Vegan
Chinese
Take-out

Small vegan restaurant serving Chinese food. Offers pay-by-weight buffet lunch and a la carte menu dinner. Use a variety of vegetables, mock meats, gluten, and protein fibers like soy. Buddhist principles. NOTE: Take out only. Reported closed May 2023.


66 Reviews

First Review by dkingdesigndotcom

EmmaCebuliak

Points +1848

Herbivore
19 Jul 2017

Really Excellent Vegan Chinese Food

My family and I ordered quite a few dishes for take-out + delivery from here last week and were really impressed! Each item was very unique, well-balanced, and flavourful; not too much oil, not too much fried food, and not too much of any specific ingredient. It seemed really attentively made and we all felt great after our meal! Definitely recommend. As a note, they are extremely popular and we had to wait over an hour and a half for our delivery after ordering over the phone around 5:30pm. The hostess on the line was nice though and checked whether this was okay before we ordered.

Pros: Healthy Chinese Food, Good Service, Yummy

Cons: Long Wait Sometimes

bagwasher

Points +124

Vegan
18 Apr 2017

Delicious

We tried the hot pot and the chow mein. Both were good and also came with spring rolls and soup. Too much food for 2 people. The service was great and the price was reasonable. I would definitely go here again

Pros: Excellent food, Huge menu, Good price

rachelandmichael

Points +373

Vegan
05 Apr 2017

great eats, recommended by other local vegans

Food was good, service was very nice. Kids devoured the food which is always great

Pros: price, portion

EmilyD

Points +42

Vegan
04 Feb 2017

good vegan options

This is a good "go to" place for any time of the day if you're in the area. They had a variety of food choices (soups, entrees, desserts) as well as really delicious juices and smoothies.

Ken.thompson

Points +426

Vegan
22 Jan 2017

ok food--bad soy sauce

The food here is pretty good, but the soy sauce is artificially coloured and flavoured, really bad stuff! Makes me wonder about the quality of their ingredients in general.

chrisgo

Points +75

Mostly Veg
13 Nov 2016

Love this place!

Always reliable; good affordable ethical Chinese food. Sweet people run it; there is a buffet during the day if you're in a hurry. Charming.

Pros: Good food, Sweet staff, All vegan

Cons: Not licensed, Same decor from whenever they opened 30 years ago

Netalwins

Points +47

Vegan
16 Apr 2016

Amazing Vegan Buddhist Chinese Cusine Victoria BC

This is one of my all time favorite restaurant with a wide variety of dishes to suit almost everyone's taste. No big fish salads here. Great hot and sour soup.. In fact sometimes I just get the large hot and sour soup for 9.95 and that is my meal. I love the turnip cakes.... The chili eggplant is amazing and the Buddhas feast hot pot is awesome. They have a lunch time buffet as well. Yummy yummy and all vegan... Friendly staff... Yum

Pros: Great vegan food, Great staff, Amazing selection

Cons: Closed until April 22 :)

PeteSutherland

Points +44

Vegan
28 Jan 2016

love this place

The lunch buffet is great!! So many choices. Pay by the weight.

LittleFae

Points +20

Vegan
03 Oct 2015

Always a great meal

The service at Lotus Pond is always amazing - it's quite a small restaurant and is often very busy for dinner, but I've never felt that the service was lacking in any way due to the crowds. One time they were out of tables, so they set up a little folding table for my friend and I, which totally reinforced the love I already had for the restaurant. Their food is delicious, I'm always craving their wonton soup, and I've brought numerous meat-eaters to this restaurant who've thoroughly enjoyed their meals. The food is flavourful, and the portions are large, so there are often leftovers. I always feel like I got my money's worth. A great restaurant overall, and my go-to when I need a satisfying and affordable meal.

Pros: Great food - so many options, Good service, Affordable

Cons: none

vera sagram

Points +24

Vegan
20 Aug 2015

My favourite vegan restaurant

delicious food, lovingly prepared

Pros: delicious, friendly service, excellent value

vegheadcat

Points +21

Vegan
14 Aug 2015

Such a Treat

I love Lotus Pond!
It is one of my favourite restaurants in Victoria and I find myself craving it frequently.
The staff are always welcoming, friendly and efficient. The food always comes fast and always taste so delicious. The price is fair and you always get a good sized portion with enough to take home (or sometimes its too yummy and you eat it all)
I've brought family and friends who are meat eaters and they've loved it and said they didn't miss having no meat :)
I would recommend to any veg head or vegan. It's definitely a must try and one of Victoria's little food gems.

DWNPhoto

Points +387

Vegan
31 May 2015

Great food!

Had a late dinner here after arriving in Victoria. Waitress was very friendly, and quick to take care of us.

Location was easy to get to, as are most things in town.

Food was fantastic, but be prepared for LARGE portions! I would have paid the same amount for half the food. Normally I would just take left-overs home and make a second meal, but being on vacation and not having food storage in our hotel, it wasn't an option.

We took the extras and gave them to someone in need on the way back to the hotel.

Pros: Low prices, Good food, Friendly Staff

Cons: Heads up, LOTS of food

Chenley

Points +42

Vegan
07 Apr 2014

Met all expectations!

After reading HappyCow reviews, hubby and I rushed to eat at Lotus Pond.
Ppl mention its dingy but honestly we found it very clean, the staff was also very friendly and the service fast and efficient! We went at 5 for dinner on a Sunday and had the place to ourselves for most of the dinner!
We ordered a 3 item combo.
Tried both the wonton soup and hot and sour. Both delicious, the wonton itself was amazing-broth a lil weak but wonton made up for it. Hot and sour was packed with flavor and veggies and tofu and yumminess! Also comes with spring rolls which are so crunchy and good!!
We had the sweet and sour soya balls which were to die for. The plate was HUGE! Thick, pancake like batter- little bit sweet and very addicting. Best part is I didn't find them over fried, as a clean eater even a few French fries will give me belly aches but these gave only pleasure!
Also had the Bean Curd Skins in lemon sauce. Didn't even know what it was but so glad we ordered. Unique and very pleasurable dish, can't wait to explore more with that ingredient!
And we got way over zelest and got the Buddha delight. Giant plate of veggies and the like! Note- does have a bit of a fermenty- fungusy flavor for those who aren't sure! Great for the digestion however and the bok choy was like candy.
Anddd came with rice.
Lets just say that's enough food for like 4-6 ppl... The two of us brought home doggie bags.
Will most certainly be back again and again! And was so exciting to look at a menu and be able to use or eat everything!!

Pros: Huge variety, Fresh, fast, delicious, Unique dishes

RattleHeade

Points +21

Vegan
17 Mar 2014

Dinner at Lotus Pond

We went for dinner at Lotus Pond last night, I had been there once before for the Lunch Buffet. This time we ordered from the menu, where they made it fresh for us. A very enjoyable meal, from the Mock Chicken balls in a pineapple sauce (chunks of the pineapple itself were like candy), Buddha's Feast (with a great selection of fungus/mushrooms) and our crunchy & spicy chow mien with vegi's. All very good, satisfying. Reasonable price, friendly hosts. Look forward to going back again, soon.

Pros: Selection, Freshness, Friendly

Cons: none

blisssu

Points +145

Vegan
23 Sep 2013

Lovely lunch at the Lotus Pond

My husband and I probably wouldn't have gone into Lotus Pond had we not seen its enthusiastic reviews on Happy Cow and been very hungry for lunch. It's not prepossessing from the outside, but we read the extensive all-vegan menu posted in the window and decided to give it a try. So glad we did. Inside, the small dining room was simple but clean, and the staff was welcoming. We chose from the small but attractive buffet and paid by weight. Too bad we didn't have enough time in Victoria to return and order from the extensive printed menu as a few other customers had. Everything was fresh and delicious, and it's such a treat to go to an all-vegan place and not have to wonder about ordering something unfamiliar that might be made with meat. The turnip cake was delicious and a new dish for me, and the spring roll was noisily crispy and flavorful. I particularly like restaurants that offer vegan desserts, and I was attracted to the colorful lotus flower and sesame cakes, even though I assumed they'd be too sweet. Well, they were sweet, but crunchy and tasty too, and the rice-and-wheat-flour pastry enfolding the fillings was flakey enough to rival a well-made pie crust. So much for pre-judgements. The staff was friendly and helpful and we left Lotus Pond full and very happy.
Updated from previous review on Monday September 23, 2013

Updated from previous review on Monday September 23, 2013

Pros: delicious all-vegan food, many choices, nice vibe

Cons: looks dingy from outside, tables a bit crowded

krissimi

Points +129

Vegetarian
21 May 2013

Delicious and peaceful

This is a sweet place for a peaceful and healthy meal.

Pros: location and atmosphere, food options

Profound_Raincloud

Points +111

Vegetarian
04 Feb 2013

Chinese Food *YUM*

We stopped into Lotus Pond on a Saturday for lunch. The buffet looked tasty but being nightshade free ordering off the menu seems like a better option.

We ordered the dinner for 2. It came with spring rolls, wonton soup and brown rice. The two dishes we choose to include were lemon bean curd and buddha's delight.

I advised the server of my allergies and it seemed like maybe she didn't understand what I had meant but when the food came out there was not a nightshade in sight :)

Everything was tasty! The hubster said he found it to be the best veggie place with this type of fare he has ever been too. I quite in enjoyed the lemon bean curd, it tasted alot like egg in my opinion, kinda of like a lemon egg. Maybe that doesn't sound the greatest but it really was good! The spring rolls IMHO were a bit over cooked. The hubster and I both agreed the broth in the wonton soup was heavenly!

Definitely a place I would go back to if visiting Victoria again!

Pros: Friendly Staff, Excellent Value

Cons: Looks run down

Peacock41

Points +36

Vegan
26 Nov 2012

Great Food!

Really good selection for lunch buffet. Since it's pay by weight we had to pick and choose what we took, because we wanted it all!! Very satisfying and delicious!

Pros: great food




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