Lemongrass Asian Bistro Sushi — Restaurant in Florida

8/31/2024 my bestie and I went to this restaurant after a movie. We arrived at 6:15pm. The restaurant was not busy. Several booths and tables were empty. The two hostesses said when asked " your wait will be extremely long for a table". They went on to say after they whispered to each other " we have a high top table if you'd like it" we accepted it and were walked through the bar area to a table literally put in the corner just outside the kitchen next to the wine and curb side pick up door. Yes we could have declined it but because the hostesses stated we won't get a table we took it. Let me be clear this table is pure and simply a money grab. There is no way the management of this restaurant. Can't expect anyone to sit here and enjoy their dining experience at this point that table is just a grab and frankly it was difficult to sit there while the employees gathered their right directly behind your back and gossip about everyone they worked with in the restaurant, I don't know who Pan is, but they said the worst things about that person. We could barely dine at one point we had seven servers gathered behind us, gossiping, coughing, blowing their noses, laughing, talking about the other guest eating talking about a table. No one wanted to sit at because it was so cold back there. It was horrible, but what made it even worse is that the same tables that were empty when we entered that restaurant at 6:15 PM were still empty and had not had one person seated at them when we left at 8 PM. We expressed our feelings about what was going on around the area. We had been forced to sit in and the server agreed that they had already asked management to remove that table. It ruined our dining experience. It was horrible. If you look at the picture to the left is the entire kitchen and it's also where all the servers congregate and hang out when they're not busy and because it was not busy for the first 90 minutes that we were there they all just covered over there and stood around directly less than a foot from my back where I was eating or trying to eat. I'm trying to have a conversation with my best friend trying to enjoy our evening when we express our concerns, we were told to call corporate because there was nothing they were going to do about it on the restaurant end, you could've just moved us to a table when we brought it up at the beginning of our meal you could've just moved us. So yes, I will be reaching out to your corporate office on Tuesday morning to share my concerns and to share some of the unremarkable things that I heard...

Lemongrass is a large, clean looking Asian fusion restaurant located in the Wellington Mall.

They have a separate sushi and sashimi bar of good quality. I also tried and liked the Ramen, a big bowl rich in flavors.

What maybe many don’t know, by the look of it, is that Lemongrass also has a pretty good Happy Hours deal, compared to many others in the area.

Beside discounted prices on wine/beer and cocktails, they also offer a happy hours menu, which allows you to taste a few of their regular dishes, just in smaller portions.

The offering is not bad at all. First cocktails were good, my wife loved the Japanese white peach cocktail (vodka based) and my margarita was one of the best I had in the area, without the overly syrupy and sweet taste of the margarita mix.

We also had some white wines, Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay; while not the best wines we ever had, they were decent and at $ 4 per glass, can you really complain?

As for happy hours dishes, we tried the Tuna Tataki (a bit watery, but overall good), the chicken satay, which was really good (try it with their peanuts sauce, very particular but I also liked it just with soy sauce), the salmon California rolls (very good) and the Bao Bun pork belly, probably the appetizer that impressed us the least (unless I got a unlucky draw and got the only 100% piece of pork fat).

Overall, you could find better ramen somewhere in PB County, but theirs is right up there. Sushi and sashimi are good and taste fresh. The happy hours deals, honestly are tough to beat in Wellington, especially because of the generous wine discounts and the addition of an actual food menu also provided at very good prices.

Service was good for us. At times the waitress would be somewhere else, but we don’t need waiting staff jumping all over the place and super quick service; we go out to chill, so it’s difficult that we consider service “bad”.

Obviously, being in the mall, parking is not an issue, so that’s another little plus.

Definitely a place to go back and now one of the targets for happy hours...

If you have food allergies do not eat here. The first day we visited my spouse requested a gluten free dish. It was delicious and we thought everything was OK. Upon arriving back at our hotel they had intense stomach pain and diarrhea. We did not associate it with the food, however after what happened to us today I'm wondering if they didn't give us a gluten free dish.

The next day we decided to place an order for pickup for our family and a few children. We asked for several gluten free meals and also ordered a chicken fried rice special and specifically asked them not to give us their signature Lemongrass fried rice that includes shrimp due to a severe shrimp allergy. We picked up the order and returned to our hotel. Our guests and the children opened up their meals and we found shrimp in the fried rice just before they were going to eat some of the rice. This could have resulted in anaphylaxis and a visit to the ER. I called the restaurant and explained what had happened to a lady there and she said she could refund the cost of the fried rice or we could come and pick up another order. I explained that her response was unacceptable as a child could have been severely injured due to their negligence. A manager came on the line and said that she had taken the order and that she had reiterated exactly what we requested to her kitchen staff. She apologized on behalf of her kitchen staff and said that she would speak to them and let them know the severity of the situation. The manager replaced our order and included an additional chicken fried rice and brought it to our hotel which was very nice and appreciated but sadly we will never return to this restaurant nor will we recommend it to others. Had the problem occurred because the order was taken incorrectly it wouldn't be that worrisome but the fact that the kitchen staff including the chef disregarded the food allergy request, is extremely problematic and...