Choosing what to eat at a restaurant can feel taxing at times. There’s pressure. There’s indecision. Enter the Omakase experience, the Japanese dining style that translates to “I’ll leave it up to you.” At Lotus, The Park Chennai, this isn’t a gamble. It’s trust well placed. The chef doesn’t just decide what you eat, they decide how your night unfolds. And they decide spectacularly.
We opted for the Signature Lotus Special, a curated chef’s choice tasting that flits across the cuisines of Asia, Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian, and Chinese.
The Tom kha chicken soup arrives pale, polite, and quiet, until you meet the floating red glint of chilli oil. The broth is light but loaded. Coconut milk wraps around your tongue. Hidden at the bottom, tender chicken and leeks keep it grounded, while kaffir lime and galangal send you somewhere else entirely.
Wok-tossed potatoes arrive looking like they’ve had a glow-up, crisp-edged wedges in their golden jackets, tossed in spices, sesame, and XO chilli oil. Crunchy even when cold.
Then there’s the Chilli chicken, Hakka-style. It looks like a usual bar snack, but one bite in, you know it’s not. There’s nuance here, subtle heat, peppered sweetness, and depth beyond the glossy exterior.
But nothing prepares you for the Malaysian chicken satay. You see it and think, hmm, kind of beige. Then you bite in. Charred bits sing and the peanut sauce is just perfect. The meat falls apart like it’s tired from being so perfect.
Dim sums make their cameo, the Prawn hargow is solid. But the chicken shumai is an absolute must-try. Pillowy, steaming, ridiculously juicy, it should come with a warning label, “May ruin all future dumplings for you.”
Then we moved to mains. The Thai green curry is, in a word, slurpable. Coconut-rich, basil-heavy, with a sly hit of spice.
The Mee goreng is just at this point a comfort food. And we end the feast with dessert as always, Black sticky rice with lychee. It tasted like it belongs in a Karaikudi kitchen and looks like it was dreamed up in a Bangkok night market.
Meal for one: Rs 1,700. Open from 11 am to 11 pm. At Lotus, The Park, Nungambakkam.