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When its first location was established in Park Slope in 1993, Lemongrass Grill was briefly a destination restaurant for carefully prepared, distinctively spicy Thai food—far more rare back then. Since branching out to six other locations, the restaurant's streamlined operation has cheapened the original's selling points. While they still serve reliably tongue-singeing Thai classics, the satellite locations just don't feel as good as the home base. There are still gilded shrines jutting from the walls with busts of deities as well as warm yellow low lighting, but the style has lost any flair. The single exception is the 13th St. location, which is combined with a Japanese restaurant and a karaoke bar. Decked out in a sleek modernist design, the space has large bamboo shoots lining the walls and light fixtures that resemble sacks of rice. Wherever you go, most dishes are straightforwardly meat, seafood, or vegetables in a tangy marinade; the best sauces combining lime, tamarind, coconut, curry, and mint. Yet the increased focus on speed (particularly at the Financial District location, which styles itself as quick lunch spot) has given dishes like pad Thai or pork chop lemongrass a run-of-the-mill quality. — David S. Hirschman

Reservations not accepted for lunch

Tamarind Chilean sea bass, $21; duck curry, $15; Siam chicken, $10