Weekend Lunch Date: Lemongrass Asian Bistro

Ask me which mall I frequent the most and I’d always answer Shangri-La Plaza. And since I’m the one organizing the mini reunions with friends, I always suggest having lunch or dinner at Shangri-La. So when some of my Dongguk friends and I met up for lunch, we decided to meet at… you guessed it.

 

I remembered that I haven’t tried the restaurant beside Dome so off to Lemongrass Asian Bistro we go. Actually, we were supposed to have lunch at Pho Hoa but we were too hungry to take another step.

T and I went first as E and D were still busy buying stuff for E’s trip to Palawan (which she found out that same day and that she’s off the following day).

T and I decided to order light dishes as we do not know what E and D were craving. We ended up ordering Thai Catfish Salad with Green Mangoes (PHP265) and Crispy Fish Fillet with Tamarind and Sweet Chili Sauce (PHP350). I also ordered a glass of Thai Iced Tea (PHP105) and Chilled Sago with Mango and Coconut Milk (PHP105) to complete my meal.

The salad arrived first and just like in other restaurants, the sauce, nuts, onions, and mangoes were all on the side. Since we were not sure if E and D are fond of the other ingredients, we just took enough to top our portions and opted not to toss the salad.

 

It was crunchy and it was a great contrast to the softness of the shredded green mangoes. I needed to put more sauce though as the catfish was really dry and it made my throat slightly itchy.

 

The fish fillet was served in a very cute way. It looked like mushrooms! It could pass for cocktail gatherings as you do not need utensils to eat it. It was nothing extraordinary but I loved that it was served freshly cooked. 

While finishing our orders, we realized that we might need to order one more dish so we got Minced Chicken with Assorted Veggies (PHP350).

 

It was fun eating the minced chicken with veggies as it was like making your own spring roll. We stuffed the lettuce or rice wrapper with the minced chicken and crispy noodles. It was a bit messy to eat so we ended up eating the lettuce/rice wrapper and the minced chicken separately. After a few attempts, we decided that the best way is not to wrap it anymore. The chicken was flavorful, slightly sweet and the veggies balanced it. I like that the noodles and nuts gave more texture to the dish.

 

I was starting to feel full already so I had to ask for my dessert. *glutton mode*

It wasn’t anything special. But the mango used was sweet.

 

My drink had a strong tea taste so it wasn’t very sweet, just like how I like my Thai iced tea.

Overall, it was a great lunch. I’ll be back to try the other dishes.

Lemongrass Asian Bistro is located at the Ground Floor, Shangri-La Plaza, Mandaluyong City. (It’s in front of Mercury Drug and beside Dome.)