03/30/09

Stay Away

by NotWendys

As my wife and I were walking in, another couple was walking by a few steps behind us. As I opened the door, the woman said "don't go there". I should have heeded her advice, but chalked it up to sour grapes or just a person with a bad disposition. I've had better "fusion" food at the mall from those people handing out samples of their bourbon chicken on a toothpick. REALLY! Neither my wife nor I finished our meal. To say we were disappointed is really an understatement, it's more like being ripped off. I hate paying my hard-earned cash for food I could buy from a Stouffer's box in my grocer's freezer.

• Pros: Location
• Cons: Everything else

03/04/09

Used to be better, now just okay due to price...

by Eatcolumbus

Video review at: www.veoh.c0m/browse/videos/ category/ travel_and_culture/ watch/ v17504246gtQq96zz

Lemongrass is an Asian fusion restaurant with Thai influences, along with sushi dishes and martini cocktails, such as Lemongrass roll (Recommended), pan-seared veggie dumplings, champagne shitake duck (Recommended), monsoon shrimp and Zen martini (Recommended).

The quality of the meals have been decreasing in recent years, but their sushi dishes are still great. Be aware that the prices are not that cheap though...

• Pros: Sushi dishes, Zen martini
• Cons: Main courses, price and value

01/05/09

I plan on going back.

by replexgirl

I visited the Lemongrass restaurant once while on a business trip and took my boyfriend back tonight. It was a Monday night and not very busy, parking was easy and close and free. It was a great meal with fair prices. I had cajun scallops over a bed of crisp beans with steamed rice. My boyfriend had the hawaiian duck, it was a very colorful plate with lots of veggies and fruits mixed in. I did want to sit upstairs (after reading about it on their website, I think) but we were told that it was not set up for guest and that was slightly dissappointing. It was too cold to enjoy much of the short north, but I will plan my next trip in the spring.

• Pros: good food
• Cons: waiters could of been more fun or friendly.

02/08/08

Pad Thai and Mango Mousse

by EricaDub

I've been to Lemongrass numerous occasions. The crowd there has both younger professionals, as well as occasional families. They've been much busier lately and although I never make reservations, they can normally seat us in a timely manner. The kitchen closes pretty early, so late late dinners are out of the question. The staff there is friendly, but at times slow. The kitchen is fast though, so our wait time for our en trees to come out is typically short. The pad thai there is phenomenal. I've been to Thailand and had traditional pad thai and still find lemongrass's pad thai delicious. Tip: Ask for extra ground peanuts and it makes the pad thai even better! The mango mousse dessert is delicious as well. Good atmosphere, reasonably priced.

• Pros: Variety of meal choices, great prices, friendly environment
• Cons: slow servers at times, kitchen closes early

09/29/07

find another sushi joint

by thewhatswhat

My friend and I went here on a Friday night. We had a late dinner so the restaurant side was not very crowded. Our waiter, while nice, was actually pretty slow and generally nowhere in sight when he was needed. However, I do not discriminate this restaurant for the service but for the sushi! I ordered two rolls of sushi, which I felt were a little over-priced but I guess I was spoiled in Boston by the surplus of good and affordable sushi joints. While the sushi was rolled into clever petals that made a star/flower when arranged on the plate, the quality was subpar. At first I blamed myself for thinking that I could get good quality sushi in Columbus, but after eating delicious salmon that same weekend, I know it's possible, just not at Lemongrass. Perhaps if you stay away from the seafood and only order cucumber or avocado rolls or the non-seafood entrees, it may be worth your while. This seems to be the case according to the other reviewers. Just don't order the seafood.

• Cons: poor quality sushi, plastic chairs!

09/16/07

best sushi! best service! best mojitos!

by columbussean

We just moved here from Miami and it is by far our fav place to dine! We sat at the bar for about 30 minutes for a drink and sushi. The girl made us great raspberry mojitos! The manager spoke with us for awhile - he is very friendly and SO funnny!! We made it to our table for dinner - it was perfect. I had an amazing spicy seafood basil dish and my husband ate .. more sushi! Our server was a local artist and very nice, we enjoyed his conversation. PIANO was GREAT! SO romantic.

• Pros: Valet Parking, Fun Staff, Great Food
• Cons: It closes by Midnight! But I guess everything does in Columbus!! zzzzz

03/19/07

Awful

by mshaida

Lemongrass is an absolute disappointment. I was expecting service that were at least in the ballpark of fine restaurants in the Short North. Instead, my dining experience could not have been worse--from the absolute lack of respect shown from management to the utterly poor service. In a nutshell, I will never dine at Lemongrass again.

The service was horrible. We did not receive any touchpoint from the waitress after she took our initial drink orders. We waited for 30-40 minutes before we were talked to again after we asked if our orders could be taken. Even after that, it took almost an hour and a half to get our food. It is understandable that service is slow on a Saturday night, but I would expect at least an explanation or one follow-up. When we could not locate our waitress, we made the mistake of asking to talk to the manager. It took 10 minutes before he came to talk to us, and when he finally did, he was extremely unpleasant and unhelpful. I would describe the employees and management of Lemongrass as distant, curt, cold, and confrontational. The managers response to our inquiry of why things were so slow, was "we're busy tonight, if you want something for free, just say it". Needless to say, my entire party was blown away by his comments. When asked to talk to the owner, the manager said that he (the owner) was too busy in the kitchen and would not make the time to talk to us.

Nothing about the food offered the kind of lavish cuisine you would expect from a fine restaurant.

The bottom line: avoid Lemongrass if you can. If you are looking for a nice restaurant in the Short North, I would recommend either the Liu Pon Xi or Japanese Steak House . Quite frankly, both are in a much, much higher class than Lemongrass. I made the mistake of dining at the Lemongrass once, but I don't ever plan on doing it again.

01/23/07

Great food, nice atmosphere

by queenbea18

Mmmm... delish! I just got back from lunch at Lemongrass and it was great! I love their spicy avocado and almonds roll and their Lemongrass Salad is perfection on a plate :)

• Pros: small and large portions available, great salads, good for vegetarians

02/06/06

DELICIOUS CHEAP FOOD!

by flutegirl09

I love this restaurant. I usually get the seafood rangoon appetizer, four pieces. Then I get an order of avocado and cucumber rolls. These are $4 a piece. What a steal. I've also had the duck which is amazing. Great for out of town guests.

• Pros: cheap fresh sushi, amazing duck, inexpensive
• Cons: hard to find parking

06/03/04

Yum

by amandal

Lemongrass is good food. I can't complain about the price, either. I typically get a Bombay salad and one or two rolls of sushi, and it's under $20. My boyfriend, best friend, and I ate there for $52 + tip. The food is good, the atmosphere and clientele aren't intimidating, and the staff is very accomodating. On a Friday night, I was 45 minutes late for my reservations and despite the fact that the restaurant was packed, they got us a table within ten minutes.

• Pros: shrimp tempura roll, good service, atmosphere