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Banana Leaf

MY REVIEW: OMG. This place just gets better.

Just returned from lunch with 6 co-workers. Some are picky eaters. 3 had never had MAlaysian. ALL loved it.
The D1 Chef sizzling Curd and the D2 Sizzzling Bean Curd were huge hits.
The pad Thai was a crowd please.
Please get the mango chicken.
We had saty and roti for apps. WONDERFUL.

I didnt get to have my favorite yellow noodle curry soup but will be back, of course. Singapore Stir-fried noodles are excellent. Really want to try the duck caserole. looks interesting. Report in if you have it.

ENJOY.

NAME: Sunset m
SUBMITTED: 12/7/2012   LAST VISIT WAS: 12/6/2012
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: The food here is unique. The staff is MUCH friendlier than the staff across the street. LOL. I thought is was the same owner.

My spouse is vegan, and she found a lot of items on the menu which "could" be prepared vegan. Our waitress was more than accommodating, willing to do anything vegan. I had squid and shrimp. This food is a unique blend of other familiar flavors (Chinese, Korean). Go during the week when it is less than crazy crowded. The service is good, the food delivered hot and quickly. Great place to try.

NAME: HoustonREF
SUBMITTED: 4/27/2012   LAST VISIT WAS: 4/2012
FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times

MY REVIEW: Visited the new BL next to the now closed "G*olden Foods". Larger than the original. No wait Sunday night if you go get there by 6pm.

A little pricier than other restaurants but you get what you pay for - excellent quality food; excellent service! Waitresses were both friendly and helpful with our selection of dishes. After 7pm it gets a busier and a little noisier. Get the tofu in sauce/wrapped in bean curd and soft shell crab (#28)- yummy.

Will definitly be back

NAME: sandra
SUBMITTED: 4/23/2012   LAST VISIT WAS: 04.22.2012
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: I like this restaurant very much. I have eaten several dishes that I have never seen in other restaurants. Many of the dishes are sort of a mix of Chinese and Indian techniques and spices that represents the cultural mix of Malaysia. My only complaint is that is frequently quite crowded at lunch and on week-end nights. This is mitigated somewhat by the fast service and quick turnaround of tables.

NAME: jim from westchase
SUBMITTED: 7/31/2011   LAST VISIT WAS: June 2011
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: My family ( my wife and 2 kids 4 & 6)) went for an early dinner there two weeks ago. The food, though pricey, but somewhat great. WE don't complain when in comes to food. The service was fast (although my wife was questioning, have they pre-prepared it earlier? Once we're done, asked for the bill and paid and left. A second we were out of the door, the manager followed us bringing with him the receipt, asked about how good their service BUT DEMANDED THAT WE ADD ADDITIONAL TIP. We were shocked. It was our first experience. Sensing the embarrassment from other people who were looking at us, my wife added some tip, signed the tab and left. We were speechless. Really, Banana Leaf can do that?

NAME: Banana Wrecked
SUBMITTED: 7/29/2011   LAST VISIT WAS: July 2011
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: I have tried Banana Leaf twice now, mostly because it was voted #1 restaurant on Bellaire. I was not impressed either time. Maybe I am not ordering the right dishes?

The first time we had the appetizer bread (roti canai) with egg. It was ok. For our entrees we had the "authentic" spareribs and flat rice noodles. The spareribs had too much lemongrass for my taste and were just sour. The rice noodles were basically the same rice noodles you can get at any restaurant on Bellaire.

The second time, we tried the plan roti canai. I like the dipping sauce and enjoyed it, but at the same time it tastes just like the frozen roti canai I can get at the Asian market. For entrees, we had mango chicken, hokkien noodles, and bean curd with pork (their version of mapo). The mango chicken was too sweet. The hokkien noodles were just noodles w/ chicken, pork, shrimp, calamari, and soy sauce. The bean curd was also rather sweet.

I am sad to say I just wasn't impressed either time I ate here.

NAME: Houstonian
SUBMITTED: 7/12/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: July 2010
FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times

MY REVIEW: Not all food is good. I ordered the Penang Assam Laksa just over the weekend. They literally opened a can of sardine and add tamarind water over. Two words - spicy and sour. My neighbor table apparently ordered the same thing and she returned her food. The Indonesian Beef Rendang was dried. Most of the dishes are OK but do stay away from these two.

NAME: Msian
SUBMITTED: 6/22/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: 06/2010
FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times

MY REVIEW: My husband and I had eaten at Banana Leaf in Vancouver, so we thought we'd give this place a try. It's not the same restaurant, but the food was excellent! I had a hard time choosing, but the waiter was very helpful and recommended the mango chicken. My husband had the pork ribs in a dark (almost a mole) sauce. Everything was good and the prices are pretty reasonable. We are excited to explore other restaurants in the area!

NAME: Hollow Leg
SUBMITTED: 5/31/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: May 2010
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: This is one of the best restaurants I've been to since living in Houston. The service is fast, the food is EXCELLENT and served hot! I'm very big on the taste of food and has to be well seasoned. I rate it a 9/10. The prices are reasonable yet the place is rather small. Would like to see if they can open up another building. I find myself going once a week. I'm addicted.

NAME: Trux
SUBMITTED: 4/9/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: 04/2010
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: I ate at the Banana Leaf with the Asian Dining Meetup. The food was delicious and tasty. Service was good and the waiters were very helpful. The portions were more than generous. Prices were reasonable. We live in Tomball, but it is definitely worth the trip for this wonderful Malaysian cuisine.

NAME: snowflakx
SUBMITTED: 2/16/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: 12/2009
FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times

MY REVIEW: I was driving to my favorite Chinese restaurant in the area and to my luck it had closed! How do you decide where to go, when you are on a street with thousands of Chinese/Vietnamese restaurants??? Well, we decided to drive in this strip mall and the name Banana Leaf attracted my attention. It is a small restaurant and it was around 8ish on a Wed night so it was not too busy. The tables that were busy had Asians, which is always a good sign.

The menu has about 300 dishes so it is very hard to decide what to get. After about 20 minutes we decided on a shrimp dish which was good but to spicy for my taste, a sweet and sour chicken which was one of the best I have eaten in my life, and a friend rice which was delicious.

The food was very fresh, you could tell from the color of the vegetables and it was made to order. We got our food in less than 10 minutes...

this is a must try, if you like Asian food and have not gone.... you don't know what you have been missing.

I will be going once a month and trying new dishes.

NAME: DD
SUBMITTED: 1/14/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: 01/2010
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: My husband & I tried this out on New Years Day for lunch, and were not dissapointed. I had never really had Malaysian food, but it reminds me of Thai, more than Chineese in terms of typical Asian dishes. We had a Egg & Beef Indian pancake with a creamy, spicy dipping sause. For main we both had the chicken curry with rice which was really tasty, and moderately spicy. For desert we had another pancake style dish, but this time filled with crushed peanut butter - this was absolutley wonderful!

2 soft drinks, 2 starters, 2 mains & a shared desert came to $30, with a 5% discount for those who pay in cash!

The only cons were that there was a small wait for a table, but because the restaurante is quite small, we had to wait outside because inside is packed with tables. Also, the is only one door, so each time it is opened, a blast of cold air is sent to patrons sitting near the front of the restaurante. Also, there were quite a few bones in the chicken - but this is probably fairly typical of Malay food I assume.

Overall I would rate it 9/10. I take away one point for the seating arrangement. We will definately go back!

NAME: LoveGoodFood
SUBMITTED: 1/2/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: 1/1/2010
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: Everytime we go to banana leaf, my girlfriend and I always order the same thing. Everything on the menu is delicious but we have our favorite dishes. We start off with rotti canai then Tum Yum Soup next malaysian sizzling tofu always hookin noodles and lastly banana leaf bbq flouder fish. Next time we go, we'll try something new and then I post a new review about that new dish(s). We love this Malaysian Ciusine, its to die for.

NAME: FoodLover1
SUBMITTED: 12/4/2009   LAST VISIT WAS: weeks ago
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: B4-I-ate, I looked up Malaysian restaurants on this site. I was very impressed by the comments made by those who had eaten at Banana Leaf. So, promising my friends who had never eaten Malaysian food before that this was the creme de la creme of cuisine, we went to eat.

OH MY! This was the best meal I ever had since (and during) the time I was living in Malaysia. There were lots of Malaysians there and I went around asking what they'd ordered and took their suggestions to our waiter. Again, OH MY!!!!!!!!!!!

This was so authentic....except a higher class than the food I usually ate at an open-air food court or off the streets in Kuala Lumpur. The only thing I didn't like was the roti canai (the curry sauce was great) which was dry and crispy instead of slightly damp and stretchy. The waiters and waitresses knew the names of the dishes in Malay (I am not sure they were all Malaysian) and they were very quick about bringing out the food.

Even if you don't know anything about Malaysian food, try Banana Leaf. They'll help you through the ordering process. The food isn't hot unless you ask for it to be.

Please God! Don't close this restaurant. I loved C*afe Malay and N*yonya (which have disappeared), but truly this restaurant is superior.

Selamat makan!!!!!!!!!!

NAME: hjayala
SUBMITTED: 9/6/2009   LAST VISIT WAS: 09/2009
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: Just returned from a lunch here with 9 colleagues from work. EVERYONE loved it. We had no idea what to order and the waiter was very helpful describing things and helping uis choose. e had two of the sizzling plates one beef and noodles and the other an egg dish with a vegeatble chicken sauce on it, both fabulous. The mango chicken is a MUST and it is so pretty!. The PAd Thai was excellent. We had a curry noodle soup that I would get over and over. All the noodle dishes looked good. They also have a chinese lunch menu for the less adventurous but please please get the MAlaysian or you will miss some wonderful food.

NAME: sunsetm
SUBMITTED: 4/16/2009   LAST VISIT WAS: 4/16/2009
FREQUENCY: Visited once

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