Five Loaves

Green Lemongrass in Richmond

Update (2009-08-27): Lemongrass has raised prices by $0.50 on pho and rice dishes. Parking has always been an issue because of the small parking lot. The combination of both makes Lemongrass mediocre.

We go out for lunch with a group of friends every Friday. Deciding on where to have lunch on Fridays is a challenge because everyone has their own opinions. Usually, we go through a few rounds of vetoing before deciding. We decided on Green Lemongrass as our lunch destination.

Green Lemongrass is situated at the old Mad Greek location. It also inherited the old musky smell from Mad Greek. Lemongrass still has the Greek Mediterranean decor feel.

We arrived in the restaurant at 1230 and its packed house today. They were very busy and the service was slow. The other problem is that the waits don’t have a clear view of the whole restaurant. There are a lot of dead spots due to the layout of the restaurant. Sometimes causing customer service inconvenience.

Everyone has their own opinion on cooked and uncooked bean sprouts. One can always ask the restaurant to change the sprouts if they supplied the undesired ones. Sprouts should be based on your personal preference. If you want your Phó to cool faster then use the uncooked sprouts. If you want your Phó to remain hotter for a longer duration then use the cooked sprouts. The uncooked sprouts also offer a crunchier texture. Therefore, its all about personal preference.

I usually rate a Phó restaurant on their soup base. You can really taste the soup was simmered from beef bones and doesn’t contain MSG at Lemongrass. The soup has an excellent aroma and taste from the star anise and beef bones.

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Review: Hue Cafe in Richmond

Hue Cafe is one of my favorite pho and sub joints. I visit Hue for lunch almost once a week. Hue will be my first food review.  I have been eating at Hue for more than two years. The food is always delicious, very fresh and consistent.  The owner is very talkative and friendly!

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