Lemongrass Sushi & Thai — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

UPDATE: I have my original review below, but this is an update since then. The last time I ate here was about 4 years ago. The experience wasn't that great, but I decided to go again with a group. The experience made me lower my rating more.

Our waitress was not very attentive. She got my order wrong which I didn't realize until after when I paid. She forgot 1 persons drink. She never brought refills for any drinks except water. We went during a slower time, but she was busy on her phone the whole time, so we kept flagging down a different waiter to help us.

My food was incorrect as I mentioned above. However, it also came out a little too quick (about 5 minutes after ordering) while the others food took 15 minute. Seemed like it was reheated since it was room temperature, but I could be wrong.

I love Thai food and always look for places to try. This is probably one of my lower ratings for a Thai place for a couple reasons.

My friend and I got Pad Thai and Pad See Ew. I always get Pad Thai when I haven't eaten at that Thai restaurant before. This way I can get an idea of how the restaurant compares to other Thai restaurants I've been to.

Here are the reasons I took off 3 stars:

I called them to order out. The lady who answered said to hold after taking our order. She left us hold for around 10 minutes and then came back on the phone and asked for our order again. We told her again and asked her if pork cost extra. She didn't seem to understand so I gave the phone to my friend to see if he could explain better. Once I gave the phone, the waitress said to call back later cause according to her, they were very busy and swamped with customers. We told her to just order the w dishes with chicken and pork since she didn't understand. We got there 2 minutes later since we were already near there and noticed they were pretty empty. There were about 4 waiters and 2 people actually eating. Most of the waiters were just standing around talking. We doubted that she was telling the truth about being busy since we got there in less than 2 minutes and the place was so empty. Plus it was 2 pm on a Thursday so how busy could they be...

The Pad Thai was pretty bad. It was warm, but the quality was sub-par. The noodles were very dry and the noodles tasted like they had been reheated in the microwave. There were also really large chunks of noodles that were just stuck together in balls just like reheated noodles. It's kind of hard to explain, but if you every reheat spaghetti, you've probably seen what I'm talking about. The Pad See Ew was decent but was pretty dry as well.

The last reason was the fact that they didn't give any utensils. They just gave the food in a container and bag. They didn't put any forks or chopsticks in the bag. They also didn't put napkins. It wouldn't have been such a big deal if we went home after, but we went and ate outside in a park. Since we didn't have utensils or napkins, we ended up leaving. This was pretty frustrating since I've never had a restaurant NOT give us at least utensils for a takeout order.

The only reason I didn't give 1 star was because it was my first experience at Lemongrass. Also, they gave a spring roll with the order which I thought was a good touch. Wasn't too happy about them charging extra for pork though, and they didn't give miso soup even though it says online that it comes with miso soup with lunch...

I used to be a very frequent regular here, before I got laid off (poor-to-no grant funding = no research jobs & it's only gotten steadily worse in the past 5-10years) & couldn't afford to eat out anymore. BUT! I still go here for my birthday as a special treat, that's how delicious they are! I've been eating out only once a year for the past 2, and for that extremely rare special occasion, I choose to go to Lemongrass. I've ALWAYS gotten one of their curries, usually Massaman w/chicken, but sometimes I'll splurge on the Duck Curry [it's a bit pricey, but totally worth it...plus, buying anything with duck in it is always pricey here in America (&when it's not, thats usually a big red flag & you're going to regret having saved that money at the expense of your stomach/insides!)] Their curry is always top notch, I've never had a single bad, or even mediocre, experience with it. =) For appetizers, you can't go wrong with their spring rolls, curry crab rangoon, or edamame. If you're looking for a somewhat lighter app, their miso soup is also very good. I've never tried their sushi because their curry is so phenomenal, I never find myself wanting anything else when I go. That being said, I wasn't a fan of their Panang Curry when I tried some of a family member's dish, BUT I also just don't really like Panang curry period, because it typically contains vegetables that I don't enjoy (like squash &/or zucchini eww) & because I personally find the massaman curry sauce to be much, much more flavorful than Panang. Massaman curry is like the Thai version of warm, hearty, soothing, delicious comfort food! I highly recommend it to anyone!

Whether you like spicy foods or you prefer your food milder, they can accomodate you. You'll order your dish along with a spicy-ness # rating, and if it's not qyite as spicy as you thought it would be/want it to be, just ask them nicely for some chilis/hot sauces - in my experience, they'll bring you a few options to your table so you can add stuff to your dish yourself to knock it a notch/to your satisfaction.

I've always gotten good service here, even when the place is rather empty, though it can take a few minutes to be seated if the waiter guy is in the back when you enter. I don't recall having a waitress server ever, unless it was 5 years during my 1st ir 2nd ever visits & during lunchtime. I always go for dinner & usually end up with the same guy sever, who has always been fantastic.

If you want the best value for your money, call or stop in & order the Massaman curry for take-out/to-go. The take-out portions of curry are more than generous, you won't be disappointed! &The vast majority of people would find it impossible to eat the entire giant tub container of curry + typical white/red takeout boxes of rice in only 1 sitting. It's plenty of food for at least 2 meals. And if you tend to eat smaller meals than the average person, it can last for 3-4meals...

Thai is one of our favorite culinary lanes, and this place is the closest Thai eatery to our home - we have wanted to love it since we moved to Bellevue. Our first few experiences were OK, food was better than simply serviceable and service was reasonably on track, but the value was iffy. Over the last 4-5 months, the service has gotten really, really bad. Our last attempt at calling in takeout resulted in the lady on the phone getting nasty and belligerent because her background environment was very loud and she could not hear me well, and in her frustration when I kept correcting her, she yelled "you don't know what you want, you call back when you know what you want!" and hung up on me! OK... bad day at the office, I get it - have had my fair share... but then the many attempts to call back over the next 30 minutes were never answered. Since then we have visited two more times, the latest being this evening, which will also very likely be the last. On BOTH occasions, half of the entrees came out before half of the apps, one of the apps never came out at all, and one of the entrees didn't come out until everyone else at the table had finished their meal... and then they acted like they were doing me a favor by not charging for the item that was never delivered. Seriously. Adios... the drive to the other Lemongrass Thai joint on White Bridge Rd is easy, and the food is remarkably better. The food scene in Bellevue is becoming a...