This restaurant is rather established in Singapore and has a history of almost 2 decades. I remember they used to have one in the now defunct Heeren Shops in Orchard several years ago. I have always passed by this restaurant in Siglap but today’s my first time trying it.

At 8:30pm, the restaurant was almost completely filled with diners, which means business is really good because the restaurant capacity is not small. The interior looks very dated and has minimal luxe factor.

The price range for this place is almost double of budget Thai places like Jai Thai or Nakhon Kitchen.

Pandan Chicken – $12.00++ (4 pieces)

This pandan chicken was very generous with the amount of chicken but that is not a good thing. It simply means that the interior meat to surface area ratio is larger and it is overall less crispy, than those with a small portion of chicken. That is just my personal preference, to have pandan chicken which is not entirely wrapped and has less chicken. When opened, the chicken doesn’t really look fried. Think of maybe the Cantonese lor mai kai kind of texture – the moist and steamed looking chicken rather than the fried and dry type of chicken.

Overall, this was not too bad (because it’s just chicken. Chicken always tastes like chicken) but I had better pandan chicken at other restaurants.

Thai Fish Cakes – $9.00++ ($3.00++ each, min 2)

While the size was large, I didn’t think this was fantastic. The flavour of the curry was not intense enough and it was quite bland tasting.

Tom Yum Clear Soup (Small) with Seafood – $12.00++

I only like clear tom yum soup. This version tasted quite different from others but I can’t put a finger to which area is different but I think it was considerably less sour as I didn’t really feel the tanginess of tom yum which I usually get. Spiciness wise, this moderately spicy, the sort where you could do without drinks. It’s no where near the spiciness of Maekhong Thai’s.

Red Curry with Chicken – $12.00++

I’ve been a search for Thai red curry but never got to find the type which I wanted. Most places serve their red curry looking like Chinese yellow curry, and even some of my friends would tell me red curry is just the normal Chinese curry. I will secretly protest in my heart because I know they do not know what I am referring too. I had my fair share of awful red curries which do not qualify as the sort I am seeking, until today. This one is almost there! This curry for sure, is nothing like the normal Chinese curry. It was thick, coarse ingredients can be felt in the gravy, and had a very distinct Thai flavour to it! However, the only drawback is that it was not spicy and could do with more spicy chilli oil or something, and probably less coconut. Nevertheless, I think this red curry is good and would love to have it again!

Pineapaple Rice (Small) – $9.00++

I only had a mouth of this and it was indeed very flavoured with pineapple, the rice was distinctively sweet.

Mango Sticky Rice – $9.00++

To end of the meal, we had the mandatory mango sticky rice. This one was ok, but not the best. The rice was not sticky enough and it was kind of too moist.

With Standard Charted cards there will be a 15% off the total bill, so do come equipped.

*****

Ambience: 6.5/10

Food: 7/10

Value: 6.5/10

Overall: Overall nothing was awful and I would say the standard here is quite reliable. However, for similar standards there are cheaper alternatives around.

*****

Lemongrass Thai Restaurant

899 East Coast Road

Singapore 459102

Tel: 6443 1995

*****

11:30am – 2:30pm

5:45pm – 9:45pm