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Lemongrass Cafe
Rating Details »
Category: Asian Fusion [Edit]
Neighborhood: Bellaire5109 Bellaire Blvd
Bellaire, TX 77401
(713) 664-6698
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
7 reviews for Lemongrass Cafe
IVY! THANKS FOR MAKING ME EAT HERE!
My friend kept telling me about how good the food is. We both like to eat good so I had to give it a try.
MAN. She wasn't kidding.
Kataifi-Wrapped Shrimp
//Crispy shrimp stuffed with bacon on a bed of frisée, topped with sweet & spicy tamarind sauce.
-- PLEASE add just one more shrimp to satisfy me!
Shiitake-Soy Braised Short Ribs
//slow-cooked beef ribs, sautéed gai lan & baby carrots, garlic chive polenta.
-- The meat was sooo tender and the sauce was making love to my taste buds.
Tenacles of love,
Shrimp tails with lime and chili;
Thai ceviche dreams.
Haiku for Chef Fa.....
OK, Lemongrass is really a great restaunt, but it has a dual personality. If you go at lunch, it is fast, quick, efficient and the plates are delicious, but restrained.
Go for dinner, and a bounty of appetizers appear on the menu as well as a wide selection of salads and entrees. The appetizers are amazing. I usually eat 2 appetizers for dinner and come out for under $20.00.....the Thai ceviche is perfect. So perfect, it deserves its own haiku! Perfectly fresh and deliciate shrimp, bay scallops and little octopus in lime with chilis....served in a beautiful glass cocktail glass that you can pick up and drink the lime juice. Tasty and so healthy too! The Tuna Tartar, which you see everywhere around town, is an examplar of it's kind. Fresh tuna, diced and beautifully red, tossed with sesame oil and avocado and accompanied by some wonton crisps and wasabi tobiko. Other outstanding appetizers include the best example of shrimp and bacon wrapped with Katifi pastry, fried, and served on mixed greens with a tamarind chili dressing; homemade chicken potstickers and crab "firecrackers" which are crabmeat wrapped in fillo pastry and baked and served with a green curry dip.
The soups are delicious, but much lighter than you would expect. The mushroom soup is actually a clear flavorful mushroom broth that has a single mushroom ravioli in it. Delicate and small, but at $4.00, it is an easy course to have and not ruin your appetite for what's ahead.
Entrees run the full range of proteins. From Beef (the Korean braised short ribs with bulgoki garnish is a stand out) to Chicken (the Chicken Milanese is my step mother's favourite, though not mine), Berkshire Pork Chops, the best Seared Scallops (and shrimp) in Houston!, and several delcious choices for Vegetarians, including a panko crusted tofu with vegetables and a light broth and the egalitarian Pad Thai. About the Pad Thai....it is served in the traditional, yet refined, true thai way that you never see here. Chef Fa makes the Pad Thai and places it inside of an egg crepe, in which it is wrapped; not so spicy as you would expect in a fully Thai restaurant, but excellently prepared and Chef Fa will be happy to walk it up the scale for you.
In the evenings, there is always a special. I have had one there that was just standout memorable. It was a Prawn (The true prawn - about 14" long with the little claws) that was poached and served in a coconut milk broth surrounded by shrimp and mussels. I still dream of this.
Desserts are either good or a bit odd....creme brulee, melting chocolate cake, etc....all perfectly fine. When she offers the Sticky Rice with Mangos, order it. It is delicious.
OK, now I get to end the review with my pet peeves. I HATE fusion cuisine. Most untalented kitchens use the intensely flavored and powerful Asian ingredients - soy, fish sauce, chilis, ginger, etc. - to hide really bad techniques. I generally will not write a review on a fusion restaurant because of my general disregard for this kind of place. Lemongrass and Chef Fa, however, are the precise reason why Fusion exists. She makes no compromise for flavor, but bends the lines between Western/Eastern food to come up with something that is both familiar and fresh at the same time. I can go there with older people and they can find something that is fine; I can go with younger people who are also thrilled by the boldness. She is not making Western Food with Eastern Ingredients; rather she is making a hybrid of the two and creating something entirely new.
I think Lemongrass is the best restaurant in Bellaire and, if it were located in a hipper, cooler or more accessible place, it would be filled every night with a waiting list.
Note: The quality of food is exceptional, but the portions are actually what the AHA would call "appropriate". That means small for us Texans.
Double Bonus: You can take your dog and sit in the few little tables she has outside and you will be well taken care of.
Among the sweetest most stable staff of waiters in town and Chef Fa herself is so cute and lovely that I just want to squeeze her cheeks.
OK, Lemongrass, I totally have a crush on you......
I love lemongrass, so I tried lemongrass with a friend. I cannot remember what I ordered except that it was yummy. Ha! My friend ordered the mushroom soup. When my food was at the table, we were anticipating her soup. The soup was a mushroom consomme with a single mushroom ravioli, her facial expression, unforgettable!! I need to go again and try out other items (like the seviche). Sounds delish!
Interesting interior design.
Good organic salad!!! I like that dressing... whatever it was!!! I like the way Pad Thai is made; wrapped up like omelette... reaaaaalllllly gooooood!!! Cornish Chicken... ok... no I did not try anything that has seafoodish.... I dislike seafood as you may already know....
Créme Bluree~~~!!! Despite of a bit of ginger flavour, oh~~~, I enjoyed it!!! hmmmm.... I love Créme Bluree.....
I will come back again (it would be 5th time) to indulge myself to that nicely done omelette look like pad thai and you know... crééééééééééme blureeeeeee~~~~!!! (did i spell it right?)
I came here for lunch one day and had the wrap. It was really good and definitely had an Asian fusion taste. It's sort of tucked away in a strip mall and hard to notice, but if you come across this place, you should try it!
Located in the heart of Bellaire near the Bellaire triangle and next door to Auntie Pasto's, Lemongrass is a great lunchtime stop - and a wonderful choice for a business lunch meeting. I have been a couple of times and have been very happy with the food and service.
They offer a gourmet menu with lots of fresh ingredients without the gourmet prices. Don't be fooled by the name though - it is not a typical Asian menu. They offer fusion dishes and the variety should satisfy most palettes including vegetarian. As you wait for a meal, be sure to savor the slightly sweet, light, layered roll offered at every meal (it's even better dipped in the herbed olive oil on the plate). As an added bonus to the wonderful menu, the decor is beautifully simple and relaxing. It complements how nicely plated the dishes are...
I have yet to go for dinner but I doubt it will disappoint...
The portions are small but the food is quite good, if over-priced, but what stopped me going here is that these folks pour a truly grudging glass of wine -- barely enough to wet your whistle. They say it's the regulation amount, but the price sure isn't. I prefer a restaurant with a more generous spirit.
