, while at Lotus, the spice seems just perfect.

I got a long-running favorite in the tofu version of the Panang curry. I do wish they'd thrown in just a few more veggies, but I still couldn't finish the whole thing, so I can't really complain! My fella got his thai stand-by, the Pad See Ew, which was good, but for some reason, not quite as good as the version he'd recently had at Marnee.

I guess there are some trade-offs, but I'm perfectly happy to have 2 darn good thai places to choose from depending on where in town we may be/want to go.

One word of advice... think before you order wine! I didn't think ahead and ordered a glass of a more "spicy" red wine before my meal. Big mistake! Spicy wine + spicy food = clear sinuses, though! ;)

Well I really agree with Peters review the soups at lunch are what make me come back. For example the rice noodles with chicken tom yum is to die for!! Only draw back was the service which is usually GREAT but today she was rushing due to the lunch hours were closing and getting ready for dinner, what brings me to their hours being closed mid day - I HATE THAT! also ask for extra cilantro which they wanted a dollar for!?! that's like saying I want it extra spicy and charging you for it! It's an herb for Christ sake plus its in season at .49 cents a bunch. It's stuff like that makes a bad experience even though its only a dollar guess its just the point. Those are the things what make a 5 star vs 4

The waitress for no reasons had a pretty bad attitude towards us, just because we asked for a different table???

I had good experiences with lotus Thai in the past, but this waitress ruined it. Won't come back again.

We had the pad thai and pineapple curry fried rice. For each they ask you which type of meat you'd like (chicken, pork, beef, tofu, shrimp) and how spicy. We did a phone in to go order, which took less than 20 minutes to prepare on a Thursday evening.

The food was great-- better than A-OK. But the portion was small, for the cost of what you'd expect to be a large size. Either eating in gives you a larger portion, or the portion size has changed since the pictures you see on Yelp were posted. Some of the reviews seem to suggest a change in portion size, though, so I'll attest to that. The amount I received was less than what you see in the pictures. Quality? Great, authentic.

Pineapple curry fried rice was great. You really taste the spices in it and it gives you a taste of curry but with a thai kick. Add in the sweet pineapples and your choice of meat, and it becomes a great dish. I liked it more than my pad thai.

Overall, each dish cost about $14, but for the portion size, I am not sure I'd be a frequent visitor here.