Lemongrass Thai Restaurant ( Downtown East )

Had a craving for authentic Thai cuisine one day and decided to take full advantage of the 30% discount offered by UOB to try out this restuarant with my gf and Gwenn. Featured in Singapore Tatler's top restaurants 2007 as well, i had pretty high expectations when i stepped in.

The interior was simple with wooden chairs reminiscent of Chinese coffee shops and cushioned seats along the walls. Worth noting were various Thai statues adorning the corners and multi colors 'fans' along the ceiling. Also to note was that there wasn't many people around when we arrived so there was no need to fight for any seats, the restaurant was packed by the time we left though.

Complimentary/ Compulsory Crackers ($2) - As we were awaiting the arrival of our friend, we promptly ordered everything we wanted for the day. The first item was this complimentary basket of vegetable crackers (or was it prawn crackers?) with Thai sweet and sour chilli sauce dip. The crackers were warm and very crispy, making it go really well with the dip.

Clear Tom Yam Soup ($12) - Any visit to a Thai restaurant would not be complete without an order of Tom Yam soup. I opted for the 'clear' version since spicy items make me pant with effort eating them. $12 serves up a small claypot filled with soup and assorted ingredients. The soup is spicy, sour and sweet with a full bodied seafood base. Appetising and satisfying.

Pineapple rice ($15) - A medium portioned pineapple rice is actually a very big serving. Generously sprinkled with dried and cooked shrimp, it is served in a pot in all its yellowish wonder. The rice nicely cooked but seems to lack the pineapple fragrance that is supposed to be a mainstay for this dish. Also, please note that only the regular sized portion has the item served in an actual pineapple skin.

Lemongrass Chicken ($14) - Lemongrass spring chicken actually tastes more like normal spring chicken to me. I couldn't make out the lemon grass taste but instead found the meat tough and having a strange tofu-like taste. The skin was crispy and nice though. Strange because i thought an item bearing the restaurant's namesake would be at least worthy but that is unfortunately not the case.

Hot Plate Beancurd ($12) - This was good. The sauce was sweet, tangy and a little sour but otherwise thick with minced meat and assorted vegetables. The beancurd was of the egg variety and had a very soft melt-in-your-mouth texture and a soft but firm outer skin. There was also egg beneath all that goodness and to top it all off, the item is hot from start to finish.

Green Curry Beef ($12) - Green colored curry with beef. The curry was not spicy in the least and had an overwhelming coconut milk taste. That said, the curry was thick and came with quite a generous serving of beef which had us picking it out long after we've finished the main mean items. Personally, i wouldn't order it again though.

Mango with Glutinous Rice ($8) - Having satisfied our hungers, we wanted something light for dessert and Gwen suggested we have a Thai dessert which is a must-have for any Thai cuisine fan. When it was served, i was pretty sure there was no room left for something as heavy as this but i was wrong. The mango was served warm with a strangely cold glutinous rice. The result of the combination is actually a very nice appetizing dessert that eventually was finished by a very stuffed trio of customers.

The bill worked out of be $64.85 for 3 people after a 30% discount. Not too much to ask for the food quantity and service.

A generally good experience with good tasting food and unforgettable tastes of Tom Yam and an interesting dessert. Could have been cheaper though. Without the 30% discount, this would have been a little too expensive.