I’m not really a foodie. I don’t know the difference between wines and I couldn’t tell you if the spice is basil or coriander, but I know what I like. Not all of us are five-star chefs or can afford to dine at some expensive restaurant, so when my partner and I decide to go out for dinner, we’re generally thinking about our tastes and what we enjoy. This week, we were in the mood for good Asian food on our weekly date night, so a friend recommended Lemongrass Asian Bistro.

I’m very thankful we listened to him!

Lemongrass Bistro is a fusion of Thai, Vietnamese, and Sushi. We were seated right away and noticed how great the food smelled in the entire restaurant. As we waited for our drinks to arrive, we commented on how clean and modern the restaurant looked. The décor is Asian influenced, with dark bamboo and Asian artwork on the walls. It’s well lit and the music is low enough so you can enjoy a good conversation.

We really enjoy a good pad Thai noodle dish, but we’re watching our weight, so we opted for other choices. For an appetizer, Ken ordered the edamame ($5), and I had a ginger salad (comes with your entrée), which was very fresh and the ginger dressing was some of the best I’ve had.

Ken’s favorite Asian soup is the Tom Kha soup ($5), which is a coconut-based soup, served with chicken or shrimp, mushrooms, scallions, and what else… Lemongrass! We’ve been to every restaurant in town that serves this soup. After the first couple of spoonfuls, it was clear we have a winner! He declared Lemongrass’ Tom Kha soup the best in Fort Lauderdale.

We decided to select a few appetizers and split an entrée. We chose the Curry Puffs ($7), which are fried wontons with chicken curry filling. They were delicious! We also ordered the Chicken Satay skewers ($7), which were served with a cucumber oil sauce and a peanut pad Thai sauce, which was also yummy!

For our main entrée, we chose their Red Curry ($14), which has a red curry paste, coconut milk, sweet peas, bamboo shoots, sweet basil, zucchini and bell peppers with a side of your choice of fried or white rice. The smell of the curry was mouth-watering. As we ate, we kept on commenting on how this is so much better than our “usual” Asian restaurant and that we’d definitely be back. I am not a fan of coconut, but his soup, as well as our curry, was not overwhelming in coconut flavor, which was very appetizing.

Ken always comments on how good the service is by how empty his water glass gets. No worries there. The servers kept our glasses full and by the end of our delicious meal, so were our tummies.

I now know why Yelp! reviewers give the Lemongrass Asian Bistro four out of five stars, and Urban Spoon reviewers have given it four and a half stars. The Sun Sentinel has chosen Lemongrass Bistro as one of the top 10 Asian restaurants in Fort Lauderdale and the Palm Beach Post gave it an ‘A’ for Excellence.

So rather than sticking to your “usual” Asian restaurant when you go out for date night, try the Lemongrass Asian Bistro for great service and a dynamite meal. As we walked out, we said to the hostess, “We’ll be back!”

If You Go:

The Lemongrass Asian Bistro

3811 North Federal Hwy in Fort Lauderdale

LemongrassAsianBistro.com (Other locations)

Reservations accepted

954-564-4422.