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A11

Dan and Brufrog

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Lemongrass Thai Fare

Market Square Boardwalk

Saint John

[Dan]

I love Thai food! It's based upon a simple concept of balance "" most of the time it's heat, sweet, sour, and savoury toying with your taste buds as you fill up on curries, soups, and noodle dishes. Lemongrass' recent move from Princess Street to The Boardwalk is a great one that offers them one of the best patio locations in the city. Lemongrass also doubles as a pub called Pepper's, where they work in lots of live music and DJs either inside or out on the glassed-in patio that has a few heaters.

[Brufrog]

I thought we should reevaluate the place after the move. They've changed the food a little, and I understand they will (or already did) update Pepper's pub menu too. I was a fairly regular lunch-goer at their old location, and I wanted to see how things have evolved. They also upgraded a few things, including nice new dishes! The "cup" of soup is actually a bowl now. I assume ordering a bowl gets you a vat of soup?

[Dan]

Brufrog and I met up for a lunch on a rather mild October afternoon. I was quickly brought a Picaroon's Blonde Ale ($8 ouch, that is 228% markup from retail).

[Brufrog]

Yes, they are making some cash on the Picaroons but that is not an unusual mark-up for a 500 ml bottle of craft beer. Note that $8 is tax-in. We were told that it is selling well, which makes me happy. It was great to sit outside with the heaters on and pretend Saint John is warm in October. had a Blonde too, as they were temporarily out of the Bitter.

[Dan]

The lunch was a much better value than the beer as a lunch-sized curry is only $8 and a cup (understatement) of soup is only $6. I ordered a green chicken curry with extra vegetables ($2) and added a Lemongrass Soup. The curry was fantastic and the soup phenomenal. Oh my, that soup is something I could eat daily "" a spicy, sour, and savoury broth, large shrimps, baby corn, and a varietal of mushroom that I haven't seen before called a straw mushroom. The curry had a wonderful heat, but not too much, and a creamy coconut sauce with tons of chicken and vegetables. I could only eat half and it was a lunch serving! Of course, a plate of jasmine rice was also brought out with the curry. I had a chance to try the red curry too and it was just as delicious as or maybe even better than the green. All things considered, Lemongrass adds to an already talent-heavy Boardwalk dining lineup.

[Brufrog]

I went for one of my favourite apps, the Salad Rolls ($5), which are sliced carrots, red bell peppers and cilantro wrapped in see through rice paper, served with a spicy peanut sauce. Healthy and delicious! Then I moved on to the Thai Soup and Satay Combo ($8) As I said before, they have bigger "cups" now, so my chicken and galangal soup was a much larger portion. It was quite tasty, with those beautifully textured straw mushrooms, although I remember it being spicier than this sometimes, with more gingery galangal flavour. But, if you want something hot at Lemongrass, you can just ask. The satays are always tasty. I went for pork this time, and was not disappointed. I also hung around and had a pint of their "famous" Guinness, which oddly, was a bit cheaper at $7.75 than the $8 Picaroons (beer prices are tax in), and it wasn't their happy hour (they offer regular Guinness specials). I say famous because they claim to have the shortest draught lines and thus the freshest Guinness in the city. It tasted fine to me.

In conclusion, I think Lemongrass has stepped it up a notch in terms of space, as well as in service and food quality. The new location with the large patio bodes well for their future. Live music is another attraction, and I understand they'll continue to provide a good stage for both local and visiting artists. If you haven't tried Lemongrass in a while, give them another chance.