Dining at Lemongrass
(brief review of Lemongrass Restaurant)
What a relief to discover that we still have Lemongrass restaurant somewhere in Ortigas!
It’s one of my favorite restos ever since i tasted their Fresh Spring Rolls. I had the opportunity in dining here when they were still at SM Megamall. They had this small area in front of Toy Kingdom, next to the other restaurants on that side of the mall.
I brought my friends, my sisters and officemates there because I really liked their Vietnamese-inspired menu. Then, at some point they closed down (to be replaced by Phoa). That restaurant hold lots of good memories with friends that I rarely see and dine with now (ohhh. getting sentimental, aren’t we).
Just recently though, I’ve discovered they have reopened at Shangri-la Plaza (EDSA and Shaw Blvd cor.). It’s a pleasant site, literally as they they have a nicer, more spacious venue. The ambiance of the restaurant seemed to have a face lift – as it is brighter and more refined than their previous branch at SM.
Even their menu has changed when before they have mainly Vietnamese dishes, they now also serve Japanese and Filipino-inspired dishes. Thankfully, they still retained my favorite dishes.
After years of thinking whether I’ll get to dine at Lemongrass again with my friends, we had an early dinner, one (very hot) Sunday afternoon. The two notable dishes we ordered was a honey-cured pork rib(lets) and of course my spring rolls.
The pork ribs (on the left) were surprisingly delicious and tasty. I mean, i’m not exactly a fan of pork dishes (except if it is Lechong Macau of Mann Hann). The meat (and bones) where perfectly fried to be golden-brown and crunchy. It had the right amount of sweetness and tanginess. For those worried they have to struggle with their fork and knives just to get the tasty meat off the bones, there’s good news as the ribs were chopped almost at bite size.
Then we have the awesome Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce! If there’s one dish that I would not miss every time i dine here, it would be this. It’s a spring roll filled with veggies, roasted pork and shrimp. Being ‘fresh’ it’s not fried (nor steamed) to be more of a salad. You dip it onto a peanut sauce with your chopsticks before indulging every piece of taste it has to offer. The sauce completes this package. The fresh taste of the vegetables, the raunchiness of the roasted pork and the subtle taste of the shrimp all mix well together with the sweet, earthy flavor of the peanut sauce. Now, i have a bit of a Vegetarian gene somewhere in my DNA – so the taste of fresh vegetables is innately delicious to me. If you’re not into vegetables as much as i am, then this might not be good for you. The freshness of the vegetables (i think there’s some oregano in there) is really strong, the pork and shrimp aren’t the stars here.
I would love to try their other dishes and would really recommend others (and their friends) to do so as well. A good friend of mine told me before, that I should try their Pomelo Salad, i just don’t know if they still carry that (or something similar) in their current menu.
They also have really friendly staff – which is something i’ve always looked for in a good restaurant.
This particular restaurant is at the ground floor of Shangri-La Plaza. They are at the back-end of National Bookstore, in front of Mercury Drug.
Enjoy dining out!
What a relief to discover that we still have Lemongrass restaurant somewhere in Ortigas!
It’s one of my favorite restos ever since i tasted their Fresh Spring Rolls. I had the opportunity in dining here when they were still at SM Megamall. They had this small area in front of Toy Kingdom, next to the other restaurants on that side of the mall. I brought my friends, my sisters and officemates there because I really liked their Vietnamese-inspired menu. Then, at some point they closed down (to be replaced by Phoa). That restaurant hold lots of good memories with friends that I rarely see and dine with now (ohhh. getting sentimental, aren’t we).
Just recently though, I’ve discovered they have reopened at Shangri-la Plaza (EDSA and Shaw Blvd cor.). It’s a pleasant site, literally as they they have a nicer, more spacious venue. The ambiance of the restaurant seemed to have a face lift – as it is brighter and more refined than their previous branch at SM.
Even their menu has changed when before they have mainly Vietnamese dishes, they now also serve Japanese and Filipino-inspired dishes. Thankfully, they still retained my favorite dishes.
After years of thinking whether I’ll get to dine at Lemongrass again with my friends, we had an early dinner, one (very hot) Sunday afternoon. The two notable dishes we ordered was a honey-cured pork rib(lets) and of course my spring rolls.
The pork ribs (on the left) were surprisingly delicious and tasty. I mean, i’m not exactly a fan of pork dishes (except if it is Lechong Macau of Mann Hann). The meat (and bones) where perfectly fried to be golden-brown and crunchy. It had the right amount of sweetness and tanginess. For those worried they have to struggle with their fork and knives just to get the tasty meat off the bones, there’s good news as the ribs were chopped almost at bite size. 
Then we have the awesome Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce! If there’s one dish that I would not miss every time i dine here, it would be this. It’s a spring roll filled with veggies, roasted pork and shrimp. Being ‘fresh’ it’s not fried (nor steamed) to be more of a salad. You dip it onto a peanut sauce with your chopsticks before indulging every piece of taste it has to offer. The sauce completes this package. The fresh taste of the vegetables, the raunchiness of the roasted pork and the subtle taste of the shrimp all mix well together with the sweet, earthy flavor of the peanut sauce. Now, i have a bit of a Vegetarian gene somewhere in my DNA – so the taste of fresh vegetables is innately delicious to me. If you’re not into vegetables as much as i am, then this might not be good for you. The freshness of the vegetables (i think there’s some oregano in there) is really strong, the pork and shrimp aren’t the stars here. I would love to try their other dishes and would really recommend others (and their friends) to do so as well. A good friend of mine told me before, that I should try their Pomelo Salad, i just don’t know if they still carry that (or something similar) in their current menu.
They also have really friendly staff – which is something i’ve always looked for in a good restaurant.
This particular restaurant is at the ground floor of Shangri-La Plaza. They are at the back-end of National Bookstore, in front of Mercury Drug.
Enjoy dining out!
nice sir mickey.. we both love the spring rolls.. ;)
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