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Green Lemongrass
Category: Restaurants Vietnamese Vietnamese [Edit]
1086 KingswayVancouver, BC V5V
Neighbourhood: Kensington-Cedar Cottage
(604) 875-6638
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 9 am - 10 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
23 reviews for Green Lemongrass
Review Highlights
"Spring rolls were amazing."
(in 11 reviews)
"The pho was awesome."
(in 14 reviews)
"...spring rolls and shrimp on sugarcane (shrimp meat stuck on..."
(in 3 reviews)
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23 reviews in English
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Review from Shirley V.
Vancouver, BC
10/25/2011
I was so wowed by the food and service at Green Lemongrass.
Since I am a huge fan of rice noodles in soup, I am so happy I found a place like this! They are also a very clean restaurant with servers who are happy to help you decide on your dish.
Thanks to the reviews on Yelp that lead me to this wonderful place! -
Review from Olivia S.
A girlfriend and I were on our way to Metrotown and needed a pho fixing. There are plenty of pho shops along Kingsway but thought I'd give this one a try.
Small lot, easy to miss and very dark from the outside as if it was closed. However, the menu is VERY extensive. I was shocked at some of the items they offered, some items you'd only find home cooked. I ordered pho dac biet and ice coffee to-go. I was satisfied. Broth wasn't TOO dark nor too salty.
We were the only ones in there as they had just opened, but the staff was friendly and kind. This spot will be a regular for me whenever I visit the area.
PS. They had a full stock of condiments, and the special chili pepper was great. -
Review from Alouise D.
Edmonton, AB
8/12/2011
I was spending the day with a friend in Vancouver and supper time was fast approaching. My friend asked if I wanted Vietnamese because she hadn't had Vietnamese food in a while. Me and Vietnamese food = yes please. So we came across the good word for the Green Lemongrass and went inside.
One of my favourite things in the entire world are salad rolls. First I hate when you ask for salad rolls at a restaurant, and someone bring spring rolls (two different things). Second I hate when you get Thai chili sauce for dipping instead of that delicious, heavenly, peanuty sauce of aweseome that normal accompanies salad roll. Green Lemongrass gave me real salad rolls, and the real peanut sauce. These were so good I could have just had two orders and considered it supper.
Of course I had a meal too, but the odd thing is I can't remember what it was called. It was a vermicilli bowl, and it had prawns and seafood in it. Either way it was so good. I love how fresh tasting, light but filling Vietnamese food is. My friend ordered a beef dish and urged me to try a little, and it was amazing. There was a lot of food (of course I had the salad roll appetizers too) so I ended taking about have my main meal home, or back to my hostel.
The restaurant itself is nice, clean, although a bit smaller. The service here was courteous and professional. We didn't have to wait too long for our meal, nor were we rushed. There were only a few other people dining aside from us. Menu items have the Vietnamese and English names making it easy to order.
I don't know when I'm gonna be in Vancouver again, but I'd come back here. And if you're in the area looking for good Vietnamese then I recommend The Green Lemongrass.Listed in: The 30 Day Challenge List
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Review from Mindi P.
Vancouver, BC
7/22/2011
We like Vietnamese food, but we LOVE Green Lemongrass. This was the BEST bun I've ever had. The chicken was succulent and flavourful, the sauce was excellent, not too fishy, not too bland. Tons of really fresh vegetables and spring rolls that were filled with excellent filling.
I'm afraid to go anywhere else after that for fear I will be severely disappointed. -
Review from Marc D.
Vancouver, BC
12/8/2010 1 photo
* An upscale attempt at a hole-in-the-wall *
This spot in the heart of the Vietnamese section of Kingsway has attempted to go a bit more upscale compared to the dozens of Vietnamese spots in the area.
They have some little touches like a cleaner interior, a small non-wood fireplace, various bits of non-typical hole-in-the-wall decor, slightly nicer teapots, modernized plating for classics, etc.
I ordered the bun chao tom cha gio (Shrimp on sugarcane and spring rolls on top of vermicelli). They had a slight twist on the classic plating, bringing it in a triangular plate with the salad component on top and to the side instead of underneath. The salad component had nice fresh cucumbers, crunchy bean sprouts, slice cabbage, pickled carrots, and a sprig of mint. Nice and refreshing. The spring rolls were a bit too thick for my taste and soaking in oil. They could have definitely used a lighter hand with the fryer. The shrimp paste on sugarcane had good flavours, but was unfortunately lukewarm. I much prefer it to be freshly made, as with its lukewarm temperature it also was a bit greasier than it could have been. Photo: http://www.yelp.ca/biz...
The overall menu has some items which may not be as easily found around town, but I felt the overall execution on a rather classic simple dish fell flat.
If I return in the future (which is a fairly big "if" considering the options nearby) I would likely give a try to the duck soup, which is not something as easily found around town.Listed in: Vanoodle, Vancouver Vietnamese/Cambodian…
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Review from Kari C.
1/11/2011
After reading many good reviews of this place I was so pumped, expecting to find both yummalicious pho soup and wow-my-socks-off service in the same place, a rarity!
I was starving and wandered down, arriving bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. The place was as spotless as heralded (Vietnamese restaurants have a bad rep for being dirty...they should start reading YELP and take a hint!), and it was nice to see a lot of condiments on the table: Hoi sin, sriracha, chili oil, chili oil with shrimp paste, green jalapenos, and even (gasp!!!) Maggi sauce! Hurrah!
The restaurant was deserted, save for a table with people who seemed to be a family that ran the place. The only customer? Sweet! Lavish me with attention, fan me with palm leaves, feed me spring rolls...I took a seat, and the server handed me a greasy-fingerprinted menu before walking away. Hmmm...
I wiped the menu down before opening it, and was excited by the layout, fonts, photos and colours. Details like this are much appreciated. Bright, vibrant, pictures that are clearly labeled, stories in perfect English that described what everything was, and more variety than the usual spring rolls/pho/noodle bowls/drip coffee that are found at most Vietnamese places.
After less than a minute of browsing, the server came back and opened my menu to a page and pointed at the chicken satays, telling me that I should try them. I politely thanked her for the suggestion, and said that I would like more time to look, thinking that I would settle on a bowl of pho with tendon, my Vietnamese restaurant barometer. I have eaten a lot of pho in Vancouver, and their menu was larger than most that I've seen, so I wanted to make sure to go through everything and find out what made this place special.
I'm unsure if she was trying to push satays the way that some front of house people are told to push fish specials before the seafood goes bad (thanks, Anthony Bourdain!), if she wanted me to get my ordering over with so she could get on her break, or if she thought I was this helpless, unassuming pale girl in distress who didn't know what she was doing in a Vietnamese restaurant and should therefore order the easiest thing to identify, meat on a stick. She could have just been pointing out her favourite item, but I don't think that one minute of looking at a menu is blasphemously long enough to deserve prodding along as if the place were packed, and in no way did I appreciate the abruptness of the gesture. Sigh.
I ordered P2, pho dac biet, a bowl of pho soup with tendon, tripe, beef balls, and thin slices of brisket, flank, and round steak. She looked surprised that my pronunciation of its name was good.
It was a little strange to be sitting in a restaurant that was blaring classical piano music (I believe it was Mozart) through the sound system while playing a hockey game on a giant flatscreen TV, although I suppose its no weirder than every other pho place that I've visited with neon lights, huge mirrors, Asian cowboy movies, and karaoke music.
The food came out quickly, and after that, I didn't see my server again...at my table. She stood and stared out the window, watched the TV, tapped on the glass of the fish tank, and walked right by me to straighten a chair that didn't need straightening. She never asked how my food was, and was clearly trying to look busy, with a mad, 'don't care' expression the whole time. If she needed something to do, I would have been happy to point her toward a stack of menus that needed wiping down.
The pho was all right. Beef balls were rubbery just like everywhere else that serves them, tendon was exquisitely soft, which I liked, rice noodles were thick and square cut with a little bit of chew, tripe was chewy and wiggly as its supposed to be, the beef slices were rare, the broth was naturally sweet, and there were green onions and sprigs of cilantro floating on top. There was nothing to complain about, food-wise.
In any case, when there is only one customer in the restaurant, there is no excuse for a lack of service. I work my ass off because I'm expecting tips, and other people in restaurants expect tips when they work, so they better deserve it. Clean menus, and a smiling hello and thank you are not too much to ask for now, are they? If you have a grouchy server, send them home before they have a chance to give a customer a bad impression. There were four other people, glued to the TV who easily could have carried a bowl and plastered a grin on.
Before it might occur to anybody that I'm being a catty back-of-house-cook, I'm a former assistant-manager of a small business who also worked for a few months as a hostess before going to culinary school. Give your customers a reason to come back or they'll go elsewhere, especially when your bowl of soup is a dollar more than most places in the neighborhood.
Unfortunately, this disappointing experience bothered me enough to not want to give this restaurant another chance. On to the next!Listed in: Eff THIS Noise!
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Review from Angela L.
10/30/2010
I love that this place is in my 'hood, as there's nothing more comforting than a steaming bowl of pho on a miserable Vancouver day.
I haven't eaten my way through much of the menu here, but I've appreciated what I have tried. Pho is served with all of the "proper" garnishings - lime, basil, sprouts, hot peppers (yay!) AND ngo gai (a.k.a "culantro"...not very often seen around these parts). Decent selection for vegetarians, and I really enjoyed the tofu salad rolls here and the accompanying peanut sauce. I also appreciated the wide variety of salty, spicy, and salty-spicy condiments available on each table (fish sauce, garlic-chili sauce, hoisin sauce, Maggi, Sriracha, pickled jalapenos (!!!) etc.).
It definitely is quite clean in here, and though the service isn't the friendliest all the time, it's made up for in efficiency. Tea is served immediately upon being seated. Debit and credit accepted! I've also heard that this location serves up breakfast items between certain hours, although I haven't tried that out myself yet.Listed in: Excellent Ethnic
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Review from Cyndi H.
Vancouver, BC
10/15/2010 1 Check-in Here
Wow.
It's scary to see a Vietnamese restaurant so clean. I mean, shouldn't they be concentrating on the food? Luckily for us, the food was great. The avocado shake, spring rolls, grilled pork and pho were fabulous. The service was great too. The waitress kept my friend and I laughing and we had a super time. Solid Viet food-- check it out.Listed in: Kensington-Cedar Cottage: The…, Vietnamese
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Review from Mindee B.
9/28/2011
Great Pho! Spring rolls were amazing! Excellent service!!!
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Review from Kim L.
Vancouver, BC
3/31/2011 4 Check-ins Here
I find that their pho is slightly more expensive, but my fiancee loves their pho. I love that they are clean, friendly and service oriented...and that they have pickled jalapenos as a condiment...halleluljah (i hear the choir singing)!!! We've also had takeout here and while my fiancee waited for the order, he was served tea and given newspapers to read. When he got home, we found our takeout packed with care with all the extra pho fixings fresh and abundant.
It pays to smile, be friendly and remember your customers. Even if their food was mediocre, I would come back without hesitation because they obviously care enough to keep a clean restaurant and put out solid food while creating a happy dining experience--how's that for a basic business model? -
Review from stan s.
Vancouver, BC
4/6/2011
Nice to see the owners of Green Lemongrass back in Vancouver.
One of the best dry noodles in town.
English friendly and ok service.
Can really go wrong with anything on the menu.. Rice dishes are a little poor on meat.
One of the better Vietnamese places in town, also have Richmond location. -
Review from Johnson C.
Vancouver, BC
Updated - 11/30/2010 2 Check-ins Here
Giving Lemongrass the prestigious 'Johnson' point bump. Like the Colbert bump, just even less relevant.
This place is starting to blow me away with their consistency. Everything I've had here has been good. My only problem is that I'm such a pho-phile, even when I set out here to try their other specialities (i.e. banh xeo) - I end up with another bowl of their solid pho in front of me. I'm a man of habit.
I tried their bo luc lac (beef tenderloin tossed in garlic salt and pepper, served with tomato rice) and it was damned good. DAMNED GOOD. Like as good as the last time I had this dish in Hanoi good. Comparatively pricey at $14, but tender, moist and tasty beef cubes over tomato rice? You know you're craving it right now.
As I mentioned, their spring rolls are great and pretty close to rivalling my childhood favourite, Bao Chau. Maybe it's because Bao Chau is busier and bigger, but I've been going there for over a decade and I get the standard warm service all the neighbours get. However, at Lemongrass - the servers know my usual dish already (P2 pho dac biet, raw flank on the side, extra chilis and raw beansprouts). I'm convinced if I keep coming here, you'll eventually find P14 on the menu: Pho a la Johnson.Listed in: East Van Eateries, "You're the best! Around!", Nam-couver
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/1/2010
(over the phone)
MK: "Hey Johnson - we're going to Loneagrab"
Me: "... what is that? A bar?"
MK: "No -… Read more »
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Review from Annie M.
Vancouver, BC
It has a lot of Vietnamese restaurants on Kingsway. I would say this is one of the best one in Vancouver. No wonder the rating in Yelp is so good even though the prices are a bit expensive than others.
I should rated for 4.5-star. It's so surprise me to see a Vietnamese restaurant so clean. The service was great and the food was awesome!!
We ordered a spring roll to share, it was so delicious and crispy. It also presented quite pretty when it served.
I ordered rare beef and beef ball noodle in soup, the soup base was excellent and able to taste a different kind of herbs and spicy mixed. However, the beef kinda well-done and the portion was smaller than I expected.
My husband ordered spicy house special noodle in soup - Beef brisket, soft tendon, tripe, rare round steak and beef balls. Wow, the soup was tasty and perfect!!
We definitely will go back and try other things. -
Review from Kate B.
10/24/2010
Have been here twice. I agree with all, this place is clean and they are making a good attempt at presentation. However, it's not my favorite! The spring rolls taste more like egg rolls to me! I had a spring roll noodle bowl the first time and the last time I came I tried the pho. The pho was good but quite salty and I had to down at least 3 glasses of water after dinner. We had the salad rolls both times, they are good but the peanut sauce is a bit of a miss.
Took out of town company here and they were pleased with the meal, but agreed the spring rolls weren't quite right. -
Review from Robert P.
Vancouver, BC
I'm new to Vietnamese cuisine but love the fresh herbs and lively flavours. I came to this place in my neighbourhood after reading the reviews here on Yelp! and was certainly not disappointed. The service is prompt and friendly and the food is prepared without delay.
I had the Pho and Salad Rolls as well as both salads on the menu and some grilled meat. All the dishes were excellent. There were ample herbs and 'salad items' to go with the meal. A family of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids) can get a great meal for under 40 dollars.
The decor is clean and comfortable but not fancy. There is a nice selection of sauces (hot and fish) on each table.
The strawberry and pineapple shakes are great.
A small bowl of Pho is enough if you plan to order anything else.
The only complaint I could come up with was the tables are a little small to hold all the dishes.
Highly recommended.
ps. This is not a romantic experience. Go here for good, flavourful food. -
Review from Lauren N.
1/3/2010
This is a fantastic new Vietnamese restaurant that just opened up in the district! I came here with my whole family a couple weeks ago and we were all very pleased with the quality of this place.
It's a lot cozier than older Viet restaurants, with lots of seating to accomodate parties of any size. Bright and authentic decor, but not so much that it's overbearing. There's a fireplace in the back of the restaurant, and also plenty of greenery inside. Service is great -- very friendly, helpful and quick, just the way I like it!
I had the vermicelli with spring rolls and shrimp on sugarcane (shrimp meat stuck on a sugarcane stick, shishkabob style -- sooo good!). Just drizzle the accompanying fish sauce all over it and you'll be in heaven! The spring rolls are the best that I have had in ANY Viet restaurant and are tasty enough to rival my grandmother's homemade ones (if anyone reads my other reviews, you know this is saying A LOT ...) My only complaint is that they only gave me one sugar cane shrimp, and I could have used another one ... or two ... maybe three ... Anyway, it doesn't seem like enough to dock this place a whole star.
And I'm a very slow eater actually. But when we ate here, my aunt commented she never saw me eat so fast. Enough said! -
Review from jane d.
Vancouver, BC
5/28/2011
I was in the mood for My Hu Tieu Kho (Cambodian dry noodle) and I tried it before at the Richmond location and just loved it so I thought I would give this location a try.
It definitely did not measure up to same dish at their Richmond location. Noodles didn't have that much sauce, not that much flavor. It was OK.. but nothing to rave about. The squid tasted icky as if it was old or something so I didn't eat that. Overall, too many noodles, not enough meat, and not enough sauce or flavor.
The good thing is that it was made very quickly. Took 5 minutes. -
Review from Will W.
Burnaby, BC
3/6/2010 1 Check-in Here
Came here when the Chinese place a few doors down had too long a wait and we didn't want to drive to our usual Viet place. Couldn't be happier with this turn in events. The pho was awesome. Not too heavy and with each flavour still distinct. The springrolls were the best I've had in a looking time. Looks like we got a new favourite.
By the way the place is very comfortable and good if you have kids. Service is excellent, a well.
I wrote this about a month ago and can confirm that Green Lemongrass rocks. We went back there yesterday and they remembered us (well, not us as in me and the wife, but us as in the cute baby we like to tote around).
This time we went with the Springrolls and Minced Shrimp on Sugarcane side and I'd recommend going that route. Not only do you get the two fantastic springrolls and one shrimp on sugarcane cut in half but also some salad and vermicelli. Very, very good.
Again, very comfortable there and the staff are fantastic! So friendly and sweet. -
Review from RJ B.
Vancouver, BC
11/21/2010
Had the Pho (chicken soup version) and quite liked it. Vegetarian salad rolls were average.
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Review from Jason K.
Vancouver, BC
1/23/2011
i was just craving vietnamese food and went on yelp to check reviews and i chose this place. I give it 5 stars because there was just nothing that wasnt soo good .. brochettes were tasty and not chewy or fatty.l (quality pieces of meat) the bowls , noodles the same yummy i cant wait to go back and my dollar went along way here, thanks Lemongrass!!
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Review from beki L.
Vancouver, BC
6/5/2010 6 photos
authentic vietnamese homecooked cuisine with loooove...
a friend told me about their avocado shake...before i even entered the restaurant i knew my meal was going to be fantastic!!
what i was so thrilled about is the fact that the menu had some very non-mainstream dishes. so of course, i had to try one. it took me like 10 minutes to decide..but i eventually came to a conclusion. this is what my meal consisted of:
avocado shake - avocado, milk and ice. so simple, so perfect, so going to need another one soon!! this blows the whole slow coffee drip drink anyday...im going to attempt making this at home.
salad roll- 2 rolls (cut into halves) of fresh shrimp, pork, vermicilli and lettuce in a rice wrap...with that delicious peanut sauce. incredibly fresh... (friend opted for the greasier spring roll...i was so tempted to try a piece, but i held off...it looked so good though..not overly fried, not overly greasy..and a rather bigger size than most)
Hu Tieu Ko (seafood, pork & rice noodle tossed in house garlic soy sauce)- my new favorite vietnamese dish!! this is served dry with the special chicken broth on the side. you spoon just enough broth into the bowl to wet the noodles, mix it up and enjoy! the garlic soy sauce is where its at! oh yum...i loved the shrimp fried in its little tempura hammock (have no idea what its called, so im calling it that). i have a pic of the dish...you will see it and understand what i mean. this comes in a small & large...YES! of course i got the large!! and YES! of course i ate it ALL!! fresh mint leaves, sprouts, lemon wedges and chilis are served with this too. i threw everything in except for the chili.
deep fried banana w/ ice cream- wow. i usually have a few bites of this and have to stop due to the heaviness of the batter...but this was light and so so sosooooooo yummy!! (i have been known to eat just the banana and leave the batter in some places!) what is their secret? i dont know...but this is definitely one of the better ones i have ever tasted!!
lovely decor...very polite and attentive servers....extremely clean inside. i was overly impressed and cannot wait to make a return trip to this new favorite vietnamese restaurant of mine. Pho would have to be tested of course..and a few of the rice dishes!!Listed in: So Pho-licious!
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Review from Jesse W.
Vancouver, BC
10/22/2010 5 Check-ins Here
Excellent Vietnamese food at a very reasonable price. Love the vermicelli rice noodle bowls, especially with the addition of a spring roll. Then you can finish the meal with a Vietnamese slow-drip coffee. All this for under $15 including tip.
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Review from Joseph S.
Vancouver, BC
4/20/2011
Clean, best decor of any Vietnamese restaurant I've ever been to. Friendly staff and service. I ordered house special pho (the sorts) and spring rolls on the side. Pho is clear with generous portions of the garnish (bean sprouts...etc) spring rolls were hot. Nice and crispy. One of the best ones. Over all very good!!
