| Small restaurants with large crowds equal long wait. |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1040
Reviewed: 9/20/2004
Rating: 8.5
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We beat out the long lunch lines at Banana Leaf by arriving at 11:40AM. Our expectations were high since we heard some good things about this place. The hostess sat us down immediately and the service was great. Waitor was able to take our order, fill our waters, and dishes were brought out super fast.
We order the Roti Prata as an appetizer and I ordered the Tai Pou Chicken with steamed rice. The appetizer was damm tasty, think paper thin-airy naan-like bread accompanied with a curry dipping sauce. Curry had more of a coconut flavor than Im used to, not spicey, just right. The combination of the bread and sauce is quite the punch to your taste buds.
Tai Pou chicken is excellent. The skin on this dish is crispier than the batter you get at Popeyes Chicken. Meat is dark meat and would be so much better if they used breast meat. The sauce was kinda sweet and lacking any burst of fire. They said it was spicey too :(
I love the food and everything but what bothered me about the restaurant is the cramp spaces and prices. There is absolutely no privacy and you are rubbing elbows with the person next to you. You feel like sardines in a tin. The prices are very high for lunch...we ordered 1 appetizer, lunch dish, and rice and we ended up shelling $13-15 a person...kind of pricey considering Asian food is fairly cheap. If tight spaces and steep prices dont bother you, Banana Leaf would easily rate between a 9 to 9.5.
Thanks to Eric for the restaurant recommendation.
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Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 739
Reviewed: 9/20/2004
Rating: 8.5
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Well we finally made it to Banana Leaf. Lucky us, it was not a long wait as we went before noon on a Monday. We were quickly shown a table. The place is very elegant inside. All of the wait-staff are VERY attentive to your needs. Some of the best service I have ever experienced.
Banana Leaf was a Jatbar visitor-submitted wishlist. We were recommended the Roti Prata so of course we ordered this appetizer. AMAZING is the one word for this. I will go back there just for this. Its almost like a thin pancake that crumbles in your hand, very sweet. The curry sauce that accompanies it a bit salty. The combination is out of this world. Do not leave Banana Leaf without sampling this.
For my main dish, I ordered the Penang Sizzling Prawns. The description sounded good so I went for it. The prawns were on the small size, the sauce was merely somewhat interesting, the onions and peppers were crunchy (good). It just didn't work for me. They also didn't give me very much (which is forgivable) but the combination of unexciting flavor and small quantity equals a 1 point deduction from me. They gave me white rice along with my dish and I must say I'm happy they gave me a lot. I doused it with the Roti Prata sauce. Mmmmm.
I look forward to returning and sampling some of the vegetarian offers like the Pahd Thai.
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Reviewer: pyunnyhana
Total Reviews: 47
Reviewed: 6/29/2006
Rating: 9
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Banana Leaf seems to be a popular place during dinner time. I had a reservation for 9 people at 7:15. Two children (11 and 6) and 7 adults (5 teenagers, 2 old people haha. I'm a teenager, mind you). We were seated next to the bathroom which wasn't too bad. The doors were within a hallway covered with a curtain. The bathroom was small, but clean and didn't smell like...well, a bathroom.
My uncle decided to order the set dinner for 6 people, which was 18.95 per person. It included roti prata, chicken/beef satay, tom yum soup, eggplant dish, shrimp paste dish, some taro veg dish, chicken curry, mango chicken, salmon, and rice (we had steamed and coconut rice).
Roti prata: everyone loved this and the curry sauce. My only complaint is that the curry looked too greasy. There was a red layer of oil on top and it seems like the naan-like bread soaks up the oil better than the actual curry sauce. 8.5/10
Chicken/beef satay: I only had the chicken which was marinaded in curry, and was so tender! It went well with the peanut sauce that accompanied it. 9/10
Eggplant dish: I loved this dish. 8.5/10
Shrimp paste dish: shrimp, bell peppers, onions, shrimp paste sauce. It was good that the paste didn't overwhelm the dish because I know the paste itself can stink up a whole room. In honesty, this was a very good dish, but it's not my preference. 7/10
Taro veggie dish: Crisp pea pods, bell peppers, taro, etc. The taro was tender and full of spices. LOVED it. 8/10
Chicken curry: the curry didn't taste as strong as I thought it would be. I thought it'd taste more like the roti prata sauce. It had chicken, beef, potato, bell peppers, onions, cauliflower, etc. 7.5/10
Mango chicken: served in the halved skin of a mango. Sauce was sweet with chicken, mango shoots, onions, bell pepper. 7.75/10
Salmon: a slice of salmon steak cooked perfectly and seasoned well. 8/10
Rice: I've never had the coconut rice before and I was surprised with its sweet fragrance. Both regular and coconut rice were perfectly cooked. However, rice is rice and if they charged more for coconut rice, I'd just stick to regular steamed rice.
Even though we had 9 people and the set was for 6 people, there was a box and a half worth of leftover. Service was exceptional, but sometimes they can be a bit rushy (reasonable since the restaurant was extremely busy). We asked for a lot of things like extra napkins, extra plates, extra forks, extra boxes all at separate times and made our poor waiter run around. Our waters were refilled constantly.
The bill came out to be about 151 dollars (set dinner for 6, two root beers, malaysian iced tea, tax and tip). The look on my uncle's face was priceless when he saw the bill lol.
Food averages to about an 8 because I thought things started to taste the same because of reoccuring ingredients (bell peppers, onions, etc). I give an entire point just for service.
Pros: open kitchen, atmosphere, good food, great service, clean bathrooms.
Cons: busy during dinnertime. Reservations a must.
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Reviewer: Shannon
Total Reviews: 28
Reviewed: 6/30/2006
Rating: 7.5
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Mediocre. This place is definitely hyped up and overrated!
Maybe I'm exaggerating. Maybe it's what I ordered. Every time I talk to a frequent visitor of Banana Leaf, they tell me I must've ordered the wrong dish.
The first thing I ordered was the Oxtail Soup. It is hot and sour and includes little pieces of oxtail along with tomatoes, mushrooms and lemon grass ($7.95). Upon first sip, my friend and I immediately frowned and though we attempted to stomach some more (out of politeness to the restaurant), we couldn't. The lemon and sour flavor was so overpowering that it made my tongue cringe. I decided to give up and just eat the oxtail pieces (my mom always told me to finish the meat in any dish because it's the most expensive) but the lemon must've seaped through to the bone. Finally we decided to quit trying and deal with the fact that we'd be wasting money. I threw the meatless bones back into the soup to signify that we didn't want anything to do with it. And guess what the waiter did? He packed it up for us in a to-go cup!! I guess this gives the restaurant an A+ for service.
I ordered the Banana Leaf Rice ($7.95) which consists of Malay special coconut rice served with rendang chicken, broiled egg, sambal anchovy, onion, pickled cucumber & peanuts on a banana leaf. The best part of this dish is the Malay curry sauce used on the chicken; I smothered it over everything else. The portion is a good size and leaves you feeling satisfied with room for dessert. This is a dish to eat as an individual though, not family style, since there's only enough of each portion for a couple bites.
My friend ordered Pineapple Fried Rice ($9.95) which consists of rice, pineapple chunks, cashews, shrimps, chicken & peas stuffed in a pineapple cut vertically in half. The chicken pieces were a little too small- I had to search for them but that's definitely a personal preference. The presentation was pleasant and the rice was light and flavorful (enough salt). Nothing too spectacular.
We spent about $35, including tip, and for this price, I think I have a good chance of finding a place with better food but probably not as nice of an atmosphere.
Next time you go, I recommend the Roti Prata (multi-layered home made Indian bread dipped in curry sauce) . I've never tried it here but I saw 70% of the restaurant patrons order it and it is highly recommended from most people I know.
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Reviewer: wchane
Total Reviews: 148
Reviewed: 5/2/2007
Rating: 7
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This place used to be very good, a 9 or 9.5 easily, but I'm not sure what happened. I've been a patron ever since they've opened but the food quality has steadily declined the usuals such as mango chicken, roti, and pineapple fried rice has stayed constant but items such as the various salmons, seafood and even the noodle dishes has taken a dive.
I ended up with one of the salmon lunch specials, the salmon steak was covered in a sticky sweet dressing then baked? At any rate it was not flavorful, a chore to eat due to the spines, and over cooked till it would of been dry without the glaze.
The only reason I went back was because Layang Layang also took a dive. Not sure where to go for good Malay food these days.
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Reviewer: Dan
Total Reviews: 84
Reviewed: 11/15/2007
Rating: 7.5
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On my first visit to Banana Leaf I went right at noon and didn't expect to get seated since the place was hopping. But I was by myself and was asked if I wanted to sit at the bar. I did. I scanned the menu and decided quickly. The waiter was on top of things and came right over immediately. I ordered the red curry vegetables after the waiter told me green might be too spicy. Also ordered roti prata based on earlier Jatbar reviews. Both came at the same time. Roti Prata – I was TOTALLY UNIMPRESSED with the roti. Obviously those who rave about this have not had the Roti at Straits Café. It blows this stuff out of the water. (I should add that the roti from Straits is one of my ten favorite foods of all time.). This just looked and tasted like store-bought flatbread folded into a triangle and baked in the oven to make it a bit crispy round the edges. (On a later visit I saw that they made this bread from scratch, so my guess was wrong). The sauce it came with was good, however, so I dipped in heavily. My red curry veggies arrived and were very good, though portion size was pretty small. Without the roti I would've left hungry. Total cost was $12 incl tip, a bit more than I am used to, though my stomach was pretty happy. 7.5 so far.
On my next visit the crowd story was the same, and once again I was forced to rub elbows with others at the lunch bar. I ordered the Chicken Rendang and the waiter was pushing the coconut rice, so I got that instead of the regular, steamed rice. My food literally arrived in 2 minutes (I was timing it.) I think this is a new record! I put down my newspaper and started chowing. Chicken – large chunks smothered in a delicious Malay Curry sauce. Some were cooked perfectly. Others were a bit overcooked. Rice – moist, fluffy with a nice coconut aroma. Hard to taste the coconut though. My only issue was there were no vegetables apart from a few sticks of cucumber for garnish. Wish I had known this. I probably wouldn't get this again for that very reason. I like a little veggies in my curry, thank you.
Then I got the bill. Total was almost $13 including tip. And that's with no beverage. A bit on the high side. It appears they charged me almost $2 for my rice. Now I understand my waiter's motivation. He failed to mention I would be charged extra though.
I was thinking of rating my meal an 8 or 8.5, but with that price and the crowded, loud conditions, I'm gonna have to drop it to 7.5.
On my third visit here my initial goal was to not spend more than $10 for lunch. I arrived at 11:45 on a Monday and the place was packed with a line out the door. Jeez!! Good thing I was by myself so I could sit a the lunch bar once again. I ordered the Chow Kueh Teow lunch special ($7.95). Received my soup first: spicy broth with a few veggies. Nothing special. Then my Chow Kueh Teow arrived, and this consisted of stir fired rice noodles with squid, prawns, eggs and bean sprouts. It was outstanding. Much more similar to pad thai than I envisioned (in fact I wondered if they brought me the wrong plate before I saw the squid). I ate every scrap, but I was still a bit hungry afterwards. This was not quite enough food to satisfy me. The question was: Should I give up on trying to eat cheap? I finally decided to sample one of their cheaper desserts. I couldn't decide, so let the server choose for me. He brought me the black sticky rice in coconut milk, but he also brought a free sampler of the other dessert, "bubor cha cha," demonstrating again the great service. Both desserts were hot and soupy (huh?) and neither was all that good in the end. (I would have much rather had the kind of sticky rice you get in a Thai restaurant). I probably wouldn't get either of these desserts again.
As it turns out, if I had stuck to my initial plan and just ordered the lunch special, I still would have payed about $10 or just over (without a beverage). But this wouldn't have been enough food for me. So eating here for under $10 is tough, unless you're a really bad tipper. As it was, I paid $12.95. Rating was 8 for this meal based on food per price.
Pros: Decent food; large menu; excellent service
Cons: Very crowded and noisy; higher prices; lunch specials are on the small side; roti prata is overrated |
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Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 187
Reviewed: 1/2/2007
Rating: 8
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First day back to work and my coworkers and I venture to Banana Leaf for lunch. We arrive around 11:50 and grab a table for 7 people. The lunch crowd begins to slowly arrive as by 12pm all the tables are taken and a waiting list starts to form.
We start off with seven orders of Roti Prata. Each order consists of one thin layer of naan like pancake served with curry sauce to dip. The Roti here is excellent flavor, thinner than a thin green onion pancake and the sauce is equally good. Even though the menu describes the item as an Indian bread, my Indian coworkers say you cant order this within an Indian restaurant. Anyways, one of the girls at our table was latterly spooning down the remaining curry sauce like soup. The curry sauce would go excellent over rice.
After our initial seven orders of Roti, a person in our group orders 4 more orders of Roti since the first batch was so good. Next we order our lunch items. Several people order from the lunch menu while others order from the dinner menu. I order the Yin Yan noodles dish from the dinner menu. The description on the menu read, the dish consists of flat noodles and vermicelli noodles with shrimp, chicken, squid in a thick egg sauce. The description was misleading after the dish was placed in front of me. The item obviously took a while to cook as I was the last person served at the table. The lunch items are the first served, probably because most people order this and they cook up batches quickly. I was planning to order the Pad Thai but after seeing the heaping amount of bean sprouts and veggies they place on the plate I decided against it. I was searching if they had fried rice without the pineapple but they only offered the pineapple fried rice, which is probably at least $1 to $2 more than regular fried rice if they offered the dish. The portions here are small and prices are higher compared to other similar restaurants.
Yin Yan Noodles: This dish is a soupy consistency. The dish consists of pieces of egg whites, Chinese broccoli, four shrimps, some small pieces of squid and some chicken pieces. The plate was served steaming hot as I almost burned my mouth eating the noodles. The flat noodles have the chow fun consistency and the vermicelli noodles were deep fried and bunched together. I would defiantly order this dish again but would prefer it to be less soupy, instead use a thicker egg sauce or curry sauce. I felt the dish was the only item among our group that had large portions versus price ratio. The Yin Yan noodle dish was $8.95 and looked a lot more filling than the $9.95 pineapple fried rice dish.
Final bill was $13.50 per person. Service was good as my water was refilled both times without asking and they cleared away our plates right away, once after our appetizer and once after our lunch. The check was quickly brought to our table after we declined the dessert menu and again once we paid they quickly rang us up. I would come back if in the area.
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