Banana Leaf

Cosy restaurant. Immediate seating at 5:30 Sunday night. Service: very attentive.
Pleased that they have happy hour!
Pineapple rum cocktail: ok but wasn’t anything that rocked my world.
Eggplant fries: excellent. Sweet chili sauce lightly drizzled over it. I liked that they weren’t greasy and that they were just lightly breaded. Something to be said about just keeping things simple. Let the vegetable be what it is without overdressing it.
Extensive menu with many tasting options for 2.
Would return to try their other items.

Had lunch here with family. Ordered Singapore laksa, Char Kuay Teow and Hainanese Chicken Rice. They all were good and did not disappoint. As Malaysians, we were brought back to tastes and aroma we enjoyed back home. Great décor and ambience. Friendly servers and ample sitting areas.

We went here last night and were kind of disappointed. The service was good and we appreciated the up-​scaled décor, but it seemed like everything we got was missing a note. The coconut rice was just jasmine rice, and the Kung Pow Chicken was missing its usual sweet and tangy flavour, and not spicy; it was actually kind of flat – actually it tasted just like Trader Joe’s Teriyaki Chicken, which is fine except TJ is $ 6 for 2 servings vs $ 15 per serving.
I mentioned it to our sever, and he said he would comp the rice, but he forgot. I didn’t want to sound cheap, so I just let it go.
I think we’ll probably walk the extra couple blocks to the Denman location next time.

Poor service, clams not fresh. Washroom floors slimy. Didn’t take away our dishes after eating. Didn’t ask what drinks we wanted. Did not once ask how our meal was or if we wanted anything. Then they tag on 15% tip automatically when it was a small party. That’s the minimum I usually give, but I like to have the option. There are better places for this sort of mid-​range food.

Satisfying, but a little underwhelming. Disclaimer: I am in no way an expert on Malaysian dining. Living in Portland, I have access to phenomenal Thai and Vietnamese food, but Malaysian is something our city has yet to embrace. So my first time was in Sydney … and it was a revelation. I was very excited to get another fix while staying in Vancouver, but the food here couldn’t quite live up to that magical first time. The sampler appetizer was a nice array, all the same (we couldn’t put our finger on it, but something about the calamari breading was really addictive), and the Mee Goreng had a nice enough flavor, though texturally, it was kind of a slop. Small but nice selection of local brews was a pleasant surprise, and service was friendly.

I love this place!
I got Laksa, papaya salad and mango sticky rice.
Everything was very good.
Will go back again!

I’ve been to Banana Leaf’s other locations around the city and this is just as good. Located on Robson but further down towards the seawall or Denman. We were looking at other neighboring restaurants but none of them looked good so we came here knowing it would be delicious and they totally didn’t disappoint.
Not much of a wait for a table and took our drink orders as we looked at the menu. Of course, we started off with the Roti Canai, perfect way to start the meal. Delicious, crêpe like, perfect for dipping in the curry sauce it comes with. As for our mains, we ordered a noodle dish and a fish dish. Gosh, cant remember the names and the website isnt showing the regular menu for me to check.
The noodles were tasty stir fried noodles with shrimp, squid, fish cake, and veg all in a light sauce. Oh man, it was so good! The fish dish was delicious as well, fish with okra all wrapped up and cooked in a banana leaf. Perfectly cooked fish and a tasty curry/​satay type of sauce. Both our dishes was super flavorful and satisfying.
Food was great and a reliable place for me to get a good meal when coming into town. Service was fine, no issues there. Décor inside is nice, some outdoor seating to people watch etc. I dont mind the pricing so it was fine with me, portion sizes are great, felt totally full and happy afterwards.

I’ve been to this location a few times and haven’t been disappointed yet. Overall their food is solid, décor is nice, and the staff friendly and helpful.
On my last visit, I brought some out of town guests for lunch here. We decided to all try the Big Lunch Sampler from their prix fixe menu. They served up the food on big plates to share the food. The nice thing is that they don’t force you to pay $ 17 for each person in the party. You just tell them how many portions you like (minimum six portions). So if you have young kids who don’t eat much you don’t have pay for them.
When the first few dishes started to come out I was a bit worried as the portions looked small. However, as more and more food came out my worries were alleviated. There was plenty of food to go around and more. Everyone enjoyed the sampler as there were a good variety of dishes to suit everyone’s pallet. The fried bananas at the end was a great finish especially when washed down with a good cup of their special coffee (not part of the prix fixe menu).

After my last experience at Banana Leaf (on Broadway) I was pretty sure I didn’t want to go back to any Banana Leaf. But it was my friend’s birthday and her pick, so… back to Banana Leaf. This time on Robson.
TIP: DO NOT BRING CAKE. Not only is Banana Leaf unable to help your birthday celebration with anything birthday-​like, but you will be charged a «cakeage» fee ($ 5 per person??) if you bring and serve cake.
Large restaurant with an upstairs for larger groups and ground floor outdoors eating. If yours is the only party left upstairs AND you have already paid, expect it to be abandoned while they focus on their walk-​ins downstairs.
Even if you haven’t or aren’t the only party there, bussing was also only OK. Empty dishes removed but maybe just one refill of water.
Unless you have an extremely sensitive palate, ignore the chilli symbol next to the menu items. It is nonsense. Even the Rendang Beef Curry wasn’t spicy-​hot.
Prices are pretty high. If you are not ordering a noodle or rice dish, you can still make an order into a filling meal by getting a bowl of rice ($ 2+). Consider getting one of the tasting menus, which has added value simply for letting you try more stuff.
Peppercorn BC Oysters ($ 10)
— I passed on ordering this when the waitress told me this would be THREE oysters. That’s over $ 3 per oyster!
Eggplant Fries ($ 7) julienned Chinese eggplant fries drizzled with Thai Chili sauce
— Eggplant lightly coated in batter and deep fried.
— Did NOT come nicely stacked as in the picture.
— Maybe the same amount of fries you get in an order of McDonalds fries.
Rendang Beef Curry ($ 16) boneless, lean beef stewed in spicy coconut gravy
— Meat not tender, but not really too tough either.
— Where’s the spiciness?
— Underlying flavour of beef rendang is correct, but still missing the richness from stronger spices, and therefore disappointing.
Sambal Tiger Prawns ($ 17) shell-​off tiger prawns cooked in a classic Malay spicy robust sauce made with chilli, garlic, lemongrass, and dried shrimp paste (belachan)
— Where’s the spiciness?
— Sauce really tasty. Try not to waste this — maybe mix in some rice to get all of it.
— Maybe six prawns in total. Decent size but not jumbo by any means.
Hainan Chicken ($ 18 for half chicken) poached chicken served cold with cucumber, sesame oil, peanuts, and soy sauce. Served with sides of ginger sauce and chili-​garlic sauce.
— I have never seen Hainanese chicken swimming in some BLACK soup.
— Missing the iconic chicken broth, therefore a complete waste of time.
— Portion is like maybe a chicken breast for the «half chicken» portion. Pretty small for $ 18 especially when it basically comes with no sides.
— Hainan Rice (cooked with ginger garlic with chicken broth) is on the «Recommended Sides» list at $ 2.50. Was NOT mentioned by server when ordering the Hainan Chicken.
Pineapple Fried Rice ($ 16) fried rice mixed with seafood, chicken, egg, onion, beans, tomatoes, raisin, corn, and pumpkin seeds
— Rather smallish portion.
— One-​fifth (¹⁄₅) of a pineapple was on the plate, instead of the half pineapple in the menu picture. BUT since the pineapple would have been hollowed out for the rice anyway, it is not necessarily the case that they skimped on pineapple.
— No way there was ½ or even ¹⁄₅^th of a pineapple in the portion of rice, which was maybe 4 bowls worth (?).
Pandan Pancakes ($ 7?)
— Very strangely deep green pancakes rolled up into small spring rolls, containing a very sweet sugar-​and-​coconut mix, and sitting in some sort of white sauce.
— Tasty. Pandan and coconut and sugar flavours all come through.
— Very sweet, maybe excessively so.
— TIP: Isolate just the pancake and taste that. It is strangely tasteless. Yes, tasteless. Not even any pandan or egg or pancake flavour. (Why?)
Jamu-​Kunyit ($ 6) turmeric, tamarind, and ginger drink
— If this tastes like medicine, it is because it is a sort of traditional herbal medicine.
— Bitter but saved by some sweetness and sourness (but not too much).
— Probably an acquired taste, so either know what it is or just be adventurous.
TIP: Bill apparently always reads «Gratuity not included», when it IS INCLUDED if you have a party of 6+ persons.

A great discovery! Tasty, the kids loves it, and prices were reasonable. Won’t hesitate to come back in the future!

Nice atmosphere, spacious. We were group of 8 and had no problem reserving table on sunday night. When in doubt, try char hor fun and appetizer sampler.
Roti wasn’t that impressive though, compare to other Malaysian restaurants.

Went with a fairly large group and everyone had the 9 course tasting menu. Everything was very good and I think that especially for eating in a group, it was a very good value for the money. The place was packed, but we received excellent service and although the dinner took about three hours, we lingered because the food and conversation were so good, not because of any delay by the wait staff. In this part of Vancouver, there are a lot of good options, but I recommend the Banana Leaf, especially if you have a large group who might want to do the tasting menu.

*Resubmitted Review (I left a review on Denman which is supposed to be for Robson)*
Ordered Rendang Beef and Sayur Lemak which is under lunch special menu ($ 10). Great portion and the taste was okay. It wasn’t too outstanding in my opinion. I had high expectations on those two dishes and felt disappointed when I got lukewarm food. It’d be better if it was piping.
I didn’t find it too delicious though.

Laksa for just 7bucks for lunch?! Come on, you have to try it!
Honestly the best soup I have ever had, kinda spicey but coconut milk gives it nice smooth taste,
If you are planning to go, dont forget make your reservation or you will be waiting about 20 minutes for free seat (even waiting is absolutely worth it)

I had basically written off this place as another chain restaurant that doesn’t serve unique food. However, that was nearly 5 years ago and luckily a friend of mine suggested we visit the Robson location for dinner recently.
When we arrived on a Tuesday, the restaurant was packed but we were seated promptly and our server was very attentive. My friend suggested I pick one of the noodle entrees due to experience, which I did. I chose a seafood dish, and she had a green curry noodle. Both had intense flavour, large serving size and very affordable pricing.
I went back recently to try their «lunch» specials, which we’re equally as delicious and very affordable at no more than $ 15.

I’ll find any excuse to go to this place. Friendly service, decent portions and tasty cocktails.
Roti Canai is a must order. Could eat that it all day, everyday!

Wow. Just wow. Rating is on food alone.
J and I rented bikes and biked around Stanley Park and the city of Vancouver for about 2 and a half hours. We were STARVING by the time we finished biking. And the closest and most delicious sounding place to get some grub? Banana Leaf. ohhhh mmmmyyyy goooodnesss.
Roti Canai. Sambal Green Beans with beef added. Ipoh Char Hor Fun. 2 orders of Jasmine Rice. Done. Killed it. Freaking delicious.
GET THESE DISHES.
If only this place existed in Seattle… I’d go so many times and try other dishes.

We came here looking for a quick bite before making the drive back to Seattle. Since we got there only 10 minutes before the kitchen closed, I felt that our food was rushed and not very tasty.
We started off with some fried oysters which were very tasty — deep fried and crispy. The soft shell crab salad was also good. However, the roti canai was disappointing — the flatbread was fine, but the curry that it came with was watery and tasteless — my husband suspected that they watered down what they had left instead of making more. Our nasi lemak was even worse, as there were parts of it that were frozen. They graciously took it off our bill after we pointed it out, but it’s enough to prevent me from coming here again.

Tasty and fast lunch service! Great for a work week lunch stop.
A few of my co-​workers and I came here for a lunch out. We were a big group and they were able to seat us with no problem. Service was really fast, and they answered all of our questions about the menu. They have lots of lunch specials and have really fast service once you order.
Food:
Veggie springrolls: Four to an order, came out piping hot with a zippy sauce. They were a bit greasy though, but I really liked the sauce.
I forget the name, but bread roll like flaky naan: Yumm, I go crazy for carbs and this was no exception. The sauce here was good as well, and the bread was really hot and fresh when we got it.
I ordered the Laksa soup. This was the first time I’ve had it, so I don’t have anything to compare it to, but it was really yummy. I ordered it extra hot, and it was medium-​ish. I really wish restaurants in Vancouver would make things spicy.
I recommend the Lemongrass-​Ginger tea. That was really good and they give you a little pot of it.

We had a very enjoyable dinner here on a Friday night, although we showed up at 7:30pm on a Friday night with no prior reservation, they were able to fit us in a nice table upstairs. There was a bit of a crowd as the night went on by the time we left at ~9pm.
Food is pretty good, flavourful and a bit heavy as expected for Malaysian/​Singaporean food. We ordered:
— appetizer sampler $ 18 (fruit and veggie salad (heavy sauce), 2 fried eggrolls, 2 fried squid rings, 2 chicken satay skewers, 3 pieces of Roti bread… best part is the 3 part sauce: peanut, satay soy, and the one for the Roti. ?)
— Assam curry with seafood (a little bit of scallops, prawn, eggplant, bell pepper, some other veggies)
— Nasi goreng (seafood fried rice)
— Singapore Laksa (coconut based rice noodle dish)
— lamb shank — the meat is so tender it’s falling off the bone, I think they made this as it’s ordered so it took a while to come out of the kitchen and was the last dish served.
Overall, the deal was delicious, again, generous portions for our party of 4, and the bill came out to a reasonable ~$ 100 total (tax + tip included), as I would expect for a nice sit down restaurant on Robson street.
Next time, I will try the «Banana Leaf» branch on Davie street, that one is definitely smaller in scale and not as fancy in deco though.