Sydney’s Lotus Dining is venturing east, opening a new venue within the InterContinental Sydney Double Bay on Wednesday, 11 November.
Head Chef Chris Yan, and Matt Stewart of Lotus Dining Group have come together to create a collaborative food and beverage offering for Lotus Double Bay. This will be the first venture under the group’s newly appointed general manager Hamish Ingham, who joined the group in September 2020.
The venue includes a private dining space and will channel the American bars found in Shanghai throughout the 1930s. With notes of Colonial and Chinoiserie decor, guests will enter through vibrant red doors into a space featuring deep red booths, dark timbers and Chinese lanterns. A sophisticated bar at the entryway will allow guests to graze on a reduced menu, including a range of Lotus’ signature dumplings.
The menu will hero a selection of authentic Shanghainese dishes with a twist, with Yan designing a menu that celebrates the joy of great Australian produce along with his humble roots growing up in a rural village outside of Shanghai. Honest, clean flavours will take the stage at the Eastern Suburbs restaurant, combining Yan’s nostalgia and creative expression.
The menu has been designed to share and will feature a collection of Lotus’ signature dishes as well as an array of unique new creations, including crispy pig-ear salad, house-made smoked lamb and fennel sausage, and pan-fried Spanish mackerel with chilli, garlic and fermented sticky rice sauce. The dessert list will complement the richness and vibrancy of the menu, featuring a delicate jasmine tea and lime cheesecake and a decadent dark chocolate mousse with macerated strawberries and Sichuan pepper caramel.
The accompanying beverage list will focus on a balanced selection of award-winning Australian wines and seasonal cocktails. Much like the food offering, Stewart’s cocktail program will showcase Australian native produce whilst incorporating Shanghainese flavours, including a ‘Pandan Potion’ and ‘The Bay’, an aptly named twist on the mojito. The non-alcoholic menu will also feature Lotus’ take on the nostalgic favourite, Pink Lemonade.
“We’re excited to be bringing traditional Shanghainese flavours to the Double Bay community,” says Yan. “Lotus Double Bay will be a more traditional menu inspired by my childhood, but we’re elevating both the food and drink with native Australian ingredients and twists on some old Lotus favourites.”
Launching alongside the newly opened venue will be Lotus Double Bay’s ‘Gin Cha’ – a five-course banquet with three perfectly paired gin cocktails that will be available every Wednesday from 5pm as a hump day treat and a 2-hour never-ending sparkling weekend special that includes a share-style tasting menu curated to match perfectly with bottomless service of 2019 Unico Zelo Harvest Blanc de Blancs.
Lotus Double Bay will be open seven days for dinner from 5:00pm–9:30pm (last seating) and Friday to Sunday for lunch from 12:00–2:30pm (last seating).
Lotus Double Bay
3/33 Cross Street, Double Bay NSW 2028
(02) 9052 1100
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Images: Alana Dimou