Lemon Grass : Vietnamese &Thai Culinary Treasures

Lemon Grass Location :1/f Entertainment Center, Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu City Tel # : Cuisine : Vietnamese & Thai Menu Price Range : Php 30+-175+ Service Charge: none Rating : ★★★★

If you are really getting tired of the usual suckling pig and chicken,
the grill foods and all the native Filipino food in Cebu, here's a good alternative for some healthy (plus some not so healthy) and delicious eating.

Lemon Grass is all about Vietnamese and Thai cuisine. They offer an ample selection of both food genres to give you great dining from both worlds (or countries).

Located at the 1st floor of Ayala Center Cebu's Food Entertainment Center, the restaurant carries warm tones of green and yellow, comfy chairs and smooth wooden tables, and comfy couches and my favorite place, the tall bar chairs with equally tall tables to match.

And now for the most important part, the food. they serve a full course menu offering lots of Thai and Vietnamese delights for you to choose from and to share with a small group or with a date.

Drinks : citrus and herb lemonade
Price : Php130 (a pitcher)
Rating : ★★★★★
I can really say, this is the restaurant's best selling drink, it would be odd to see it not perched on every table occupied in the restaurant. Good for sharing, this is a tall pitcher of freshly squeezed citrus juice mixed with orange, lemon, lime, and cucumber slices drizzled with basil and mint leaves and lots of ice. This is a good drink to pair up with eating because it has a light and refreshing taste, plus the flavor doesn't hang in the mouth to overpower the food you will be eating. You can also request for chopsticks if you like to scoop out the slices.

Starters : Crabstick and Pomelo Salad
Price : Php 1XX
Rating : ★★★★
I am always up for a good salad, and by my definition of a good salad, the greens are crisp, the variety of the garnish complements each other, and it shouldn't be drowned in the usual 1000 island dressing.

This is a nice twist from the usual shrimp and pomelo salad. Instead, they used crabstick. Fresh greens with shredded radishes and carrots at the bottom sweet pomelos circling the veggies, generous strips of crabstick and a dash of nuts and fried onion shavings on top. It comes with a clear, sweet vinegar dressing where a dash or two suffices for a single serving. (This serves well for around 2-3 people)

Noodles: Pad Thai
Price : Php 155
Rating : ★★★★★

This famous noodle dish is one of my personal favorites. Mildly spiced authentic Thai noodles tossed with chicken and shrimp sprinkled with nuts, bean sprouts and herbs on top. A slice of lemon is also included to add a bit of zest on the noodles.

I would suggest to spoon the following for a bite: noodles, a piece of shrimp, some chicken, the bean sprouts the nuts and a little squeeze of lemon which will result to a surprising taste and texture from the crunch from the fresh sprouts, the citrus taste of the lemon, the chicken and shrimp meat, and the various herbs.


Noodles : Vietnamese Seafood Noodle Soup
Price : Php155
Rating : ★★★★
Not a fan of dry noodles? They also have noodles with steaming hot soup. This bowl came from a bowl that can be shared with 2 or 3 people. Slippery, thin noodles with mixed vegetables in a seafood medley in a clear broth soup. The soup was served hot, they way it's supposed to be, the noodles were soft but firm, although the taste of the herbs in the soup can be a bit overpowering.

Poultry: Chicken Pandan
Price : Php165
Rating : ★★★★
One of Thai's most loved and most ordered meal is the pandan chicken. Not only is it familiar to our taste buds, this dish is really very tasty. Marinated chicken pieces wrapped in pandan leaves left to cook in their own oil and juices (the plate had this little pool of chicken juice). served with an exotic tamarind chili sauce, it was a perfect accompaniment to the hot jasmine rice (php30).

Seafood: Shrimp Pancakes
Price : Php175
Rating : ★★★★
Because we wanted to go for a bit of seafood minus the fishy taste, we added this shrimp pancake on our menu, whole shrimp pieces stuffed into a seafood patty and strips of green veggies fried and served with the same sweet tamarind chili sauce. It was hot and each mouthful was a mix of shrimp,squid, and fish and the big pieces of shrimps was an added bonus. Because of the rich seafood flavor, it can be overpowering (like the noodles)

Conclusion
Craving for both Thai/Vietnamese while in Cebu City? This is a good place to dine. Be reminded that the variety for both foods may not be as diverse as an actual Vietnamese or Thai restaurant. But if you enjoy the usual Vietnam and Thai delights, be sure to drop by Lemon Grass.

© 2007 wastefulspace