Blossoming Lotus
$$ - average
Eclectic (Fusion)
Vegan Cafe and Juice Bar
Blossoming Lotus is a cafe and juice bar in Portland's trendy Pearl District. They are vegan and they also try to use organically and locally grown ingredients whenever possible. Their menu includes soups, salads, sandwiches, wraps, desserts, juices and smoothies. They also recently added vegan soft-serve ice cream!! The flavors change all the time; some flavors they've had are banana nut, cherry vanilla, apricot, melon lime, and walnut fig. At any one time they only have one flavor available so it's worth visiting often.
NEW: They are now open until 10pm every night. They have also added new dessert options and organic beers and wine.
Every first Thursday of the month, Blossoming Lotus Portland hosts a special event. Check their web site for details.
Through Feb. 28 Sunday – Thursday between 8-10pm you receive 50% off select beverages when you order any entrée.
Not large group friendly.
- (Mostly) Organic
- Outdoor Seating
- Quiet
Added by Ramona on May 18 06 (updated Feb 4 07)
Reviews
I've had the Incan bowl twice, once with added tempeh, which made it even better. Maybe a liiiittttllllee too much protein, but delicious and healthy. A nice way to end a day of eating vegan junk food all over Portland. Except... I also had some vegan soft serve. The vanilla flavor was good, but it was a little icey. I heard that other flavors are creamier in texture, so I will keep trying. Woe is me.
I agree with all of the other reviews, even the one saying this is for yuppies and the food can be found in vegan cookbooks. For me this is one of the reasons I liked the restaurant, coming from out of town without the ability to cook, this was as close as I could ever expect to eat out and eat as if I had done the cooking. Since I humbly think my own cooking is wonderful, I could think nothing less of the food here.
I went to Blossoming Lotus after reading all of the reviews on here because I haven't really tried any of the vegan/vegetarian restaurants in town. It was rather busy when I arrived. They only serve lunch until 4, so be prepared to arrive before then if you want lunch, and then they start serving dinner at 5 (the hour in between, you can only buy things from the deli). My friend and I arrived at 3:45 and the staff was happy to still let us order off the lunch menu. I ordered the Lotus platter (I think that's what it's called) and the soup du jour ("hearty sea vegetable"). All of the items are a good, affordable price. The soup was very very tasty and flavorful, and it came with an order of quinoa which was simple but delicious. The environment is very relaxed, the staff were not arrogant or stuffy, and were genuinely helpful when helping me decide what appetizer to get. I felt full and healthy after my meal. The dishes are simple but they are not boring. I will definitely go back again.
Food is amazing, tempeh fajitas, soft-serve, etc. Service sucks, varied between average to very hipster-rude. Worth it for the food. Live fudge is to die for!
I went to Blossoming Lotus a few times and I thought this place was very good. I am giving it a high rating because: 1) the food I tried was very good, 2) it's all vegan, and 3) it's affordable for the kind of food you get (organic, etc). The service was also very good too; the people we ordered from were funny and they seemed honest. I would definitely go back!
They also carry vegan soft-serve ice cream which is SO good! It's also very reasonably priced! I feel like going there every day to see what new flavor they have and to try them all. I tried a bunch of them already. They are all so so yummy! And you can get a fair bit for $1! I also tried the chocolate fudge and it was very delicious: very very chocolaty. Yumm.
As far as food goes, this is my favorite vegan restaurant in Portland. The food is creative and healthy and you genuinely feel good after your meal. The downside is the dining "room" is approximately the size of a postage stamp so you are on top of your neighbors and yet when they are busy, they really seem to struggle to get the food out in a timely fashion. I do find the creamy and cheezy foods to be VERY rich, and the cheese doesn't really have the savoury or intense quality that I like cheese to have. (And, yes, I *have* had fake cheese that manages to capture that.) I also agree with one of the other comments here that many of the items on the menu are easily recreated at home and therefore somewhat unexciting. (For instance: the bowls, which are really good, but I always feel like I'm wasting my money when I buy them because I know how to make the same kind of thing at home.)
Excellent food. I had the breakfast scramble which was mostly vegetable (kale and carrot) based with interesting tofu in a peanut sauce. Not typical and very healthy and good. The vegan soft serve is also good.
I really enjoyed the food here and the staff was really nice. I had the raw cashew hummus, which was a tad salty but had a magnificent flavor otherwise. I also had the tempeh salad (the two items come in an appetizer combo) and that was also really good.
The spicy avocado and tofu sandwich was recommended to I went with that. I thought it had a good flavor, but I feel I could easily make it at home, along with pretty much all the other sandwiches and wraps. I think this restaurant's forte is their creative raw food, so perhaps I'll steer more in that direction next time.
Everyone raves about their soft serve ice cream so I was hoping to try that, but the flavor when I was there was green tea, which is the only flavor on earth that I don't like.
This place is a gimmick. The workers are all under paid and treated bad and no I have never worked there you can tell by talking to them. The whole menu is based on soy and is not exciting. The recipes are common enough to find in any popular veggie (or raw foods) cookbook. I went there originally for the famous soft-serve vegan ice cream which was not worth the price. Basically it is not your worth your time unless you are a stuck up yuppie.
I think this is the best vegan place in Portland. Even if you're not vegan, the food is just outstanding in its own right. Fresh ingredients, excellent preparation, abundant flavors and beautiful presentation. The kitchen is tiny and there are just a few indoor tables, so don't be surprised if you have to wait or if your service isn't perfect. I go to this place usually at least once a week. When it gets really busy, they do sometimes make a mistake on my order, but they are always eager to make it up to me and remedy the situation. The people who work here are very nice folks. My favorite things are the tempeh fajitas, the raw pesto pasta, the spicy avocado sandwich, the noodle soup and the monk bowl are always good. I've never had anything at Blossoming Lotus that I didn't like. Even my kids love this place. My daughter (11 yrs old) loves the raw pizza. Don't forget to try the freshly squeezed juices. Pineapple Greens and Lemon/apple/ginger are my favorites. If you're there in the morning, the oatmeal is outstanding.
In the last few months, they've started doing things a little different at night. During the day, you just order at the counter, find a seat and wait for your food to come up. usually someone will bring it to you, but if it's busy, I sometimes go pick up my own. But now in the evenings, you will be seated at a table with cloth napkins and water goblets and someone will take your order and serve you. I think they are in the process of getting a wine and beer license (if they haven't already done so).
I've eaten here 3 times now, and I love the food, and the atmosphere. Eating out as a vegan, and finding good living raw food is difficult. Blossoming Lotus makes it a wonderful experience. The staff are sweet and friendly. Being inside Yoga in the Pearl is lovely. There's a nice little water fountain to sit by, and healthy people surrounding you. The juice bar is a huge plus. One of the only places in Portland where you can get wheat grass juice. The watermelon cooler juice is also delicious. I recommend this restaurant to everyone, veggie or not!
If you're in Portland the Blossoming Lotus is definitely worth a visit. Yeah, it is a tiny cafe in a "trendy" yoga studio, but the food is fresh and delicious, generously portioned, and reasonably priced. I've been there five or six times now and have sampled a variety of foods from the menu. I'm not much of a raw food fan, but the live nachos are very good. You also can't go wrong with a bowl, which I can never finish. The soft serve was pretty good, and I had a pumpkin muffin once that was very yummy! In my experience the service has been inconsistent, sometimes friendly and efficient(they even offered free chai after a long wait one night),and other times slow and spacey.