Lemongrass Thai Woden 9 March 2016

Ratings (out of 5 stars)
Ambiance " 2 1/2
Taste: 2
Value : 2 1/2
Service: 3
Overall : 2 1/2

The Woden and Tuggeranong Lemon Grass Thai resturants are normally less busy than their popular sister restaurant in Civic but last Wednesday was an exception.  With Belinda Carlisle performing a sold out concert next door at the Southern Cross Club, there was an almost capacity crowd at the Woden restaurant.  To their credit, the restaurant handled the increased demand well and their service was fast, friendly and efficient. 

For 5 people, we ordered 2 entrées (treasure bags and deep fried prawns with almond flakes), 5 mains [(1)Thai Green Curry Seafood; (2)stir fried crispy pork belly with home made chilli kaffir lime jam, green beans and carrots; (3)red curry duck (with tomato and lychees); (4)Massaman beef curry; and (5) grilled bean curd with bean sprouts, salad, crushed peanuts and chilli-plum sauce] and 2 desserts (black rice pudding with coconut cream and home made cocount ice cream).  At around $30 per person, it was reasonable (rather than good) value for money. However we did end up with plenty of left overs.  Was this because we ordered too much or simply because Ron was away in Singapore? 

Both entrées were reasonably good.  John and Jim particularly enjoyed the treasure bags with their rich coconut and corn based filling.  Kim and Karen preferred the prawn entrée – the nutty almond flakes were a great contrast to the sweet prawn meat and the deep fried savoury batter.

We also really enjoyed 2 of the main dishes – the grilled tofu and the red curry duck.  The grilled tofu was perfectly cooked – firm and caramelised on the outside but quite soft and silky on the inside. The sweet chilli-plum sauce matched both the tofu and the salad greens and brought the dish together. 

The red curry duck is a long time favourite among the group.  The duck works well with the rich red curry sauce.  Normally the lychees would also create an explosion of sweetness in the dish cutting through the richness of the sauce.  Unfortunately this time only 1 lychee was on the plate and so this element was missing. 

We had high expectations of the two curries (green curry seafood and Massaman beef) but neither was especially memorable and Megan in particular was disappointed.  The dishes were swimming in  sauce and the beef in the Massaman curry was a little dry and chewy.  We have had much better meals at Lemon Grass Thai and we wondered if the crowded restaurant affected the quality of the meals.  This may also have explained our least favourite dish  - the crispy pork belly.  It had a very strong and overpowering belacan flavour.  Someone may have been a little heavy handed with the home-made chilli jam!