Lemon Grass

If I could give more stars, I would!!! I took a friend there who had completed her dissertation in Asia. She remarked it was the most authentic Thai cuisine she’d encountered in Iowa. I would concur. The food is great and going with a friend who encouraged me to branch out and try things I hadn’t before, such as larb, was a great experience. I’ve gone back many times.

My go to for Thai in Des Moines! I’ve had several different dishes and I’m never disappointed. It’s a great place for a quick lunch or even dinner take out. The service has always been friendly. Highly recommend!

Great service and great food! Appetizers, entrees and desserts were all worth coming back for!

Awesome! Great, friendly service and even better food! Tens times better than Cool Basil. The shrimp blanket, cucumber salad, and the jungle Buddha were so so so good! We also ordered the Pad Thai with beef and that was good but not unreal like the rest of it. Definitely a new favorite place!

Not bad at all! I was craving Thai food and didn’t want to cook it myself, so we opted to try a different place. The restaurant itself is a blink and you’ll miss it kind of building. It’s next to the restaurant Prime. Parking lot accommodates the amount of patrons they can seat and the restaurant itself is quaint and cute. Booths outline the walls and tables finish off the middle of the restaurant.
The Service:
The young lady and young man were doing a great job. Even though they were very busy, they were able to accommodate us and were always checking in on us and apologized for the wait. They were extremely courteous. Makes you want to come back again.
The Food:
Tom Kha Gai (Coconut Chicken Soup) — ⁴⁄₅ it was delicious and so flavorful. Perfect amount of sweet, sour, and spicy. I ordered a level 4 out of 5 spice and it was just right. This dish is similar to Tom Yum but has coconut milk and is more sweet.
Beef Drunken Noodles — ³⁄₅ The flavor was there, but I didn’t like the noodles that they used. I wanted the wide flat rice noodles, but instead I got like the large phở noodles. If they changed out the noodles then I would definitely order again. I ordered it 4 out of 5 spiciness level and it was just right.
Kid’s Fried Rice — ⁴⁄₅ very flavorful and tasty. The right amount of food and flavors. There’s nothing bad to say about this dish. Just order it!
Angry Flavors Chicken — ³⁄₅ this dish was actually pretty good. A little on the sweeter side compared to the original Angry stir fry offered at another local restaurant but this dish was very good. I didn’t like the ginger in it, but that’s my preference. Just FYI, if you don’t like ginger, omit it from the order. I ordered a ⁴⁄₅ and it did not disappoint in heat!
All in all, we would definitely come again and try their other dishes. They are a tad pricier but doesn’t hurt to try something new. You might like it! We did!

I went back and forth between a 3 and 4 star rating, and in the end the food pushed it up to 4.
The interior is extremely shabby… Paint chipping, dirty tiles, shoddy paint job, needs some TLC. The service was adequate but nothing more. Our order was taken and the food was brought out to us. The server came over the bare minimum of times, it looked like she had some friends there and was spending more time with them.
The food, however, was very good. We ordered the Panang curry with chicken and the pad Thai with chicken, both at a spice level of one. The curry was definitely spicier than the noodle dish, and had a very potent peanut flavor which I liked. It was almost like there was a little peanut butter in it. This curry was on the sweeter side, and a tad thicker than I’m used to. The depth of flavor was fantastic though, and was great when I added broccoli to it. The pad Thai was pretty standard in terms of freshness and ingredients, but it also was a little sweeter. It had a nutty rich flavor to it and tasted like the pan a little bit… In a good way, if that makes sense.
Overall it was a decent experience, if I come back to the Des Moines area and I am craving Thai food it would likely be for takeout.

Absolutely the best phở in the city! Admittedly I have not had anything else here but their beef phở is, hands down, the best in the city! I’ve tried Adong, H’s and numerous others and it’s not even close. Service is always good, place itself is a little dark and simple but the phở, oh man the phở, is phenomenal! It’s why I haven’t tried anything else here and probably never will.

Had lunch here today and ordered green curry, angry fever, and a chicken satay appetizer. The décor of this place is nice, the service was good, but the food was just OK.
Our curry and our other main dish tasted descent but they were kind of runny. Food tasted like it was boiled rather than properly cooked on a frying pan. The curry was not of thick consistency and it felt like it was missing a pop. It was more stir fry than anything else. The appetizer was good. I don’t know how good their Phở is so I can’t judge on the Vietnamese.

I have only ordered food to pick up from lemongrass but I have never been disappointed. Favorite appetizers are definitely fried egg rolls (veggie) and the spring rolls. Favorite dinner plates are for sure green curry with chicken, red curry with beef or tofu. Also drunken noodles with chicken has always been a solid dish. Rice is always cooked perfectly as well. Cost is a little more pricey, but the quality and quick/​correct service is why. They’ve never screwed up an order and I’ve never had to wait long.

I have only dined in at Lemon Grass once and the service was great, but I was also the only customer. So, I cannot truly rate their service. But, I have ordered pick-​up from them several times. I have tried several dishes here and have not yet been disappointed.
I will warn those of you ordering the papaya salad that a spicy level 3 is extremely spicy. So, just make sure you gauge the spice level well. Otherwise, this dish is just plain deliciousness.

I hate cilantro, but I really like lemongrass.
My husband and I finally decided to try this spot on the first snowstorm of the season! It was such a great experience. I had the Spicy Garlic Noodles with chicken and he had the beef phở. Both of us asked for no cilantro, and they happily complied! Service was super quick and very friendly. And the price was ahhhhhmazing, 2 drinks, an app and two entrees for under $ 30!
The phở was really flavorful; I felt like the noodles were done perfectly and the broth almost had a sweeter than normal flavor. I got a ³⁄₅ spicy noodle dish, and I have to say my lips were on fire for a few minutes! The chicken was actually really good, and the jalapeños and fresh veggies in the dish were delicious.
All in all, I would definitely return again. I liked the phở better than my noodle dish, so I would recommend giving that a try!

I had drunken noodles and basil chicken here togo. Noodles were very overcooked and greasy. I think maybe it will be better if I dined in. I’m not sure if the chef over cooked it or it was sitting there for a while before I picked it up. Basil chicken was good very spicy and flavorful. I won’t get any more to go but I might go for dine in maybe.

The food was really good. The service was awful. As in probably some of the worst service I’ve ever received. Our table of five waited over 20 minutes without anyone so much as offering us a glass of water. We had to ask for some drink menus. After watching the only two employees casually chit-​chat for another 10 minutes or so, the waitress finally dropped one wine list off at our table. We probably waited another 20 – 30 minutes before our table finally flagged down a server and asked if we could order. Even then, it took another several minutes before someone casually approached our table to do so.
Food was great, in fact, it’s the only reason I’m bothering to give them two stars. But once it was dropped off, we never had service again. We had to flag someone for condiments, and even then, had to ask twice before the server brought any to our table. No drink refills, and our request for more rice went ignored. All the while, we watched as the two servers on staff that night casually visited amongst themselves, or simply disappeared into the back of the restaurant for large chunks of time.

I stopped in here with a co-​worker for lunch while in Des Moines and it was cheap, fast and good. We started with the spring rolls which were better than most. A lot of places really skip on the ingredients leaving you with a spring roll and a whole bunch of glass noodles and not much flavor, but these spring rolls had a lovely flavor with a good hint of mint.
I hadn’t had Pad Thai in quite some time, so I decided to go that direction despite being a huge fan of curries. And truly, I don’t think you can appropriately evaluate the quality of Thai food at a restaurant without trying their curry, so take that for what it’s worth. My Pad Thai was tasty, although not terribly spicy despite ordering their third level of spiciness. If I go back sometime when visiting Des Moines, I will definitely order their fourth level of spiciness in whatever I get. For me, that’s half the fun of Thai food is getting the endorphins going with a nice spicy dish.
The food came out very quickly and waters were refilled as needed, too. All in all, a pretty nice experience considering how inexpensive the meal was.

Hands down my favorite place for pad thai and a recent favorite for phở. The service is top notch, extremely kind and very respectful. The food is excellent. I love it!

I had the green curry, level three spicy. There was no eggplant in it and it was watered down green curry with red chili paste added for heat. Green curry should be made spicy with green chiles. That is why it is green!
Too many places cater to the bland Iowa palette. When it comes to a dish that is spicy by nature such as green curry, catering to the Iowa palette destroys the integrity of the dish. Good restaurants have integrity.
I judge brunch places by their breakfast burrito, Mexican places by their salsa verde (which by the way suffers loss of integrity in Iowa) and Thai places by their green curry. I will not be back.

Authentic and delicious!
We had the su mai dumplings, angry fever, and the orh lahm. Level 2 is good for first timers and 3 is perfect amount of spicy.
A great presentation of Laos and Thai cuisine.

We went to Lemon Grass on a Saturday night around 6:30 with another couple. The restaurant has a great ambiance to it and seemed very clean. We were seated right away and got our drink orders in right away.
To start our meal, we got an order of crab rangoon and pot stickers. The crab rangoon was VERY good and the sweet and sour sauce was different than expected, but still good. It’s not the classic bright red that you would expect, and is more acidic than usual, but was great! The pot stickers were okay, but were a bit soggy.
For our actual meals, we ordered the Chicken Pad Thai, Honey Cashew Chicken, Chicken Fried Rice, and Orh Larm. You are able to choose spice levels, so it was nice to be able to change the spiciness level to suit your own tastes.
Chicken Pad Thai: This was my dish. It came with peanuts and a slice of lime, and it was very good. It was just a bit too spicy (I got a spice level 2) for me to eat all of it at once, but I finished it later that night at home. I was very satisfied with it.
Honey Cashew Chicken: Delicious! My fiancé’s go to meal is sesame chicken, so he figured this would be an acceptable substitute. It was! Very flavorful and a good mixture of sweet, savory, and spicy.
Orh Larm: The spices were good, but we were also unsure of how we were supposed to eat the dish. It was great regardless!
Chicken Fried Rice: I was told this was very good as well. It must have been because he wouldn’t share it with any of us. :)
We also go the fried banana, one with chocolate and one with vanilla. They were okay. Very small servings, and the chocolate ice cream was horribly freezer burned (it was crunchy).
I would be giving this a 4 out of 5, but our service was a bit lacking. We had empty water glasses several times, and at one point had to wait 15 minutes with empty glasses to get refills. If the place had been busy, I would have understood, but there were only a few other tables at the time we were there.
Overall, I would give this place a try if you haven’t. We are planning on going back eventually to try more dishes.

I made the mistake of waiting over 2 months to review this place after I came here… hopefully I won’t leave out any information I wanted to say.
First, they have their own standalone building and parking lot which I think is nice. We came here during lunch on a weekend when they just opened that day, at first we were the only ones, but other customers began to fill in at a steady pace.
The main dining area was not very big, but spacious as the tables had a good amount of space between one another. The décor is very simple and Asian, a very easy going atmosphere. The employee working there was both the hostess and the waitress, she was very efficient and friendly.
For starters we got the cucumber salad and shrimp in a blanket. The shrimp in a blanket does not have cheese in case you were wondering, it is just the shrimp, still good. The cucumber salad was refreshing, but I was slightly disappointed in the taste and quantity.
For the main course I had the chicken pad Thai and my wife had the basil fried rice. Both the dishes were good, but to me the flavors did not give any excitement… what I mean is, the food was forgettable.
Overall we had a good lunch experience and we were happy we finally tried it out after hearing so many good things about it!

SPICE SPICE BABY…
Stop collaborate and listen Spice is back with the brand new decision.
Yo, How Hot should I go, I don’t know, They turned up the spice now I know!
Man I can usually do spicy pretty well, my go to at Thai places is usually Yellow Curry with Tofu. But I decided to try something new last night! I got Green Curry with Tofu and I did 4 out of 5 spice! OH MY. It Kicked my butt! Literately! I was coughing, sneezing, nose was running and my eyes were watering! You might ask why I wouldn’t stop eating the meal and I will tell you! It was way to good to stop! It was a good pain, and I loved it!
My wife got Red Curry with 1 out of 5 spice and it tasted amazing! Loved how the curry is served in little crock pots, and they even brought my tearing eyes more rice (no charge).
This place has lovely in and outdoor seating. Great service, and I will be back for sure, But next time I think I will only get 2 out of 5 Spice!