The Gardens By Lotus

Thank you for letting us overstay our table on such a busy day, the lunar new year weekend. We loved the view from that balcony, and the serenity that came with it and couldn't help overstay. Great food, fresh and tasty and overall service was 10 out of 10.

Really enjoyed our lunch. The service was a bit slow though overall the food was great! Much better than i expected compared to the notes in the reviews. Food is great, a bit limited on choice though delicious and served at perfect temperature.

Great spot for a relaxing Yum Cha by the Chinese gardens! Totally worth it, and at the end you get a free ticket to explore the gardens!

Thanks for making my wife's birthday very memorable. Lotus honoured my request and really went above and beyond. Our family really enjoyed the food. The service was excellent and my nephew enjoyed the Water Dragon roaming around. Thank you Lotus group

Amazing experience! Incredible hospitality. Special thanks to the staff and chef for juggling the menu to meet our dietary requirements. We had a great time on Father days lunch at this restaurant.

Yum cha with a relaxing atmosphere, great service and for gathering, we had bottomless lunch. Love the mango pudding which not inc on the bottomless menu. The selections not as much as other yum cha places.

Complimentary visit to the friendship garden so beautiful 🎋🏯🥡

We had one of the banquets and honestly could not fault any of it. Every dish was so tasty, especially the oysters with yuzu dressing. Quality ingredients used and flavour profiles that everyone loved. Also the service we received was impeccable; friendly and efficient. And of course the atmosphere and ambiance is so tranquil, being inside the beautiful Chinese gardens. Definitely recommend coming here for an all-round amazing experience.

I love the experience with The Garden By Lotus, very friendly staff and tasty food. The course for bottomless yumcha is well designed and perfect for a meal. Me and my husband had my birthday celebration here. Just one thing that we sometimes had to wait a bit between dishes so our 90 minutes ended faster than we expected, but that was okay. After dining we also got tickets to visit the Chinese gardens, where we could walk to help digesting a big meal lol. Anyway, thanks for the great experience!

The view at the restaurant is stunning, especially if you can get a table by the pond. We’ve got the Sat bottomless Yum Cha lunch, which is essentially a serviced buffet. The food is great thought 1.5 hrs is a bit short to enjoy the stunning view. The lunch includes a free entry to the Chinese Garden, which is perfect for a after-lunch walk. There’s a guided tour in the garden to get to know a bit of history of the garden.

A peaceful, tasty oasis in the midst of the city. Food was great, (weekend, set Yum Cha menu) service was fabulous and as I’m a slow eater they slowed down the pace of the dishes a little for me. The beautiful surroundings of the Chinese Gardens made for an ambient and delightfully tasty dining experience.

I have known this place for a long time but I never had a chance to visit. So today, I invited my family there for lunch. And well, guess what, totally worth it! The foods are so delicious and well prepared, the garden views are awesome and staffs are extremely friendly (eventhough sometime I found that they were really busy with other tasks but they always tried their best to reach me, I can see their efforts to satisfy the customers). I will come back again at the other time to try out the rest of the menu :D :D

My partner and I came here for our late Valentines lunch, and we were very happy with the experience. The food was great and very filling. The view from our table was beautiful, overall it was lovely and well presented with great service. Shoutout to our server for returning my bag to me as i left it behind, she found us in the gardens luckily. The best service 🙌

We have dined here several times to enjoy their seasonal menu. Love that the menu is compact and really enjoy the sophisticated Chinese flavours. We really enjoyed Violet argyle beef dumplings but even a simple shallot pancake was just delicious.

Last experience here was below average, service poor not enough to eat at one of those all you eat brunches. Was disappointed that in weekends the only option is a set banquet, but as it was our anniversary we proceeded. The food was excellent, service great and on a 42 degree day they just kept bringing ice to our table. We did have to ask them to slow down bringing the food but overall this experience was very positive.

One of the most beautiful restaurants in Sydney. I was heartbroken that we had hardly 4-5 vegetarian options to eat but happy that there is something at least. Hahaa

Honestly, i loved it! Must try the Brussels sprouts and the desserts. Tea was yum 🩷

Lotus Dining have recently taken up residency in the Chinese Gardens of Friendship, Darling Harbour. It is a tranquil setting, surrounded by a beautiful Chinese themed garden with fish filled ponds and Chinese art, right in the heart of the city. Relax and unwind in this oasis, perhaps order a tea from their extensive list, whilst listening to the pitter patter of the water fountain. Enjoy the serenity of the dining space, where there are plenty of great spots to select your table and enjoy a bite to eat. Make your preference next to the koi pond or by the fountain or perhaps in the garden beneath the trees.
The tea room itself is an intricate structure made up of wooden pillars and beams supporting a traditional Chinese tiled roof. Hanging from the roof are decorated carved lanterns. It is the perfect surrounding to enjoy their aromatic, ethically sourced, loose leaf teas at $5 a pot. Mellow cream oolong tea, flavoured with mallow blossom, safflowers and almond pieces was our favourite, or the China lychee, black Chinese tea with mellow sweet lychee flavour was also lovely. There's plenty of choice and the pot makes for a few cups to enjoy with your dumplings. If you are not into tea, do not fret, there is a range of wine and beer as well as hot chocolate, coffee and milkshakes.
The food at lotus dining is of high quality, with some our favourite dumplings in Sydney. The steam baskets arrive at the table carrying dim sum delights including the ever popular har gao, these glutinous opaque white parcels give a glimpse of the delicious banana prawn filling inside, with a serving of three, there was a chopstick battle for the extra portion. Defeat was quickly forgotten as we had a variety of dumplings to choose from including:
Steamed fresh scallop siu mai with three pieces, no hiding the filling within this dumpling, the scallop peeping out, enticing you to eat it promptly. 
The steamed shitake mushroom dumplings were in a thin veil, so thin the tasty mushroom and corn filling could not hide from what was to come, satisfying our need for more of these culinary gems.
The most flavoursome of the lot was the Sichuan style prawn and pork wontons, the chili and sesame sauce providing that flavour kick.
Another dim sum crowd pleaser is the trusty spring roll, the king brown mushroom version will please all, especially the vegetarians.
There were plenty of great options to share on the light lunch menu and the prices are very reasonable. We sampled the vegetarian options, all full of flavour and generous portions.
The Salt and pepper classic tofu salad included crispy fried tofu, soft in the middle, with smoked chilli having the tastebuds tingling with joy, this was served with a fresh herb salad at only $13.
The refreshing cold noodle salad was neatly served with the individual ingredients portioned separately, egg noodles, seasonal vegetables, a variety of mushrooms and a soy and sesame dressing that you could add to taste $13 to mix or not mix that was the question?
We also ordered the steamed asian greens sauced with soy and sesame oil a big portion and a simple classic dish at $11
For those of you dining with your family, there's a kids menu with meals from $8 including popcorn chicken, fried rice or a dim sum basket.
As I'm sure plenty of diners are, we were ready to finish with something sweet and a selection of macarons certainly did the trick. They offer flavour changes and on our visit it was passionfruit and chocolate, these took our fancy at only $8 for 3. The crisp outer shell and soft filling made for a lovely taste and texture. We also tried the iced lemon mousse, with bits of granola. It's a sharp cool dessert to settle the meal. This one is also vegan friendly
Be sure to make a booking, this spot is ever popular with tourists and locals alike. Definitely the best spot in Sydney to enjoy some dim sum, a stunning garden setting with the city skyline as a backdrop. Include the amazing food on offer, and it makes for the perfect lunch outing.

Delicious yum cha that is set up more like a banquet menu. Food comes out pretty quickly and consistently so you are never waiting or left hungry. We could barely move after dessert, we were that full!

Fantastic what a delightful spot for lunch. Weekdays, early advisable to get a good seat.
Good vibes and have the charming free roaming iguanas 🦎 sup with you. Enjoyed the banquet.

The French waitress was very accommodating and provided a good service. Magnificent view. Peaceful atmosphere, fantastic menu and an ice cream to die for. will go again.

Very kind staff, attentive, good food, good seat location. My grandfather who doesn't eat much ate a lot because the food was really nice

$69 bottom less yum cha with your 😍 partner here is amazing! ( its not what it sounds like) 😂

Make a booking 🍽 before hand. The variety of food is amazing. We tried different veg, pork and prawn dumplings 🥟, duck pancake 🥞, spring rolls, oysters 🦪 and fruits. All the dishes were tasty
🤤 and service is friendly 😊 and professional.

You can skip items or top-up the item you find tasty. Don’t hesitate to ask. Thanks team for an amazing experience. 👍🏼