I’d heard of Banana Leaf before from another blogger who used to live in Malaysia and absolutely swears by it. It has been on my list of places to try for an obscene amount of time. I was delighted when they invited me along to sample their new menu and I could finally find out what all the fuss was about!

The evening came with a list of options from a fixed menu, so we decided to order a couple of dishes and share them. The restaurant is really small but not cramped – they benefit from huge windows around the front.  The atmosphere is nice and relaxed, but then again, I was in on a night with limited guests.

 Crispy Prawns

My friend ordered the battered prawns with spicy mayonnaise dip as her starter, and whilst they were delicious, the dish itself was lacking in some components in my opinion. A salad or some vegetables would have been a nice touch – we were more than happy to eat the bowl of prawns, but when you order a starter you kind of want to eat it like a mini-meal rather than eating it like popcorn at the cinema. The prawns were fresh and plump, and the batter had an almost cheesy taste which was delicious!

  Crispy Soft Shell Crab

I absolutely love soft shell crab, so I couldn’t resist the salt and chilli version.  The dish was really salty which was absolutely delicious – I couldn’t get enough of it. The vegetables were stir fried so they were nice and crunchy and provided a beautiful spicy taste to accompany the soft, salty crab.

What a feast!

Char Siu (Roast Honey-glazed) Pork

This was nice but really quite boring as a dish. With hind sight, we’d have ordered this with something else rather than as a dish on it’s own. It could probably be our lack of understanding with regards to the menu and how many things to order – we operated under the assumption that this was a fully complete main course and we didn’t order any vegetables to go with it.

 Sizzling Chicken with Ginger & Spring Onions

This was great. The chicken arrived bubbling and fizzing and you could smell the sweet ginger aroma before it even arrived! The chicken and vegetables were coated in the sticky sauce and provided a really light and tasty main course.

  Goreng Pisang (Banana Fritters) 

These tasted how they look: not great. For me personally, they looked like a sausage supper, and when I ate them they were really bland.

 Pandan Pancakes

I was stunned when a bright green pancake was served! I wasn’t blown away by the taste, but it was sweet and mild and very much enjoyable! The filling is made from a tropical plant called Pandan which I found tastes very similar to custard.

I would definitely go back to Banana Leaf and try some other dishes. I’m not a massive fan of desserts but I do like them, so it takes a really great mixture of flavours and textures to grab my attention and the two available to me on this occasion just didn’t impress. Next time I’ll stock up on the savoury foods and ditch dessert! the staff were really warm and welcoming and the food I ordered for my starter and main course really did impress me, so I’d be happy to go back and explore the other options!

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Banana Leaf
67 Cambridge Street
Glasgow
G3 6QX

0141 333 9994

http://www.bananaleafglasgow.com

@BananaLeaf_GLA

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