Lotus Cafe

This is a hole in the wall restaurant, but food is absolutely amazing. This is the best place for phở hands down. The staff is friendly and very attentive. The food also comes out so quickly and tastes great!

Seeking an escape out of the city, I met a good friend of mine at Lotus Café in Silver Spring. I must say I was a little worried when I saw the outside of the café as it looked very rundown, but as soon as I tasted the food, I felt much better.
We opted to sit outside where we walked over brick that badly needed to be replaced and sat at a high-​top table near a family that was finishing up. Their vegetarian selection is extensive and they will happily identify what is vegan or not.
With so many choices, it was hard to choose! We started with the Tofu Summer Rolls filled with vermicelli noodles, tofu, basil, and lettuce. The tofu was really flavorful, which overall made the rolls really good. And the peanut sauce was great too.
For my entrée, I got the Black Pepper Gluten. The seitan was stir-​fried with mushrooms and onions in a rich black pepper sauce and served with veggies on the side. It was absolutely delicious and very filling. I was really impressed with this dish.
My friend got the Veggie Fuzion Noodles that had tofu, broccoli, onions, baby corn, and peas in a curry sauce. He also enjoyed his meal.
The service was attentive throughout our meal and the prices were right. The entrees were only $ 10 each and were pretty large portions. All in all, I’d say this is a low-​key place that you could go with old friends. The décor certainly won’t impress anyone, but who needs to be impressed when the food is good. Bön appetit.

VERY delicious food, better than many other Vietnamese places in Silver Spring/​Wheaton, and great service. The décor is kind of sad, I wish they would invest in making it look a little nicer, but I can’t complain for the very low prices for the very delicious and fresh food!

I think the phở broth here is under flavored which I think is a crime. But in general, their menu is extensive, fairly authentic, and cheaply priced. I was not expecting a decent Vietnamese place in Silver Spring but I’ve been here a couple times and it satisfies my Viet food craving if I don’t want to drive down to Eden Center. Their biggest plus is their non-​phở dishes like the claypot fish, and crispy egg noodles with seafood. Give that food a try before the phở.

I’ve been meaning to try this place out for a while. I thought it was okay. The best part about my meal was the spring and summer rolls. I decided to get the combination appetizer with the coconut shrimp, shrimp toast & spring rolls along and a bowl of beef Phở. The round eye steak was not fresh which was disappointing. The broth had a great taste, but it is not okay to serve not so fresh meat. Unfortunately I was already home by the time I realized it, so I decided to throw the meat away and just eat the beef broth and vegetables. I’m glad they put the meat on the side.
3 Stars!

Great place with great food! The people who work here are always so nice. The pork vermicelli is the bomb!

The lunch specials are super inexpensive, and looked great on paper. I had a veggie vermicelli bowl with a spring roll, my Vietnamese lunch standby. Simply put, you get what you pay for. It is on the lower end of what I would ingest for even a cheap lunch, but it did fill me up. To boot, the restaurant was very grimy. The place was pretty full, and service was friendly, but the place needs a good scrubbing. I suppose if it comes to this or fast food, I’d choose Lotus, but otherwise…

After reading all the great reviews I had my hopes really high.
Stopped there for a quick bite to eat. The place was completely empty. So I picked a table and ordered Buddha Delight (tofu and stir fried veggies)
The server was not friendly or professional, didn’t smile at all and didn’t check on me once after the food arrived. I didn’t feel welcome and so not going to come back. Btw, the food was just ok. Oh yeah, and the place is in pretty bad shape as well, looks like the owner doesn’t care that things are falling apart and that’s a big turn off for me as well.

I ordered the tofu summer rolls, vegetarian ginger gluten, and vegetarian pad Thai. The service was quick and über friendly. And all of the food was authentically delicious.

I like this Phở place: Friendly people and tasty food.
Recommend their Phở with Vegetable and Tofu (with Veggie broth). Hot Thai Tea is also good~~
The thing that brings me back is their good service; they brought us three sauces for one Vermicelli. Will definitely come back!

Not far from downtown Silver Spring, this handy Vietnamese place offers a wide swath of vegetarian options not easy to find in this area. I was in a hurry and takeout was ready in ten minutes, always a plus.
The obvious comparison to this place would be the other nearby vegetarian-​friendly Southeast Asian place, Mandalay. By comparison, this one is a slightly nicer place to eat and costs less, but doesn’t have quite as interesting of a menu.
However, what they do have is a lemongrass and chili dish, a flavor combination that if I were less austere and august, I might refer to by terms like «amazeballs». Nothing beats lemongrass. Several of their dishes have an option for tofu or gluten, and the former was thoroughly crispy and delicious. On that note, I’m forgiving them the surprise broccoli they threw in and the oddly limited quantity of rice that I didn’t want too much of anyway, and awarding them the four stars.

Nice restaurant located on a side street Silver Spring. Looks family owned. The place is large, so we’ve never had to wait when we’ve come here. We’ve had their Vietnamese crêpe and some of their noodle soups. The crêpe was crispy on the outside and had a lot of stuff on the inside. It was slightly oily but still really well seasoned. Their phở is good, has a nice strong beef broth and not overladen with spices.

Lotus café is my favoritest phở place in the hood. It’s just good food — no frills, bare bones kinda place with solid food options. I always get the phở so I can’t speak to the rest of the menu — but it’s all I crave the morning after a long night out, when it’s cold/​rainy, or when I’m sick. The deal cannot be beat — $ 6.99 for a small bowl, and $ 7.99 for a large bowl — you hear that DC? I’m on to you and your overprice phở bowls! The noodle soup comes with the regular accompaniments and the the cuts of meat are never overly fatty (unless you want it to be). My service experience has never left me with any complaints either. So if you’re looking for a casual phở restaurant that will soothe your soul, this is your place.

Tucked away on a Silver Spring side street, this is my favorite Vietnamese restaurant around. The food is consistently delicious and authentic, and the staff is incredibly warm, kind, and professional.
Whether you are looking for a great Vietnamese for take-​out or dine-​in in Silver Spring, this is the spot.

This is my favorite hole in the wall to come to for a quick warm and full meal. I have never left this place disappointed or broke ;-) Two things that are crucial in my life during this chapter. I’m always warmly greeted by the staff working there and the service is VERY quick too. It’s my favorite go-​to place in downtown Silver Spring that’s on the less congested side too (although they’re building A LOT within the surrounding area so who knows how long that will last). PHO for DAYS!!! :-)

(3.5 stars)
Lunch review only: First, do note that Lotus Café is not a good place to take someone you want to impress — it’s light on ambiance (indeed, the back room has some institutional chairs, a few heating lamps, and a TV playing CNN on mute).
Second, do note that lunch is an incredibly good deal — for $ 7, you can get a large phở — and large is an understatement. This phở is bathtub size. And the broth is, as Venu noted, slightly sweet which, if you order the veggie phở, works well with the fried tofu, the basil, and the ample onions. The veggies were so good, the broth so tasty, that I almost forgot about the vermicelli at the bottom of the bowl. So if you’re looking for a cost effective and tasty way to fuel up when in Silver Spring, lunch at the Lotus might be a good option.

I came here today with my family. My sister was super excited to try their phở. but didn’t seem ecstatic about it. I sort of thought she was overhyping it, and when it came she wasn’t unhappy. just wasn’t impressed.
Beef and sweet onion vermicelli — This is what I ordered and I loved it. Comes in a bowl with vermicelli noodles, veggies, and peanuts. The meat was tasty and just the right consistency, not chewy at all. I give this dish 5 stars.
Bun thit nuong — pork with vermicelli noodles — This is what my boyfriend ordered. This honestly is his favorite food. That said, he has really high standards for this dish. I thought it was good, but he said it was just okay. Good, but nothing great or amazing. Also, he said no cilantro (he has a slight allergy), and there was still a few pieces in his dish. which sort of knock this down on his list.
Vegetable and Combination Beef Phở — My sister order the beef phở and she wasn’t wowed. She said the broth was good, but the slices of beef inside weren’t great. They were dry and lifeless. My aunt has the veggie phở and said it was good, but not delicious. All and all it seemed like their phở was pretty standard.
I say stick to a vietnamese class noodle dish! I’d love to come back for that beef and sweet onion dish for sure.

I am pretty positive they pour crack into their veggie phở broth. It is SO flavorful, that I want to immerse myself into it! My one problem with this place is that they are not always consistent. I have almost always done take out from here and their veggie broth though always awesome, does not always taste the same. Last time, it tasted a little more cinnamon-​y than usual. The size of their spring rolls also varies sometimes.
However, I do love coming — it is a great low cost healthy dinner option :)

I love Lotus. I go there about once or twice a week. Tofu and vegetable phở with beef broth is my super favorite — generous amounts of napa, broccoli, carrots, fried tofu… mmmmm. Friendly, fast service.
Fun fact — the kids that are on the cover of the menu have grown up quite a bit and hang out at the restaurant all the time.

So I came here one day with a few coworkers, hoping their phở would satisfy my craving.
Well, the broth was good (not great) but the meat inside had this horrible aftertaste, reminiscent of Steak-​ums. The kind that developed freezer burn, but you ate them anyway because you were hungry.
Yeah. That bad.
The summer rolls were delicious though, and if I remember correctly, they don’t have pork!
This is a blessing, considering how annoying it is to tell the waiter «no pork, please». This request is usually met with a hint of annoyance, and you’re left wondering if the waiter will actually listen and bring the correct order.
At least thats what I go through. Maybe no one else feels this way.
Anywho, I’d come back for the vegetarian options because I’ve heard great things… and leave the phở for another place.