No. 283, Zhonghua 4th Rd, Qianjin Dist
高雄市前金區中華四路283號
(07)201-0152 ex.53
Monday-Sunday
11:00am-11:00pm
website: http://www.lemon-grass.com.tw/
English friendly: yes
vegetarian friendly: yes
average cost: 250-300NTD
I was originally attracted to this restaurant because it has the same name as this classy Asian fusion place in California that my grandparents like to frequent. Every time someone is shocked that I can use chopsticks, I tell them that my grandparents can too. I mean really. This is the 21st century!
Spoiler alert: they are not the same restaurant.
It is easily recognized for being giant and orange. The inside is clean, and was practically empty at 1:00pm on a Sunday... Each of the many tables has four individual stoves and a little divider to spare you the horror of looking at the person across from you; once our food came things ended up a little bit cramped, as you'll see from the cramped quality of the following photos.
Ah yes! This place is a hot pot restaurant. Because it is winter now (roflmao), we should all be eating hot pot! How nice for us, that one of a million more hot pot restaurants such as this exists.
Coincidentally, I went to see Hunger Games right after eating here and learned from the subtitles that 麻吉 (májí) is slang for "match." (Because it sounds... the same...?) So up at the top left of this menu you will see that Lemongrass offers you a selection of soup bases to "match" all seasons, not just winter.
All the options with a little green star by the side are vegetarian. Interestingly, only the top five options under the "Vegetarian Main Dish" are vegetarian... I initially thought this was because only the top five fit the Taiwanese Buddhist definition of vegetarian--also excluding salt, spices, and other "strong" flavors--but my friends said it was probably because they were guaranteed "pure" while the others may have come in contact with meat somewhere along the line. I guess that's what the extra 30NTD gets you.
ANYWAY, I think the large variety of vegetarian hot pot options makes this a leading choice among the roiling millions of nigh identical Taiwanese hot pot restaurants, at least for some of us.
I chose the first option, because the waitress came by way before I was done deciphering the menu and seemed a little impatient... This is the "Perilla Greengage Vegetable Dish." I would have translated it instead as plum (梅子) and wild herbs hot pot, if they'd asked me, but alas no one ever does. As you can see, all the fake meat bits are still frozen like popsicles. This time I even got two giant lima beans frozen together...!
Here's another picture for perspective. The spread of ingredients for the vegetarian hot pot was MASSIVE, though later inspection revealed it to be mostly half a head of lettuce.
You have a choice of rice, rice noodles, or all sorts of other noodles (even instant noodles!) for your starch. For your sauce you can get this restaurant's signature lemongrass dip, 沙茶 (shāchá, so named for its resemblance to the word "satay" and not because it has little pieces of tealeaf in it like I used to think...), or a mixture of both. I chose to get both, because I'd already taken forever waffling over my main dish and when I answered, "What sauce would you like?" with a another prolonged "Uuuuhhhhhhhhhhhh," the waitress could take no more and decided for me.
The sauce was really good! Flavorful, without being too salty or oily, and definitely unique. We also got free lemongrass tea (hidden in the back of the photo above) which was nicely sweet and unique.
If you choose the beef hot pot you don't get such a bountiful cornucopia of vegetables...
...but you do get a nice spread of suspiciously red meat. Like regular raw beef, with the saturation levels turned up to maximum.
Here's a picture of things all nice and bubbling. I actually really, really enjoyed this meal. It's rare to get as many fresh vegetables in one meal around these parts, so I think it's worth coming here for that alone.
If I went back though, I would definitely choose a different soup base. Up above I've taken a picture of the "plums" (梅子) for your viewing pleasure. These things are common in Taiwanese cuisine--plum soup is a popular drink, as is plum wine--but they have reputed health benefits so you know something must be up... I really can't get used to the taste: waaay too sour, with the slightest hint of sickly sweet. I once asked a Taiwanese friend why on earth anyone would drink plum soup of their own volition, and he responded, "It's very thirst-quenching," which as it so happens could be said about pretty much every drink ever. The plums didn't affect the soup too terribly here, unless I drank it straight, but all the same. Next time I want to try the "fruit miso" option...
OVERALL RATING: 3/5
No comments:
Post a Comment