Lotus Thai in Hillcrest

I have a terrible, terrible problem being Maggie, the foodie. I don’t like to eat food just to eat. I feel like there’s so much good food to try and enjoy, and we only have 3 meals a day. So whenever I go to a restaurant, I can never decide what to eat. I want it to be good. I want to taste different flavors. Something that tastes fab and that I wouldn’t normally make at home. That’s one reason why I love Thai food.

I took my friend to Lotus Thai in Hillcrest for her birthday. They are on that online reservation system Open Table, but the system was down. I had to do the old school, traditional way of calling to make a reservation. They were great at accommodating a large party on a Saturday night.

Here’s something I LOVE, and I know you will too. They have happy hour all week and weekend long, offering drink and food specials. Yeah! With a happy hour menu, I did a little tapas style sampling of a few Thai food items.

The first appetizer: Lettuce wraps

Loved this. The sauce was a light, not too thick, and citrusy. Iceberg lettuce is not my favorite, but I didn’t mind it so much here. It added a little freshness to the mixture of chicken and rice noodles. Translation: Yum! Yum!

My second appetizer: Chicken satay

It’s so easy to overcook chicken, but this chicken was cooked well. It came with a sweet peanut sauce and a cucumber sauce. Big hit with my friends.

My third appetizer: Shrimp tempura

Doesn’t this look crazy good? My Instagram friends loved this. The shrimp looks bigger because it’s wrapped in bacon then you have all the fried noodles on top of that. It’s good. Please don’t get me wrong, but there were too many fried noodles. It was served with a thick, rich plum puree.

Since it was my friend’s birthday, we also received a wonderful, complimentary coconut ice cream with real chunks of coconut. I wish I had taken a picture of it, but it was gone within seconds. Can’t let ice cream melt. Isn’t it a cardinal sin in some countries?

Check out the Lotus Thai Website for hours and locations (Hillcrest and Downtown).

What’s your favorite Thai food spot?