Lemongrass (NOLA, Business District)

[Jason Perlow]

Lemon Grass Restaurant

217 Camp St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Phone: (504) 523-1200

Click for Lemon Grass Restaurant's website.

Restaurant interior

Cool, modern design

Appetizers include Spring Rolls, Shrimp Beggars Purse Dumplings, and Summer Rolls with pork, shrimp and avocado

Beef Udon Noodle Soup

Grilled Diver Scallops over Salad

Red curry Shrimp

Lemon Grass Parfait - with mango-pineapple salsa

Chef de Cuisine Cynthia Vu Tran

Edited November 24, 2003 by Rachel Perlow (log)

[Jason Perlow]

Lemon Grass is a really attractive restaurant and was a nice change from all the Creole and Cajun food we ate that week. By the end of the week I was dying for something Asian. Vietnamese fusion sounded really good to me.

For the most part though, Lemon Grass isn't really Vietnamese, although the head chef is from Vietnam. Its an amalgamation of different Southeast Asian cuisines, including some hints of Japanese.

We ordered 3 different appetizers -- Spring Rolls, Summer Rolls, and Shrimp Beggars Purse Dumplings. All were very good and respectful renditions of the classics. The Shrimp Dumplings were especially good as they were very dense and stuffed to the brim with tasty shrimp meat. I also liked the creative riff of using avocado in the Summer Rolls, along with thick slices of roasted pork loin and sliced shrimp -- it was sort of a California version of the original and added a nice texture and flavor to the dish.

Rachel's udon noodle soup was a disappointment. We were expecting sort of a creative interpretation of pho but using thicker noodles, instead we got sliced rare beef floating in a soy-based broth with udon noodles. It wasn't bad, just not what we wanted.

My grilled scallops over salad could have been really good as the greens were fresh and the black sesame salad dressing was very flavorful -- except that the scallops were completely overcooked and tasted metallic. Instead I had them prepare me one of their signature dishes, Red Curry Shirmp over Linguine with Basil. This dish was very good, and I ate it with gusto, getting red curry splatters all over my shirt. But man it was good, and I highly recommend this dish. It reminded me of a really good italian seafood pasta dish, even with the red curry sauce.

The lemon grass parfait dessert came out frozen solid -- its an attractive looking dessert but I can't say for sure if it was successful, it was too difficult to eat. It reminded me of a mango-flavored indian kulfi that needed some time to thaw out.

I really enjoyed this place, even though two of the dishes turned out to be disappointing and one had to be replaced. The service was very good and friendly, and if you stick to what they call the signature dishes of the place, you'll have a very good time. The dinner menu looked a bit more exciting than the lunch menu we had, so I suggest you try the place for dinner if you go.

[bleachboy]

When I'm down in NOLA for work, I'm about a block or so away from Lemongrass (my employer's offices are in Poydras Center). We eat there sometimes for lunch, and it's always been quite tasty.

I often stay at the hotel that Lemongrass is attached to (the International House) - it's a cool little hotel. Go sit in the hotel bar, and you can order spring rolls and things from Lemongrass.