By Kristoffer Munden, For the Gavel -

I’m a huge fan of Asian cuisine — especially Thai, Japanese and Filipino. Not very familiar with Vietnamese food, I decided to give Pho Lemongrass a try.

The food was fairly good. To start, I ordered the Lemongrass Sampler ($10.50), which included shrimp toast, steak teriyaki, lemongrass wings, spring rolls and lemongrass stars. The spring rolls were definitely nothing to write home about, but the dipping sauce — a lemongrass sweet and sour sauce — was amazing. Lemongrass, which has a tendency to overpower other flavors, still let the tartness of the sauce come through. My favorite part of the sampler, though, was the chicken wings. They were perfectly fried and well seasoned with a hint of lemongrass flavor.

For my main dish, I ordered the restaurant’s namesake — lemongrass pho satay ($8.25). I’ve had my fair share of bowls of pho in the past, and this hefty bowl of pho is one of the better that I have had. Keeping with the lemongrass theme, the aroma was certainly permeating through the broth, but didn’t overpower the meaty flavor. My only complaints are the lack of spiciness of the dish and the low quality of the Vietnamese mint served with it. I explicitly asked for the dish to be very spicy, but instead, I got a bowl of pho that barely left a burn in my mouth. The slightly wilted mint could have been fresher, and a bigger portion could have been served. Overall, though, the pho was excellent.

To drink, I had a glass of Vietnamese iced coffee ($3.25). I figured that it would be similar to Thai iced tea, which is tea with milk and a sweetener. While the iced coffee was indeed similar, the amount of sugar in the drink was ridiculous. My first sip yielded a mouthful of undissolved sugar (let’s disregard the fact that the menu describes it as being sweetened with condensed milk and not granulated sugar), and left a lingering, burning sensation in my throat because of the sweetness. The drink was so sweet that I had to dilute it with water. I would have appreciated the sweetness of the drink more had my pho been spicier, but unfortunately, this was not the case.

Like the food, the ambience of the restaurant was good. The dining area was tastefully decorated with various wood carvings and paintings, unlike other Asian restaurants that hang every possible piece of artwork on the walls.

The most significant criticisms I have of Pho Lemongrass are of its service. True, the staff was competent, the serving time was quick, and my water glass was regularly refilled, but I didn’t get a warm feeling from my server commensurate to the ambience. I didn’t even get a thank you as I left the restaurant. Pho Lemongrass, you dropped the ball on your service.

Despite its limitations, I still recommend Pho Lemongrass: the food was delicious, the ambience was great, and the prices were affordable.

Pho Lemongrass

239 Harvard St.

Brookline, MA

(T: Coolidge Corner)

Photo Courtesy of boston.citysearch.com