Chapter I - 1989 to 1998    189 Lygon St.

Lemongrass opened in 1989 with a team of 4 chefs from the Bussaracum in Bangkok and with the support of our mentor Royal Cuisine High Priestess Boonchoo, then 78 years old. We were the first Thai in Lygon Street and in Carlton and also the first to introduce many new Thai dishes.  Acharn (Madam) Boonchoo was a teacher of the Royal style in the University and also the Executive Chef of the Royal Cuisine restaurant the Bussaracum. She also taught cooking in the Thai Royal Palace. Her daughter Ancharee and two granddaughters are also chefs. One served at Lemongrass and the other at the Brunei Royal Palace.

Chapter II  - 1998 to 2009   174 - 178 Lygon Street   

In this period Lemongrass moved down the road to larger premises and continued to win awards and was  recognised as the best Thai. The Thai category was removed from the awards in 2003. Lemongrass was the yardstick in Thai food in Melbourne and in the leading edge with chefs from the Bussaracum. Acharn passed away 13 years ago but Lemongrass continued to be inspired by daughter Ancharee and also by famous author, food personality and our friend Chalie, founder of the famous Thai Cooking School at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok regarded as the Best Hotel in the World.

Chapter III - Lemongrass Heart and Soul

In Heart and Soul we take you on a culinary journey through time and into the soul of Thai food as we rediscover the secrets of each and every dish as handed down from mother to daughter with our amazingly talented Chef Paula, 27 (8 yrs in Lemongrass) who is assisted by Chef Toun, 57 (20 years in Lemongrass). Together, they make our dream materialize as each dish is packed with soul - handmade in the way of our mentor - and with love and passion. This is our tribute to our late mentor Boonchoo and her daughter (our present mentor) without whose dedication, support and tutelage all this would not be possible.


About the Menu
No packaged or processed sauce or paste is used in Lemongrass. Each dish and every ingredient is carefully chosen, prepared and cooked as fresh as it is practicable. Everything is made by hand - this is our promise and mission. You have every right to be sceptical; with over 20 dips, pastes and sauces to prepare in our menu, most chefs would not bother to attempt it but Chef Paula's lightning speed and grace and her sixth sense when it comes to cooking and blending with spices is to be seen to be believed. We believe she is the best Thai chef in town and also an authority in Indonesian classic styles. Her Penang Assam Laksa was once unanimously acclaimed by 20 Malaysian food critics as the best in town and even comparable to those in Luala Lumpur. Anyone can claim to cook their curries fresh to order - we cook ours fresh to order with our own fresh handmade pastes. It costs 12 times more to make the pastes and sauces than to buy manufactured pastes but there is no comparison. Your wait is rewarded many times over.

We have included in the menu some Indonesian and Malaysian items.  Some Thai dishes are so close to Indonesian or Malaysian styles we may include their foreign names. If their foreign names appear first it means we have adopted the Indonesian or Malaysian style purely for your enjoyment..

Lemongrass Heart and Soul.........to find better you'll need to first eat airline food!