Lotus is a remarkable dining experience because it immerses you in a wonderfully cool setting with a DJ mixing lounge-club-dance music, beautiful people, a darkened, ultra-trendy space, and truly delicious food. It's the first fine dining experience I've ever had where a nicely dressed bouncer behind a red velvet rope checks for your name on the reservation list, whispers into a hidden microphone, and then permits your entry.
Our late dinner reservation (11:00 PM) was about the time that Lotus transforms into a very trendy nightclub. I must admit this trendy treatment turned me off slightly, but we were welcomed warmly by the host and seated in a comfortable corner in the main dining room, which turns into a bar/lounge after 11:30 PM.
The food was fantastic and well-prepared, and far better than I expected from this hotspot. I enjoyed a delicious appetizer of tuna shashimi prepared four different ways, and for the main course, I had a fresh lobster cassoulet with sweet spring vegetables in a slightly spicy broth that still makes my mouth water. Ally had a great squab appetizer and a lamb dish that was one of the best I had ever tasted. Dessert was a great chocolate pyramid with a dark chocolate exterior and hazelbut-chocolate mixture on the inside. The dinner was a fixed-priced menu at $55 per person.
All the while while we enjoyed great food, trendy club music played in the background and the crowd at the bar buzzed louder, which made it a bit tough to have an intimate conversation, but it made the dinner both delicious and sexy, which doesn't happen often (even in New York!).