Lemongrass - Cleveland Heights Thai

Lemongrass has been a fixture in the Cedar Lee area for quite a while now and it has been a pretty long time since I last checked in; but thanks to a Groupon deal (check out Groupon here) I had $20 to spend and I felt in the mood for some good Thai. 

Located at 2179 Lee Road in Cleveland Heights (map is here), just a couple of doors down from the Cedar Lee Theater, Lemongrass is a handsome space.  The small bar is in the middle as you enter, with a nice dining room on one side and a garden room that is a little more casual on the other.  A small patio seating area is in back of the garden room.  I was seated in the garden room and the decor was very nice, light and casual with enough Thai accents to make it feel exotic without being overpowering.  I have to say that I was impressed with the way that they have kept the space up, it looks very clean and new, despite having been here for quite a while.

The menu (which can be seen at their website) has a nice variety, including some unusual items.  $20 goes a decent way here, enough to get a top line entree and an appetizer. 

I started with the vegetarian gyozas,  which are described as containing peanuts, carrots, water chestnuts and melon.  The order came out quickly with 6 crisp dumplings and a sweet dipping sauce.  The good was the crisp gyoza skins, deep fried so that they were light and crunchy and the sweet dipping sauce which added a nice contrast to the dish.  The filling was good, but the peanuts overpowered everything except a little of the carrots.  While not bad, I was expecting more contrasts both from a flavor profile and the textures.  Its not that these were bad, its just that especially after going through six of these, they were a bit boring.

For my main course, I took my waiters suggestion and got the Seafood Choo Chee.  While a nice serving of Shrimp, Scallops, Squid and Vegetables in a curry sauce, I ended up a bit disappointed.  First, while all of the seafood was cooked properly, none of it had much impact, especially disappointing for the nice sized scallops, my personal preference would have been to give them a bit of a char to get some nice texture and flavor.  The sauce was nice, with the right balance of Thai basil and a hint of sourness you expect from Thai food and a little less heat then I would have preferred, but it could have used a bit more complexity in the flavors.  In addition, it reminded me one of the things that I didn't prefer at Lemongrass over the years, the sauces tend towards being soups rather then sauces.  In this case I ended up putting all of the rice into the dish and still just barely managed to soak it all up.  I like a good soup, just not when I am expecting a regular entree.   The vegetables in the dish added some flavor and texture, but not nearly what I was expecting.  I will admit that some of this may be personal preference, the way Lemongrass prepares Thai food just doesn't scratch my itch, I prefer something a bit more rustic and home style, but that is me.

Service was good for the most part, although I could have used a refill on my water during the entree; this was especially bad as the restaurant was almost empty.  I know it is a careful balance when things are quiet in a restaurant, you don't want to have your server hovering over your table, but servers need to remember to check in every so often, no matter how busy or slow things are.  I will say that it looked like all of Cedar Lee was very quiet, it was early evening on a weekday with beautiful weather, plus I think a lot of people were checking out Melt.

So, Lemongrass has held up well over the years, with very nice decor, a great location and high quality food; unfortunately it just doesn't quite do it for me, the food is too refined for my preferences and can be soupy.  Prices are decent, but portions may be a bit undersized for what is being charged.  Give them a try if you are in the area and judge for yourself.

Peppermint Thai - Lander Circle

Had dinner at Peppermint Thai at Lander Circle. This is the second location for the owners who also own Mint Cafe on Coventry. They have a reputation for good Thai food but I found it a little disappointing. First lets start with the good part, the restaurant is very nicely decorated. The long room is divided up with dark wood pieces which give the room some structure and contrast with the light colored walls. The art on the walls is highlighted with spotlights and the overall feeling is upscale and high class without feeling to formal. The service was also very good, with very friendly and attentive staff and food coming out promptly. This is my second trip to Peppermint, as I had lunch there last summer and both times I found that the food is good, but not very exciting. This may be why, even though this is right around the corner from work, I just don't think of this as an option very often. This time I had the scallop eggplant. The dish was nicely presented and came with a decent portion of good sized scallops and thin eggplant slices in a nice brown sauce accented with some fresh Thai Basil. While the scallops were ok, they would have been much better if they had been seared to give them a little extra flavor. This dish just lacked any real zing or excitement. For the price ($13.95) I thought the portion was adequate, but would have expected more. My opinion of Peppermint Thai is that it is a very nice restaurant that serves fairly tame versions of Thai food in a very nice atmosphere. If you are looking for something just a slight bit exotic, this might be the place, but if you are looking for real adventure or excitement I would try elsewhere.