Review Lemongrass Thai Bistro - Adelaide

Their food would deserve 5-stars if our food on the day was less salty especially the octopus salad and grilled chicken. Other than that the duck curry was very nice.

The food was not that good , I mean we paid 115 in total and I was expecting more. Small portion chips charged 14 dollars seriously ? Tasting like normal chips feeling no special at all. Wagyu beef was toooo salty the chef put too much salt or soy sauce on it and it looks like a fast food plate with no attractive decorations I’m sure I can cook better. Chicken fried rice was ok. We also ordered chargrilled chicken stir-fry emmmmmm…… the chicken needs to be marinated with more flavors. I had Thai grilled chicken in feel Thai restaurants and they are much more better than this. I don’t general give a low rating but this dinner I was not happy. Sorry I have to give you 2 stars hope you can improve it.

Found two insects in two of our dishes, the waitress came and acted like it was a common thing in this restaurant. We asked for the dishes to be remade, then again, the remade one also has an insect in it. We informed the waitress again and she approached us and denied it was an insect this time, said it was ‘lemongrass’ in the paste, even after we have showed her the photos. This place is a joke lol.

Good food and service. The restaurant is clean too.

We went here to celebrate our anniversary, very quiet- we were the only ones in the restaurant. Service was good. Food was average. Spring rolls were battered and deep fried which I wasn’t keen on. Salt & Pepper Tofu wasn’t bad. I’ve had much better Thai before so I’d give this place an average overall rating. It’s in a good location. Toilets are upstairs. Outdoor and indoor seating available.

Absolutely beautiful best Thai we have had in ages

I ordered the pad thai. It was a large portion and it came it out quickly, however, it tasted fairly average as far as Thai goes and very much on the bland side when factoring in the price. Good enough to randomly check out one day or night if you're in the area.

The location is very nice with lots if restaurant around. The service was so good and quick! Fresh hearty and tasty dishes. The best one was the grilled chicken. Pat-Thai was nice as well. In the duck stew the coconut milk was a bit over powering. One more criticism: most of the curries were very close in terms tastings. Good place to come again etc.c

As per previous reviews, this is not the place for authentic Thai food. The pad grapow came with chicken pieces, not minced chicken, and not a sliver of thai basil leaf. The taste of the dish itself was not bad, but far from what was expected, with a good hint of fish sauce, and a piece of squid accidentally mixed in there. <br/>I also ordered the red beef curry, which came with tenderized beef fillet. There were very minimal curry flavours, easily overpowered by the coconut milk, too sweet for a curry. <br/>The fried rice unfortunately presented itself in a soggy, risotto-like fashion. <br/>Asked for some chilli as I always do with my meals, and out came these dried up small pieces of green chilli.<br/>A lot of room for improvement with the food.<br/>Service proves itself to be prompt and friendly. 👍

This is the whitest Thai food I've had in a while. If you want authentic Thai food, don't go here. I'll give a description of all the food my group had.<br/><br/>1. Chicken satay skewers. These were actually fine. Nothing special, but edible. <br/><br/>2. Yum Thai Salad (Thai beef salad). I'm not sure where they got the idea that this is a Thai beef salad. The few beef morsels in this dish appeared to have been boiled. There was no flavour other than fish sauce. This isn't an exaggeration. It was a couple of TINY boiled meat shreds, with cabbage, one or two mint leaves, drenched in fish sauce, with crushed peanuts on top. <br/><br/>3. Green Curry (I had it with chicken but there is the option for diff meat). They mentioned it was house made green curry paste and I don't believe that for a second. Although I'm not sure WHAT it was because most jar pastes taste better than this. Here's how white this curry was - there was CELERY in it. CELERY. The chicken in it was an interesting texture and again, appeared to have been boiled separately. The colour of the curry was a bright green. <br/><br/>4. Laksa. I didn't try any of this but it looked extremely lacklustre, unauthentic and also contained CELERY. <br/><br/>5. Coconut rice. This rice was clumpy, mushy and barely had a coconut flavour. It was WAY overcooked and seemed like the incorrect rice was used. I've never seen or tasted coconut rice like this. <br/><br/>All in all, this place serves the kind of food you'd find in an outer suburb late night "Thai" place that is very obviously not run by Thai people - for the Rundle St price. If you want GOOD Thai food, walk another 30-50m to Golden Boy around the corner.

Not going to lie, but I was very impressed with the quality of the food ordered. I was a bit skeptical dining here at first thinking it might have just been one of those fancy restaurants that dished up non-authentic Thai food, but I was proved wrong. My satay chicken skewers were delicious, succulent, and saucy just the way I like it. The tom yum entree was also a must order (I mean, it is a classic spicy Thai soup), and it was a nice balance to the chicken satay. The penang beef curry and pad see ew were also very delicious!<br/><br/>However, I was very disappointed with the lack of service on the night. I waited for over more than an hour for my mains to arrive after finishing my entrees, and I'm not sure if it's because I was 1) dining alone, or 2) they waited to serve my mains after I finished digesting my entrees. People who had arrived after me were already being served their entrees and mains, and even left before I was even served my mains. In many ways I felt like my table of one was neglected, and I shouldn't have been treated any differently to other tables of 2 or 8.

Absolutely unreal, our meals were perfect and well priced. Staff were amazing and super friendly. By far the best Thai food in Adelaide. Would 100% recommend.

1st time one of us went for quick dinner before a fringe show -great location for Garden of Unearthly Delights shows- and had noodles with chicken dish, he said it was pretty good. But most recently we came here with a 25% off voucher - which was used with no problems at all. <br/>They had sold out of a few of the dishes we ordered at first, but after discussing other suitable/ good options, with staffs’ advise and help. All the staff were friendly and overall attentive considering it was busy. Although they were so quick to take off & took drinks off our table without asking if we had finished them. One waitress that had been engaging she must’ve saw this and came over to ask us quickly & asked if we wanted another drink. <br/>So as entrees, the Sweet Potato Fries with Choo Chee sauce were not that great as they had a batter that was thick, heavy and chewy. As was the Tempura eggplant & vegetable main, it hardly had any veggies at all. The Choo Chee sauce though is house made and really nice but everything that came with it let it down. The salt & pepper tofu entree is dry and overly salty, not just because it was over cooked, but I think also because of the type of tofu they use. The omnivore liked his Duck Curry but did comment that it too was a bit over cooked with too much spice with not enough flavour. The veggies were plentiful enough in this and nice enough, except would’ve ordered cherry tomatoes instead of sliced tomatoes in it. Lemongrass is not wheelchair friendly at all especially as the toilets are up a good flight of stairs. I really wanted to like this restaurant as I love Asian food. I wouldn’t of actually said anything as the point of getting these ‘vouchers’ is to try different places, but as one of the waitresses asked how our meals were I did say what it was like truthfully - she probably asked as I had not eaten much of it. But we most likely won’t be back again. Hope the Chef/s can review their vegan options after a tasting themselves as I’m sure they would adapt accordingly. <br/>2 entrees, 2 mains w 1 rice, 2 wines were $100+, bringing it to just over $75 with the voucher.

🍽️: Sweet Potato Fries, Soft Shell Crab Salad, Mango Tofu & Veg, Beef Hokkien Noodles, Pad Thai.<br/>👍: Really tasty dishes overall, favourite was the hokkien noodles, good portion sizes for dinner, staff were great <br/>👎: soft shell crab batter was bit thick and needed more tamarind glaze; <br/>📝: Dined with DIMMI 50% off, lunch menu looks to be great value

We had a table of 15 and the restaurant did pretty well with bringing the food out all together and in good time. All the dishes were super authentic and full of flavour! The whole table agreed it’s the best Thai food we’ve had in Adelaide, with a 100% chance of coming back again 😁😁

We ordered the Duck curry, chargrilled chicken salad and coconut rice for two people. We absolutely loved all of it and would easily go back again. Only downfall is the Fringe menu is at least 20% more than normal prices

Quality of food here is ok, portion size is average but I personally believe that its very overpriced for the overall experience. <br/><br/>Waiters were also quite rude and need to be more attentive. They were hiding behind the bar counter looking down while guests came in and other diners had empty plates on their table ready to be collected. Before they even have the plate on the table, the waiters have already started looking away from the customers. When we went up to pay, turns out they were all watching the footy on their phones...<br/><br/>Had to stare at someone from behind the bar to get their attention. At some point, I had to put my hands up for several minuites to get someone to come over so I could ask for the coconut rice that was supposed to come out 10 mins ago with the rest of the food.<br/><br/>Me: hey man, is there an order of coconut rice coming?<br/>Waiter: "yeh"<br/><br/>I came on a late friday night, post dinner rush so they werent that busy. I wouldnt be back here anytime soon

For the amount they charge you for the pad thai the chicken they use is an absolute disgust. In fact please avoid anything that will result in you eating chicken from this place

Honest review here.<br/>Went on a Saturday night for dinner about 7pm with my wife. Not really that busy to justify a bad meal, about half full.<br/>Ordered fish cake skewers, choo chee chicken, salt pepper squid and jasmine rice for two.<br/>Fish cake - big enough serving but I wonder how much fish (or seafood extender?) they put in. It tastes so doughy I think its 90% flour and salt. Bad. <br/>Chicken - Serve size too small given the price. Counted 7 pieces of chicken. Menu says snake beans, I got egg plant. Did they serve me the curry mix instead? Poor.<br/>Squid - the worst i've ever tasted.  My wife couldn't eat it - she is of asian background. Squid looked well prepared and was decent serve but my god it was basically just flour - had NO TASTE whatsoever. Couldn't taste salt, pepper or any seasoning for that matter.<br/>The jasmine rice was well cooked but if you can imagine the bowls you are given at most asian restaurants to eat your food (the small ones) - then that is what we were given, for two. <br/>Lemongrass at Goodwood - PERFECT. Lemongrass at Rundle St - AVOID unless you like leaving hungry and ripped off.

Nice street ambiance with courteous staff. Food was fresh. I tried some healthy options which were very tasty and wholesome. Price was reasonable too

We had dinner here and it was an overall pleasant experience. <br/><br/>I ordered the tom yum soup which was really tasty and a large generous serving. Others ordered the thai fried rice and also enjoyed that. <br/><br/>However this place did lack a little in customer service. It took the waitress a little while to take our order and no one was very attentive during our meal.<br/><br/>Overall it was a pleasant experience and would recommend for tasty thai food

Awsome place for a sit down dinner. We had no reservation and the staff made room for a table of 6 of us. The Salt and Pepper Crocodile was delicious as an entree, and Phad Thai, Green Curry and Mango Curry were all hits. No complaints at all.

Partner and I have visited twice now for lunch and both times have been extremely happy. <br/><br/>Staff have always been nice, pleasant and attentive. <br/><br/>We ordered the sweet potato fries, SP squid and barramundi yellow curry. <br/>The sweet potato fries are the best we have had anywhere. And we have tried several places for their sweet potato fries. And to make the already amazing dish even better is the accompanying curry sauce. It's fantastic. <br/>The SP squid entree was still quite a large serve and we both enjoyed it though wasn't really anything special. <br/>The barramundi curry however was excellent. The only negative I had was the way they sliced the okra very finely. That's mostly personal preference as I prefer larger chunks. Otherwise really liked the dishes we had. <br/><br/>Would we come back? Absolutely!!

Visited with a big group after a fringe show. We had no booking, but staff were accommodating. <br/><br/>I had the Pad Thai and it was excellent, the right balance of tanginess, unlike the greasy mess many places serve. <br/><br/>Everyone else in the party was similarly impressed with their food. <br/><br/>Would definitely come back. <br/>

Came here to eat during the fringe and I was pleasantly surprised. It was very busy but the food came out relatively quick. Entree of sweet potato fries and spring rolls started us aid and they were all delicious. We had several mains, all were fresh and very tasty. Service was attentive even though they were busy

New chefs specials are great especially those Choo Chee Dumplings!!!! Yum!!!!<br/>Monthly changing lunch specials are super cheap and tasty at $10 with drink specials too who's complaining?

I went here for a quick lunch during my break as I saw that Lemongrass had $10 lunch specials with ever-changing monthly menus, I thought it was worth a shot. I ordered the chicken laksa and quite enjoyed it. The broth with a nice mixture of sweetness and spicyness with an infusion of coconut. The chicken was well cooked and tender, perfect for laksa. The environment was very nice with a great atmosphere. The music was fantastic though, changing from old pop classics to catchy youtube covers, very nice change from other restaurants. I will be back if I ever crave laksa.

Came here because of a friend's recommendation and also to try their monthly lunch menu. The place was quite empty when we walked in and no staff came to welcome us, so we grabbed a menu and found a seat ourselves. It took us a while before the staff realized we came in and took our order so that was a pretty bad start for this restaurant. I ordered their cashew seafood rice. The seafood rice was quite average, the sauce was really salty and there was a lot of cauliflower rather than seafood (although cant expect too much for a $10 lunch). The only good about Lemongrass Thai Bistro is their frequent change of menu and their $10 menu, other than that, it is quite average.

Noodles were very tasty. Clearly marked vegetarian options and quite a few to chose from. Service was good and restaurant is quite nice. Good ambience.

One of my favourites on Rundle Street! The satay tofu is delicious and comes with loads of tofu and vegetables and their cold-rolls are great. Good wine list.

Have been here a few times and love the food here. All the dishes are fresh and flavorsome. Great value for money and lots of variety! The salt and pepper squid is to die for!

Waste of time and money. Do yourself a favour. Give this place a big miss. Food tastes bland. Its definately not Thai. Tastes more like something from a crap shopping mall food court. Way over priced.

Pretty decent meals but pricey. Went here for early dinner on Wednesday 11 March with a mate after hearing that the restaurant has been operating for last 18 years.<br/>Had the following:<br/>Entree: Prawn rolls - deep fried prawn fritters 6/10<br/>Fish cakes - fish smell in the cakes, not much spice 4/10<br/>Prawn stir fry with ginger sauce 7/10<br/>Crocodile fillet stir fry with garlic chilli sauce 7/10<br/>Plus 3 beers.<br/>Overall $100 for the meals for 2 people which is very pricey. <br/>Liked the stir fry with prawns.<br/>service was good. <br/>Will try other restaurants next time.

Went here friday night for dinner before a fringe show and although the food was good the service was appalling ! I know clipsal is on and fringe but these events have been going annually now for a long time and lemongrass have also been around for many years so knowing how busy this time is in adelaide you need to ROSTER MORE STAFF! We waited 1/2 hr for our drinks to come to the table then our entree came out with no plates or cutlery we had to end up eating with our fingers ! This was always a favorite restaurant if ours but we will no longer patronize it . there are many other restaurants in rundle street so will go elsewhere ! Lift your game lemongrass !

In a word, bland.. If you like the fragrant, pungent, clash of tastes typical of good Thai food, sadly, Lemongrass is not for you.<br/>However, if you would prefer your green curry with a quarter the regular portion of bought curry paste, no scary additives like fresh herbs, chill or fish sauce, but oodles of coconut cream, Lemongrass Thai is right up your alley.<br/>That was the green curry, we had four dishes, each delivered similar results.<br/>And it's not cheap. And the servers are average sized at best.<br/>If you like the tastes that make Thai food one of the world's great cuisines, you can do a lot better, almost anywhere else.<br/>If you don't care, go to Lemongrass. I don't think they do either.

Quick and attentive customer service, delicious noodle soup. The moment we sat down, a waiter poured us glasses of water. Wine came out within a few minutes and food did not take long at all. The Tom Yum chicken noodle soup was generous portion, just the right amount of spicy and filled with lots of big pieces of chicken. Very happy with the service and food.

Worst 'thai' food and experience. Overpriced, not authentic, didn't make food to order (eg. Mild preference and certain exclusions were forgotten) When asked to add coconut milk to a curry to help cool it down they just said the paste was just too spicy despite asking for a mild curry. Go to the much more reasonable and more yummy restaurant across the street instead.

Love the Pad Thai. Always have the Pad Thai! Love it!

Mediocre fast food not even close to Thai food, no consistency, bad service and charged like a wounded bull. Highly not recommended

Whatever you do, do not waste your time going here!! I and a group I was with, were treated utterly disgusting by their staff! Making rude under their breath comments about us and a female staff member constantly rolling her eyes and giving filthy looks at us when we told her she got orders wrong etc, just is not good enough!!! We brought a cake their for our friends birthday and had to prepare everything (including, lighting of the candles) before they would take it out! Now to the food, overpriced and VERY AVERAGE!! I think only 1 person finished their meal. It's like something you would get out of a food court (and that's putting it nicely). VERY DISAPPOINTING will not be returning. Worst 'restaurant' i've ever been to, and the treatment by staff was appauling. Will be telling everyone I know to not bother.

It was just ok.. The food is expensive and all tastes the same. Definitley not authentic tasting Thai..

Just like something in the food court. Very expensive drinks and terrible food, bad service too.

Banquet pleased. Taking the easy option, we ordered the banquet for four. Food was great. Staff were helpful and coped calmly and good humouredly when a glass of wine was spilt. The banquet serves were quite large and of good variety. Front of house manager was very helpful.

The food was amazing and the staff was super friendly. Food came out super quick. Love it! Coming back for sure

I like getting take away from here to take back to work with me. Staff are generally nice and happy to help with any requests.

Bad service, the food tasted like it had been reheated we ordered vegetarian the food that came out had bits of chicken hidden throughout, when we sent our food back it was shrugged off.

Recommended. Lovely food and very affordable. Spacious restaurant and friendly staff. Great atmosphere for dinner.

SO DELICIOUS!!!! I had the prawn and chicken salad with Vietnamese dressing and the spring rolls. It was all so fresh and tasted divine! I'll be back here again with friends and family. A crowd pleaser :)

Terrific Thai!. We really liked the food here - it was fresh and flavoursome and the timing of the courses was great. <br/><br/>The service was friendly, some of the other customers were a bit loud, but there’s not much the restaurant can do about that!<br/><br/>I tried the salt and pepper crocodile entree, and I have to say it was delicious – I’d never had croc before, but I’d certainly have this dish again. <br/><br/>Lovely fresh food – well priced too – you can find them in the entertainment book as well.

Disappointing doesn't go far enough. Was there for lunch midweek. Wasn't overly busy but I had to beg to be served. The food was almost inedible. All Pre-prepared. I would have done better to go to WokinaBox. Will not be back

Good but the alcohol is pricy!!. The food was great and was of great value. However a bottle of Heineken cost $8!! That was just a bit expensive and completely ruined the meal for me - just be careful of ordering drinks.

A quick dinner. We were on our way to the garden for a fringe show and wanted something quick and easy and not a big meal as we were planning to nibble in the garden Lemongrass was right there on the way so we went in. Service was quick and efficient and we decided to order a selection of entrees to share.<br/>We went for the spring rolls which were not greasy and you could taste the filling rather than lots of pastry which is often the case, we also had the fish cakes which were not the best i have had but were nice enough. Then we had the satay chicken - which was again not the best I have had as I like a quite spicy sauce and this was quite bland. Lastly we had the beef yum salad which was very flavourful and fresh. This was our favourite dish.overall a nice meal with fast friendly service.

Chopstix (next door) is my choice of Asian food on Rundle st. .This is just an ersatz Chopstix really. The staff are lovely but the food is just lacking in flavour and love. Not keen.

Recommend for takeaway, try the Cold Rolls for a starter and the Pad Thai for main

Cold rolls were a great entree. Standard pud thai. Green curry hot, but the creamy sauce toned down the heat. Nice service.

Before booking a table at Lemongrass Thai Bistro you should ask yourself... Is it acceptable to wait over an hour to be served slightly better than average Thai food?

Great food and atmosphere. I dont understand all the negative reviews about this place. They do not promote themselves as being "authentic" Thai. And it is not owned by "Chinese" people. Some people are so ignorant. I love the food here, Mango Prawns is delicious and their new special of Penang Beef Brisket is amazing. Newly renovated look brings a great vibe and upstairs is great for functions. They cater for large group functions amazingly with banquet menus, BYO and vegetarian substitutes. You just need to go and experience it for yourself and make your call.

A welcoming, warm and good value dining event. Had family birthday on weekend and enjoyed the fantastic service, great food and good serving sizes. Recommend the Penang beef and the Kangaroo. Tasty and moreish. Will be back again. AI

Love the seafood tom yum

Almost forgettable.. Service average. Prices a little on the high side. I had Pandan Chicken and Green Chicken Curry. The curry was a disappointment, watery and tasteless. The Pandan Chicken was just OK; it was cooked well enough but the size/serving was quite small. <br/><br/>The atmosphere of sitting out on Rundle St on a balmy summer evening took some of the sting out of the disappointing food, but I'm not planning on returning any time soon.

Good, quick and friendly service but the food was bland. We had a red and a green curry but you could hardly taste the curry paste because it had been made unbelievably mild by huge amounts of coconut milk. Would be good for people who are new to Thai food but for most people it would be too bland

I'm vegetarian and very happy with the menu any meal can be vegetarian! Ended up having an amazing meal will go back!

Dont go by the name. I have been to lemongrass in melbourne and this is no where near, its substandard and the service is shocking.....keep away...

Rude staff. Unpleasant experience. Staff need to be retrained as they were incredibly arrogant for a fine dining restaurant standard. They seem to be nicer if you aren't Asian but if you are one, don't go there as you will leave with a lump in your heart after being treated rudely by the same kind. Food was okay but not fantastic. I'll spend my money elsewhere for better service and nicer food. Definitely won't go back and won't recommend to anyone.

If you like fake bland Thai food then come here. Red curry was awful bland and white?! Pad Thai was cooked with tomato sauce?!

Friendly but slow service on a busy Tuesday evening. Food uninspired st best and barely Thai at worst. I could count the coriander leaves and no hint of lemongrass (ironically), ginger or mint in any dishes. Honestly... I cook it better myself :(

Yummy thai food!. Went here last night for the first time. the food was delicious! i loved the crispy egg noodles. really good value for money. great atmosphere although drinks service was a little bit slow. will come here again though.

Worst service ever!! We've been here since 7pm, it is now 9pm and not a single piece of food has come out! i am so bored and hungry that is why i am writing this review. Never coming back to this place!

Best. Pad Thai. Always.. Consistent and value for money.

The lunch special is a cracker: generous, tasty and fast to be served. An ideal, low fuss spot for a casual lunch with colleagues.

Thai?. Why is it that a lot of Thai restaurants in Adelaide are run by Chinese and staff have no idea of the proper Thai names of the dishes? This one is a prime example. Yum Nua - blank look, Grapow Gai - blank look, Khao Suay - blank look, all of these are on the menu.<br/><br/>Food is ok, but not great, there are better Thai restaurants in town. Nothing like the flavours at Nu Thai for example.

Lunch. I had a chilli chicken dish - very good as well as totally yummy and quick service - was absolutely delicious - nice fresh veggies and plenty of rice. My partner didn't enjoy his dish as much but it was more of a bad choice then bad food. Only criticism was that we asked for the entrees to be bought with the mains and they bought them well before the mains arrived. Would certainly go back.

Great food, reasonably priced. I loved the spicy noodle dish here - casual, reasonable prices, great food here!

My favourite of the night…Yum Thai Salad with prawn. I like the sweet and sour taste of it…The Seafood with mango sauce and the green curry beef are good too!

Not a good experience and I will not be going back. But since the hotel receptionist recommended it and most people seemed happy I dare you to try it, experience it by yourself and make your own opinion.

We all headed down to Lemongrass Thai Bistro after a pleasant day down at the wineries. It was an early Saturday evening so there weren’t too many customers.

This Thai restaurant is located one of the busiest streets in Adelaide, right in the middle of town.  Yes it's close to the East End of Rundle Street.  It is surrounded by many good restaurants.  A group of four decided to dine there.  

Delicious and flavour punching mains with a choice of protein with a variety of vegetables giving each main a natural sweetness and crunch.