Green Lemon Grass — Restaurant in Richmond Hill

My friends eat out a fair bit. Some might even say too much. So when it comes to reliable choices for post gym, hearty, heart warming food, I feel plenty comfortable blindly following them anywhere. Yesterday, that meant a quick lunch stop at Green Lemon Grass.

Green Lemon Grass is a small South East Asian restaurant located in a building within which there there are several other restaurants. We went on a holiday afternoon, and were lucky enough to nab the last couple of available seats. I doubt making reservations here is an option, but that being said, I doubt that you would have to wait too long if you stop by.

Hopefully they serve plenty of other good stuff, but we went purely for the curry. I couldn't tell you what the specific name is of the dish that I had, but it was probably something like pork roti with curry. The dish is pretty simple. You'll be served a warm curry with relatively no spicy heat, (which isn't a bad thing), and a several pieces of roti that sandwich pork bits, and what I assume is some sort of egg mixture. On on top of being simple in composition, the dish is relatively simple flavour wise. But don't get me wrong; simple flavours done well are often all you need for a filling meal. For under $9, you'll enjoy the freshly baked roti, and a curry recipe that they obviously have confidence in, since all the other curry dishes on the table had the same base.

Upon leaving, I was plenty satisfied. Aside from wanting some more elbow room and access to the restaurant's bathroom instead of the one down the hall, I can't complain. The food certainly won't knock your socks off, but...

This resto used to be a staple in my family's lineup but we rarely ever come here anymore.

The prices skyrocketed through the roof (beyond typical inflation). The one dish that I do keep coming back for occasionally, is the curry beef brisket (with either rice or roti depending on my mood).

The curry is extremely flavourful, the brisket is quite abundant in each order and the tenderness is usually on point as well.

The pho USED to be above avg quality but it's typically a no-go for me these days (and there's way better, more authentic options in the york region area if we're being real).

The roti is more of a malay style roti. A lil bit chewier and thicker than usual but still delicious and kinda flaky.

I sparingly order from here nowadays because of just how insane the price is for one curry dish (over $20!!!). But I will concede that they give you a big portion of curry. I think it's usually consistent (maybe once or twice I've gotten an egregiously little amount protein).

If you're looking for truly authentic pho (or more specifically, authentic Vietnamese food) I would advise going to another resto. If you're looking for good food in general, this resto does have some...

Another restaurant that have zero regard for customer service. We were there today with a baby stroller, and was about to sit at open table, but the waiter there made us sit at a cramped corner instead. Fine, we understand the reason, but not very happy. Then my wife chose item number 1 on the menu because it looked so good, but what actually came out didn't look like the photo at all. The portions are much much less. We ask for one or two lettuce leaves to go along with the meal, but the male waiter there said "There is no such rule". Say what? The #1 RULE of a restaurant is to serve your customer and make sure their needs are satisfied.

Needless to say, this restaurant is crossed off our list, along with Kimbo at timesquare which I suspect have the same owner. When will they learn that good service is more important than nickel and diming?

Also the utensils there are bottom grade and aren't the cleanest.

Ps, the 1 star is for the amount of soup and noodles in a bowl of pho which is satisfactory, but meat is...