It is always sad to see a restaurant closing, but also exciting when another is opening. So, yes, I was excited to visit Lemongrass, a Vietnamese restaurant that replaced City Lobster who was removed from these premises because of unpaid rent. At Lemongrass, you order at the counter and have a choice between summer rolls, rice plates, vermicelli plates, banh mi and Pho. I tried the first four, ditching the Pho for a cooler season!

The banh mi was for me the best of the dishes: the soft but slightly crispy baguette was hiding a delicious pickled carrot and radish mix that is also served in the rice and vermicelli plates giving a nice acidity, cucumber, jalapeño (just a few), lots of cilantro and some Vietnamese ham and a pork patty, topped with mayonnaise. Flavorful and comforting, the pork can be replaced by tofu, chicken or marinated flank steak. I am not sure i would try the marinated flank steak banh mi as I had it in the rice plate and thought that it was too tough.

The vermicelli plate is good, coming with very similar items as the banh mi: cucumber, jalapeño, pickled carrot and radish mix, cilantro and lettuce, accompanied by Vietnamese dressing, with either tofu, chicken or marinated flank steak.

A lighter option is their summer rolls: it is a serving of three and you can mix and match shrimp, pork or tofu that is great so you do not get just one protein. Served with a nice peanut sauce, they were good, although missing a bit of flavor and that crunch that Bon Banh, further downtown hoboken has.

Last are the beverages. They propose bubble tea but, every time we went, they did not have any bubble (tapioca pearls). Not that I mind because my primary objective is to get a Thai tea, but they may want to just ditch the concept if they cannot offer it.

Thai iced tea at Lemongrass in Hoboken, NJ

Overall, I am mixed. Lemongrass has good options and less good ones, with a menu that, except the banh mi, I will not crave. However, I am waiting for the colder days to try their Pho as, with Phonomenon now closed, they are the only one offering this Vietnamese soup in Hoboken.

Enjoy (…)!

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Lemongrass - 732 Washington St, Hoboken, NJ 07030

I Just Want To Eat!