Lemongrass (Camden Town)

• I was absolutely delighted when our chosen starter of Crispy Duck arrived at the table the presentation was stunning and I just had to take a pic
• Note the pancakes were beautifully rolled &
• The steak pieces were unbelievably tender &
• The asparagus was truly wonderful crunchy &
• I didn't think I would have room for a dessert but was urged to try the banana cake by Maria
• I am shocked there is only one Cambodian in all of London
• The food at Lemongrass is not authentic Khmer as it has been influenced by other kitchens
• Especially with the vegetable dishes
• The seats near the window are a bit draughty in winter
• We started with the garlic and lemon mushroom saute
• This was a generous portion of lightly sauteed button mushrooms doused with quite a lot of lemon
• The mushrooms were only lightly cooked
• This dish was accompanied with a little sweet and sour pickled cabbage and carrot
• The green sauteed asparagus was lightly cooked and served with the very flavorful
• It wasn't until I tried the sauce on its own that I realized that prahok was a major component of the dish
• The chilli chicken dish was a light sweet and sour stir fry
• The chicken was tender and dredged lightly in cornstarch which gave a crispy crust
• The sliced cabbage and julienned carrot in this stir fry were so lightly cooked as to be almost raw
• Very tender chunks of steak stir fried in a caramelized sauce with onions which were charred but otherwise nearly raw
• Coarse pepper was on this dish too
• I did wonder if the awesome pepper used in several of the dishes was the famous Kampok pepper
• Everything was very clean and fragrant
• I was very much looking forward to this one as I remember I loved the food when I was travelling through Cambodia a few years ago
• It contained an amazing mushroom starter which turned out was drowned in this Maggie sauce
• The Mango salad was wonderfully tasty
• This is the best Cambodian restaurant I've been to in London
• The second course of garlic mushrooms and mango salad despite not sounding that exotic were a couple of my favourites
• Spring chilli chicken was unassuming
• The beef dish was nice and tender
• Maybe I'm being picky today but the steamed rice was overcooked and the beer was from Singapore
• Besides the food the staff were very friendly
• In that it is a relatively unusual cuisine (Cambodian and Burmese)
• A lot of the ingredients and flavours were familiar to me
• Both restaurants are also very small
• Intimate atmosphere is one I love
• My best friend surprised me with a birthday meal at what claims to be the only Cambodian restaurant in London

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