Lotus Cuisine of India in San Rafael

Review №1

2023-10-10 17:07:35

The best buffet I have ever been to for Indian favorites. Excellent butter chicken, saag paneer with corn, tender tandoori chicken, moist lamb, eggplant pakora, vegetable navarin. Great food. You will not be disappointed!

Review №2

2023-05-24 23:56:30

Hands down one of the best high quality Indian lunch buffet I have had lately. We were travelling back from point Reyes in the last weekend of April and stumbled upon this place via Google search on the way back to south bay. So glad we stopped here for lunch! First of all, kudos to the interiors and the decor of this restaurant. Its such a nice vibe to dine in here. Also, the waiters were very courteous. Coming to the buffet, they had limited varieties but every single thing tasted so good. I dont remember the last time someone kept unlimited paapad in the buffet, that made me so happy. The veg fried rice was tooo good, it was just like how my family makes back in India without any soy sauce & such. I was very skeptical about the kale pakora, but I couldnt stop having it once I tasted it. And another highlight was the aloo baingan - Felt so homely. These were my most fav dishes from the buffet. The other items like chicken tandoor, naan, gravies & desserts were also good. I would love to stop by this place again when I pass by this area.

Review №3

2023-05-07 23:19:44

Located right in the heart of downtown San Rafael, Lotus can be quite an experience for people who are fairly new to Indian cuisine. Went in for lunch buffet on Friday. They have varieties of options- both veg and non-veg. Can’t complain about their food. Definitely one of the best Indian places around Bay Area. The only issue was one of the servers trying to rush us.We were there around 1:20 and he basically told us to grab as much food as we wanted since they were closing soon which is at 2 pm. That didn’t make any sense as people were still coming in for buffet until 1:45. We just felt we were treated differently.

Review №4

2023-05-07 05:31:48

First of all the ambience of this place is really nice and it has plenty of seating area. Coming to the food, we started withChai : Pretty average tasting, comes with a biscuit which I likedMix pakora: very home like made so they were good. Although I felt that the quantity was lessMargarita: Pretty average too.For main courseDaal Makhani: This was really good, would recommend. Salt was less in it.Saag paneer: This was outstanding. Would highly recommend. Again salt was lessGarlic naan: Pretty averageGobi parantha: pretty average again. Did not have salt at all.The presentation of all the dishes was great and service was good too. If they could add apt salt and increase the portion sizes that would be a great plus.For dessert we ordered gulab jamun with rabri: The gulab jamun was good in taste but rabri could have been thick and a bit more cold.

Review №5

2023-11-22 19:33:23

I went with friends and we had so much fun and enjoyed the food.Attention was great and the atmosphere tooStreet Parking but if you can walk there do so. The walk is really nice.I would totally go back.Wasnt spicy at all

Review №6

2023-09-26 14:14:20

Took our daughter and grandson there for a casual dinner following a music recital in San Raphael. We were seated near an open window in the front of the restaurant on a beautiful Saturday evening. The food and service were excellent, equal to some of our favorite restaurants during our seven years living in India. But the real treat was the Indian grocery store connected to the restaurant; strolling the aisles brought back nostalgic memories of shops and markets we knew in Delhi.

Review №7

2022-08-23 05:32:41

We were returning from pt. Reyes and found this place for Indian dinner. This is nicely done place with beautiful ambience and interiors. Food is good, really liked freshly made masala chai instead of the pre-cooked one. We had pakoras, dal makhani, malai kofta. All of these were great. Definitely a place worth trying for Indian food in this area.

Review №8

2021-07-21 04:15:57

Had an exceptional meal here! Was passing through town visiting an old friend and we walked through town and thought the patio looked cute. They let us have our dog on the patio. The service was friendly and quick, the food was absolutely delicious, and it was a lovely setting on the Main Street of town. They suggested we try an Indian beer with our meal and we loved it. If only every meal out could be an experience like this! Will absolutely return if I’m ever in San Rafael again.

Review №9

2022-09-10 19:30:50

Lotus is one of my top 3 San Rafael restaurants and everybody’s favorite. One of the best restaurants in Marin county. Please note the free PARKING LOT (at 805 5th Ave) at the back entrance through the Indian grocery store.We dined here for lunch buffet (all you can eat) and the selection were excellent. Chicken Tikka Masala, Aloo Gobi, 3 kinds of Pakoras, 2 kinds of curry dishes, Tandoori Chicken and even fresh Papadum were offered. Many dishes were gluten free. The lunch buffet ends at 2 pm. We got late around 1:40 pm, but we had a plenty of food to try and the host even brought us a basket of fresh baked naan for our table towards the end. The amount of the selection and choices we had for the lunch buffet, I felt it was such a great deal.I’m always so impressed on the level of all the staffs’ attentiveness whenever we are there. There were 3-4 waiters always checking tables to fill the water glasses (as we may drink more water enjoying the spiced dishes) and clearing any finished plates promptly.20-car parking lot is located in the back and I believe Lotus is the one and ONLY restaurant in San Rafael downtown with their own parking spaces.A few months ago, we sat on the new curb side dining area. And it was quite comfortable being served there by 4th Street without feeling in anybody’s way. Large patio umbrellas also kept us cool.The owner, Pal, has been a wonderful to the guests whenever he’s there and always remember the familiar faces and stopped to say hello to every table.

Review №10

2023-08-20 03:17:46

I love coming to this place. The food is always delicious, and the service is always on par. Tonight I had the Veggie coconut curry spicy, and it was fantastic. Significant portions are enough to take home for the next day too.