• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

There's Something Missing: Lotus Inn Showing Its Age in D?Cor, Cuisine

Posted on: Friday, 30 December 2005, 09:00 CST

By Diane Fox, The Monitor, McAllen, Texas, The Monitor, McAllen, Texas

Dec. 30--McALLEN -- The Lotus Inn has been a mainstay of Asian food in McAllen for many years. While the food is still good, the restaurant itself is showing its age. The interior is slightly shabby and musty. The main dining room could be a showplace. It has floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a courtyard that again, could use some work. As it is, you look out over concrete and dead plants. With some nice landscaping and a few umbrella shaded tables, it could be a lovely place to eat. The entryway is dark, and the tables inside are close together, making it crowded and not particularly comfortable. The waiter knew the menu well, and answered our questions, but we seemed to be a bit of an annoyance to him.

There are daily lunch specials; you get a choice of one of three entrees, fried rice, soup and an egg roll for $4.25. One of the diners I was with chose the chicken almond lunch special which featured chunks of chicken, peas, green onions, zucchini and sliced almonds. Also ordered was the Moo Shu pork ($7.95). This was served on a platter piled high with sliced pork, cabbage, mushrooms and green onions in brown sauce and came with a mountain of steamed white rice and four thin savory pancakes for rolling the pork in. I tried the Chow Fung shrimp ($7.95), something I had never had before. It is listed as a soft rice noodle dish, but these seemed more like egg noodles. There was plenty of shrimp, though, with green onions and mushrooms filling out the dish.

For dinner one evening, we tried the Peking steak ($8.95) and the eggplant with garlic sauce ($7.50). The steak dish consisted of thin slices of beef, lightly breaded and stir fried with broccoli, cauliflower, and water chestnuts in brown sauce. It was good but not memorably so. The eggplant was listed as a hot and spicy dish, but it wasn't, with sticks of eggplant sauteed with water chestnuts in the same brown sauce, it was mushy and flavorless. Both entrees were served with rice.

There are some specialty items on the Lotus Inn menu. Crispy shrimp with pine nuts ($10.95), fried shrimp in Hunan sauce with honeyed pine nuts or Kung Pao three delight ($8.95) a combination of shrimp, chicken and beef with peanuts, garlic and whole peppers might be good choices. I have tried the Bamboo steamer specialty with shrimp ($8.50). This came in a three-layered bamboo steamer with rice in one compartment, shrimp in another and vegetables in the third. It was light and delicious.

Chow mein and chop suey are both on the menu here. The chow mein is $7.25 and it comes with your choice of chicken, beef, roast pork or vegetables. The chop suey is $7.50 with the same choices. The shrimp version of either one is $8.50. Fried rice with roast pork, chicken or beef is $6.95, double fried noodles with the same choices is $7.95.

Of interest is the house special dinner. The idea is similar to the lunch special, but the entree options are a bit more upscale. This runs $10.95 per person and consists of a choice of soup, several appetizers, and an entree served with steamed rice. Some of the dinner choices include shrimp with lobster sauce, Moo Goo Gai Pan and Mongolian beef. Tea or coffee is also included. This special would certainly make splitting the bill easier for a crowd.

Dessert choices are limited to ice cream or cheesecake for $2, or fried bananas for $3.50. Being adventurous, I went for the bananas. Several large pieces of hot, fried fruit drizzled with honey and sprinkled with nuts, it was an interesting dessert. Perhaps it will appeal to you.

All in all, this is not a bad place to eat Chinese food. The food itself is acceptable; it is the overall ambience of the restaurant that I found unappetizing. One solution to this dilemma: takeout.

------

Diane Fox is a graduate of the Culinary Arts Program at South Texas College and is the restaurant reviewer for The Monitor. Questions or comments? Send e-mail to dfox1099@yahoo.com.

-----

Copyright (c) 2005, The Monitor, McAllen, Texas

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Monitor (McAllen, Texas)

More News in this Category