Restaurants

What you see is what you get at this little Camden hole-in-the-wall. With its bare tile floors, paper tablecloths and semi-open kitchen (where the chef can be seen wrestling with his giant woks), Lemongrass doesnt pretend to be anything more than a neighbourhood caff that happens to do pan-Asian food. At the next table, a large family group with toddlers in tow was tucking into a predominantly deep-fried Treats platter of prawn toasties, golden triangles, mini spring rolls and chicken satays. The food here is hard to place, with no noodle dishes or recognisably Thai curries, but with Vietnamese, Thai, Cambodian and Chinese influences throughout. Vegetarian spring rolls were oily, tom yum style prawn soup was murky and coarsely chilli-hot, and something called phnom penh chicken was a right puzzle. Billed as chicken, basil, onion and carrot with sweet chilli sauce, it tasted like just another sweet-and-sour chicken topped with chunks of pineapple. We think Lemongrass could try quite a lot harder.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008