The Gossiping Gourmet: Lotus Bistro offers tasty Vietnamese fare in a casual setting
I confess that I just love Vietnamese food, especially after traveling to the country a few years ago. We in Orange County are lucky to have a large Vietnamese population and many wonderful restaurants featuring the cuisine.
I discovered one in Newport Beach that I had driven past a few times and decided to try. Lotus Bistro is off Coast Highway on old Newport Boulevard. It is small and casual and does a lot of take-out business as well offering full service.
The room is pleasant with one mirrored wall that makes the room seem bigger. On another wall is a huge painting of Buddha’s face along with floral paintings. The tables are adorned with pretty little pots of artificial flowers. Lotus Bistro has a small outdoor patio and its own parking lot next to the building
My dining companion and I selected the Lotus grilled pork spring rolls to begin our meal. They were filled with tender little pieces of grilled pork, lettuce, cucumber, cilantro and vermicelli noodles, all fresh and wrapped in rice paper. Dipping sauce on the side tasted like a sweet peanut sauce.
Appetizers also include shrimp spring rolls, egg rolls, a chicken salad and a shrimp and chicken combo salad.
The restaurant has seven varieties of pho, the wonderful Vietnamese soup that has a base of chicken broth or beef broth with rice noodles. My companion and I chose the special combination with rare beef, well-done brisket, flank steak and meatballs.
This rich and meaty pho was one of the best versions of the traditional soup that we have ever tasted. It comes with a side dish of chopped green onions, cilantro, bean sprouts, basil leaves, lime and jalapenos — add whatever you like to the soup. And choose from bottles of various hot sauces to add the desired heat.
Vermicelli noodle dishes are among my favorites. At Lotus Bistro, thin rice noodles are served with lettuce, bean sprouts, cucumber and pickled vegetables (carrots and daikon radish) and topped with crushed peanuts and green scallions. Guests have 12 varieties from which to choose.
We got the one with grilled pork, shrimp and an egg roll. It came with a little dish of sweet, tart fish sauce to pour on like dressing. Our first bite was a little bland, but we added sriracha sauce and a bit of salt, and that made the difference. The egg roll on top had a nice crispy exterior and a complex filling of ground pork and shrimp mixed with shredded carrots, taro and onion.
We also tried the special combination fried rice, which was dotted with egg, onions, shrimp, barbecue pork, chicken, carrots and peas. It was our least favorite in that we found it to be a bit bland.
In addition to these entrees, the restaurant also offers the famous Vietnamese bahn mi sandwich. This is a French baguette filled with pork, chicken or beef and topped with cucumbers, cilantro, pickled vegetables and jalapenos. Soy sauce and the house mayo complete these delicious sandwiches.
Vegetarians can order spring rolls, vegetable egg rolls, vegetarian noodle soup, vermicelli noodles with vegetable rolls and rice with tofu and imitation chicken or duck.
Soft drinks, Vietnamese coffee, teas and smoothies are served, but no alcoholic beverages.
This is one of those small neighborhood restaurants you will want to return to.
TERRY MARKOWITZ was in the gourmet food and catering business for 20 years. She can be reached for comments or questions at m_markowitz@cox.net.
Lotus Bistro
Location: 325 Old Newport Road, Newport Beach
Hours: 11 am. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Sundays
Prices:
Appetizers and sandwiches: $4.75 to $9.95
Entrees: $7.50 to $11.95
Information: (949) 287-6827, lotusbistronewport.com