Restaurant Review

Friday, October 20, 2000

Lotus Cup Lounge earns its easy-going name

Cafe offers eclectic menu of juices, java, meal-sized munchies and sweet treats

 

Is it any wonder how the Lotus Cup Lounge & Coffee Garden got its name? It somehow fits with the tale in Homer's Odyssey. As the story goes, some of Ulysses' men go to the land of the lotus-eaters and, while visiting, they get lethargic while eating the natives' food and don't want to leave.
   That's how my companion and I felt at Lotus Cup Lounge, located in a business alcove on South Water Street.
   The menu is scrawled on a dry-erase board behind a counter covered haphazardly with containers of loose-leaf tea, coffee cups and bins of mismatched silverware. The selection of food items includes sandwiches, pita pizzas and sweets.
   Maybe it was the gentleman who interrupted his chat with regulars to come and serve us, but there's something sort of captivating about this place.
   Ordering our food wasn't difficult. My companion chose a pita pizza with the red sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, prosciutto and black olives and a piece of peach pie. I selected a sandwich on wheat with turkey, swiss, cucumber and pesto sauce and a piece of spice cake.
   But then we stalled. What to drink? The coffee selection is an exhaustive offering of flavors ranging from orange to vanilla and brown sugar to butterscotch. My companion decided on the Blue Note: blueberry, chocolate steamed milk and espresso. I opted for the Happy Camper, a smoothie blended with pineapple, strawberries, grapes, pineapple juice and herbs.
   We headed for a tiled table near the speakers out of which on any given night you can hear a guitar or poetry reading. The restaurant is like a huge living room, with couches that everyone's parents purchased at one time or another in the '70s.
   At a coffee table nearby, guests had the option of picking up a quick game of Scrabble or Taboo. Interested in reading? How about an issue of Parenting magazine or Heart of the Koran?
   Our drinks arrived promptly. My companion's coffee was just hot enough, but easily sippable with its subtle blueberry flavor that masked the espresso's hit. The squirt of whipped cream cooled it down in its chubby blue mug that would have been perfect for sipping tomato soup. My smoothie was like melted ice cream with chunks of frozen strawberry that jolted my gums. I couldn't taste the herbs at all, which was fine, because there were plenty of flavors to keep my taste buds occupied.
   Our meals arrived just as Pearl Jam ripped through the speakers behind us. My companion's modest pita pizza was crispy on the bottom, and the otherwise plain red sauce was spiced up by the tang of the pepperoni.
   My sandwich arrived displayed as if a loving mother had prepared it. Each of the four corners had their own thick cucumber slice and two thick slices of moist, deli-style turkey. It was served on store- bought wheat. What made this sandwich a refreshing experience is that the pesto was red-pepper based, rather than vegetable- or herb-based. It was as smooth as cream cheese.
   For dessert, my companion's egg-basted piecrust was flaky and baked to perfection, but the filling was a little too sweet. The spice cake had the flavor of spices from a Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, with a drizzle of white sugar glaze. The cake was so moist that it crumbled under the weight of the fork and made me wish I had time to order a coffee special to wash it down.
  
  The Lotus Cup Lounge & Coffee Garden
  505 S. Water St., Suite 545
  883-9919
  Hours: 2 p.m.-midnight Monday-Thursday; 2 p.m.-3 a.m. Friday; 5 p.m.-3 a.m. Saturday
  Entrees: Drinks, smoothies: $1-$3.75; food: $1-$6
  Checks: Yes
  Credit cards: Yes
  Wheelchair accessible
  Food: **
  Service: **
  Atmosphere: ** 1/2
  
  

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