Respond to Review of Lotus Garden
by kindlizard
Review: Apparently I have had quite an impact over there at Lotus Garden. For ten yrs they have been open. It took them until this week to end their use of MSG, per Eric Devin the manager. What was troubling about their persistent use of MSG over the past ten years is that when they opened they said they did not use nor did their food contain any MSG. The first amendment of Veganism is The Right To Know What Is In Your Food. If you scroll through the reviews to to the beginning, you will see people saying 'No MSG' or they asked and told there was none; one girl said she worked there and I was wrong. Well, I was not wrong until this week, which means all those people who were told this were misled. The manager preferred to debate the caustic nature of MSG, calling it an allergy rather than a neurotoxin. However, if not for my persistence of how it taints otherwise (presumably, though their pork bun used to carry egg whites or whey, hopefully they have found a new source for it as well) vegan food, they likely would never have changed anything. Thanks Eric and LG. I think my protests of using MSG for most of those ten years have been heard and answered, so thank you, and to those who eat there, you are welcome. It seems as though the cafe has been reborn. I suppose on one hand the worst part is over yet the sad part that remains is what is on the plate. I have eaten deep fried food not knowing it would be so. This type of deep fried food, and this is just one man's honest opinion, obliterates what food it started as. He cleared up a misconception of mine regarding the freshness of food. I am glad it is made fresh. However, the problem is as a consumer, it does not taste like it. I've had freezer burnt dumplings, sadly. The Hot & Sour Soup, of which I have had the best (which this is certainly not), to my tongue tastes like the base is from a mix, a mix I imagine used by another place elsewhere in the state. It is heavy on white pepper, yet H&S soup is a black pepper soup. OR at least that's my tongue's perception; not saying I watch them in the kitchen. The sauces are all one-note; Super-Sweet. Usually the super sweetness is caramelized in the deep fryer and it creates a hockey puck effect. Glad to know w my input and the honesty and integrity of their new manager, Eric, we rid LG of MSG! Still has long way; hopefully next step is to maybe divide menu into deep fried section and then the rest. Maybe I will have to try these new faux-cuts myself!
