Lemon Tree is a popular JB homegrown family friendly restaurant serving a wide range of local and Western dishes in a casual, comfortable setting at reasonable prices. Lemon Tree now has three locations - Taman Melodies, Permas Jaya and Kulai - all serving the same menu, with the same ambiance and same prices.
Owner Chef Jeffery started the first Lemon Tree outlet here in a quieter part of Taman Melodies in 2003 (it's a short 10 minutes walk from KSL Mall).
Address: 18, Jalan Bedara, Taman Melodies, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/XvJ25
GPS: 1.491372,103.761965 / 1°29'28.9"N 103°45'43.1"E
Tel: +607 335 5688
Hours: 12:00 noon to 11:00pm (Closed on Monday)
For 13 years, Jeffery tended and nurtured Lemon Tree with his wealth of experience working with Hyatt Johor Bahru (now Thistle), Grand Hyatt Singapore (Pete's Place Italian) and Vivo Pizza (another JB homegrown brand).
I've tried all three of Lemon Tree outlets. The food is strong on flavours, portions are generous and prices are competitive.
This signature chicken chop has been on Lemon Tree's menu since Day 1 - Johoreans like their chicken chops.
For RM9.80, it's a thick slab of meaty, juicy grilled chicken leg topped with chicken ham and Kraft cheddar cheese. Served with savoury house made brown sauce and side of French fries and coleslaw.
Spaghetti Seafood Aglio Olio RM13.80.
The mound of spaghetti slick with olive oil is done al dente, topped with a few good sized shelled fresh prawns, squid rings, pieces of fried battered dory fish, cherry tomatoes, pungent chopped garlic, garlic cloves, chili and spring onions.
I love aglio e olio and Lemon Tree's spicy flavoursome version is a good one.
Sometimes, the seafood aglio olio is served with a large mussel in place of the prawns.
Lemon Tree also has a Spaghetti Salmon Aglio Olio (RM19.80).
The same al dente pasta with robust savoury and spicy flavours topped with generous pieces of fried lightly battered salmon pieces.
If you prefer local, Lemon Tree has Seafood Mee Mamak (RM9.80) - a large serving loaded with savoury, sweet and spicy flavours. Plenty of different textures from the jumble of seafood and vegetables. The savoury, spicy, sweet flavours were robust without going overboard nor overly greasy. One of the best mee mamak around and a favourite with locals.
Braised Lamb Shank RM38.80.
One of the more pricey items on Lemon Tree's menu, though I feel it is value for money for what we are getting. Meaty tender juicy shank with mildly gamey and savoury sweet flavour. Set on a soft bed of sweet mash potato and puddle of house made brown sauce.
With Chef Jeffery's background in Italian restaurants, pizzas are another staple at Lemon Tree. They are oven baked, so they don't have the ultra crisp of brick or wall oven baked pizza. But, the thick spongy soft crust with slight browning and some spots of char is likable as the savoury sweet flavours are nice, the toppings generous and they are not overly greasy.
Tropical Hawaiian Pizza RM17.80.
Toppings of chicken ham, pineapple cubes, onion, capsicum, mozzarella cheese on a thick browned crust slathered with tomato sauce.
For cheese lovers, you can try Lemon Tree's Four Cheese Pizza RM19.80. The topping is mozzarella, cream cheese, cheddar and parmesan cheese all melted and melded together on a spongy crust spread with tomato sauce.
Someone ordered this onion soup. It doesn't look like much and it wasn't too photogenic.
Since it was already on the table, I took a spoonful halfheartedly just to taste what it is about. I was delighted by it's robust and layered savoury sweet flavours. I couldn't stop myself from having more afterwards. This house made French Onion Soup is a must order for RM5.50.
Solid house made mushroom soup with five different types of mushroom and onion. I can feel the layers of different savoury sweet mushroom flavours and soft grainy bits of mushroom in creamy soup. But, they were a little over exuberant when laying on the cream on top ;-p Next time, I shall remind them to take it easy on the cream during ordering :-D
My youthful kakis like to eat their mushroom soup with crispy Garlic Bread (RM4.80) which are robustly savoury. The flavour is a little too strong for me.
Then, they indulged in a basket of Chezy Potato Wedges (RM8.80) with glee. Savoury sweet, greasy, heavy on starch, not my kind of thing (as I have to watch my cholesterol, blood pressure and sugar levels ;-p ).
There are lots of cakes and pastries for dessert after the meal.
This is the Lemon Tree outlet in Kulai opened last year (2015), a stone's throw (5 minutes) from the AEON Mall.
Address: 114, Jalan Kenangan 29/6, Indahpura, Kulai, Johor
GPS: 1.642357, 103.619399 / 1°38'32.5"N 103°37'09.8"E
Hours: 12:00 noon to 10:30pm daily
Lemon Tree Kulai is already an established favourite of local families.
The newest Lemon Tree outlet at Permas Jaya opened in Mar 2016.
Address: No 3, Jalan Permas 10/8, Permas Jaya, Masai, Johor
GPS: 1.495240, 103.814306 / 1°29'42.9"N 103°48'51.5"E
Hours: 11:30am to 10:00pm
->> Lemon Tree is a great place to bring the family to enjoy a good meal together in a comfortable place. There is something for everyone in their wide range of local and Western style dishes. Portions are generous and prices are reasonable.
Lemon Trees serves no pork, no lard, no alcohol. No Halal cert.
Date visited: 24 Feb 2014, 12 Dec 2015, 16 May 2016
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Yes, we love going to Lemon Tree!(Pn Chong & family)
ReplyDeleteDear Tony,
ReplyDeleteI've tried the Taman Melodies outlet recently. The mushroom soup was nice, as was the seafood spaghetti. The chicken wings were tasteless and not worth the RM12 for three. The cheese pizza was a little small (definitely not reaching the 6 or 9 inches specified in the menu) for RM19.80, had a nice topping but the base was hard, tasteless and very dry. I didn't see any dessert on the menu - perhaps there's another separate dessert menu?
The service was indifferent - they even brought out my pizza before my mushroom soup which they had forgotten about!
Perhaps management should review their food offerings and service.
Just my honest two cents worth. Sorry to rain on anyone's parade.
When so many outlets are opened, quality suffers. Don't see the proprietors in the Taman melodies outlet anymore.
ReplyDeleteOrder the basic chicken chop for RM9.80 instead of the chicken chop with the ham and cheese slice which costs RM4 more and adds little to the dish.
ReplyDelete