Banana Island

Love Love the food and décor here is very soothing. Call in advance to make reservations if you have a large group. It is located behind the party store, facing the parking garage. Don’t be scared walking down the alley, they’ve been there since before the structure was in placed.

I had ordered Curry chicken with noodles. It looked like they gave me the left over bones with little meat hanging off it, from the bottom of the pot, was not impressed! I was hungry and I was 5 pregnant at the time. So I sent it back and didn’t want anything else. My mother in-​laws dish was better then mine. The waiter apologize but he wasn’t the one that cooked it so I still gave my tip. The complimentary miso soup in the beginning was nice… I had to eat somewhere else cos I was still hungry.

Discovered this place several years back and it’s a now a must-​go every time my family visits the Bay Area!
My dad is from Malaysia so I grew up eating quite a few Malaysian dishes and this is just about on-​par with the Malaysian home cooking my relatives make. Roti canai is my favorite Malaysian dish generally but the beef rengdang here is amazing. The beef is cooked wonderfully and it’s so flavorful. I don’t know if I could find better beef rengdang at a restaurant unless I actually went to Malaysia.
That’s not to say the roti canai and other dishes aren’t good as well because they most definitely are. The roti canai is made really well as is its accompanying sauce. Everything on the menu is also very reasonably priced. All in all, this is the best Malaysian food I’ve had at a restaurant and I wish I could eat it more often.

Consistently good food and service. I love the roti canai, and the curry dipping sauce. They make it at a front counter and you can watch the chefs. It’s fun for kids to watch too. They have many great dishes, from their pineapple fried rice, to their soups, veggie and meat dishes. I recommend going with at least a small group so you can try things family style. Very conducive to sharing. Nice décor and welcoming. They are also good for bigger groups too. They are located right next to the Home Depot parking lot so you need to know to walk around the corner from Daphne’s to this place. Because they are good, there is often a wait. I suggest making reservations.

Love their food! All good & yummy! The Roti Canai is the bomb. Be aware for the main dish tho’ mostly spicy. I love spicy so I don’t have any problem. Reservations needed especially for the dinner at weekend, they always busy. Spacious parking garage right in front of the building make it even better :)

I keep writing 4 star reviews not because I’m a nice guy but cuz these places deserve them. Banana Island is no different as our waiter was very friendly, the food came out hot and fast, and it tasted great. We also got seated very quickly on a busy day and every table was filled up. Props to the management and the workers. Portions could be bigger though…

Worst about it is the location: here’s some help– RIGHT BEHIND Home Depot; located in an alley way between the parking structure and west lake shopping center. Sounds sketch, but it’s a nice place!
My family’s hooked on the basics– pad Thai and pineapple fried rice. They’re menu is comparable to an Asian Cheesecake Factory menu. Pages & pages of options!
Food’s yummy. I ordered take out and it was ready in 10 minutes!

First off, if you’re considering this place, know that there something for about anyone, and nothing will be disappointing.
Their service is odd — leaves you calling waiters to the table when you need them. The party I was with was a group of regulars, and were well-​versed in kind of bossing the staff. Just not a restaurant-​structure I’m used to.
Their menu is quite extensive. We (5 of us) ordered the following, and were disgustingly full afterward:
Roti Canal (⁵⁄₅) — wonderfully crispy thin, pancake-​y snack with a really delicious coconut-​y curry dipping sauce (with a surprise potato in the bowl!)
Chicken Rendang (³⁄₅) — nice curry taste, but chicken could’ve been more tender. Listed as spicy on the menu, so I was worried because I’m not good with spicy, but it was quite tolerable, and served with cucumbers to cool you down.
Lady Finger Belecan (⁵⁄₅) Okra, shrimp with Malay sauce — DELICIOUS. Perfectly cooked okra, and the sauce was awesome.
Coconut Rice (³⁄₅)
Chicken Broth Rice (⁵⁄₅)
Seafood Bird Nest (⁴⁄₅) — I actually could’ve done without the seafood/​mushroom/​bell pepper mix, and would’ve loved the deep-​fried taro nest by itself.
Pineapple Fried Rice with Beef (⁵⁄₅) — I was craving this the second I saw it was on the menu. I had this dish almost daily when I was living in Taiwan, and Banana’s was quite yummy and authentic!
Watermelon Juice was out of season :(
Roti with Durian (²⁄₅) — I don’t think I’m a fan of durian.
Mango Ice Cream (³⁄₅) — average ice cream
Mango Sticky Rice (³⁄₅) — and average sticky rice
Thank you, come again? Maybe if I ever have to take a large group to dinner.

Not going to lie, I was pleasantly surprised when I ate here not too long ago. First off, I just have to say that the waitress was incredibly nice and helpful. The roti was definitely a must. Also, The waitress had suggested the red curry over the yellow curry and the red curry was amazing.
All-​in-​all: if you are questioning whether or not to go to this place, I say do it. You won’t be disappointed!

Love this place. Been here around four times with the same people and the vibe and company in here is awesome. It’s always warm and cozy here because the seats are really close to each other but it’s not actually close where you can touch them. The service here is great because they always ask what you need or they refill your cups with water when they see it’s almost empty. Food came super fast like it’s just rolling plate after another. The food is always super bomb because it’s filled with flavored that keeps you wanting more and coming back. They also provide mints that taste different from any mint candies you’ve ever had. Definitely a place everyone needs to try because I promise you won’t regret it.

I’m just going to be honest. Me and my boyfriend did not enjoy this place at all. Not only was it incredibly hard to find, the menu was way to big and the food was not good at all. The only thing we somewhat enjoyed was the roti canai… Which was basically just a thin tortilla with a side of sauce. The presentation was horrible. The pad Thai was horrendous… We had one shrimp in the entire dish… And it was nothing like the pad Thai from back home. It was obviously pre made as it was a dead lunch hour and the food came out in under 2 minutes.
The service was awful. We had 3 different servers and they failed to acknowledge that we hardly took 2 bites of our food. Our greeting was «are you going to order?» Needless to say we left and ate somewhere else.
Don’t waste your time!

Surprisingly impressed.
Went here on a whim with the family during the holidays. Always looking for good Asian food in Daly City, and it’s sometimes hard to find. I didn’t think much of this one (don’t be fooled by the deceptively simple website), but got one of the better rating on Unilocal,so gave it shot.
The place is a lot bigger than advertised. Can easily hold large parties. Luckily we went early, but still had to wait 20 minutes for a party of 8. FYI, though billed as Thai/​Singaporean/​Malaysian, they speak pretty good Cantonese.
Food comes out fast. Literally, minutes after we ordered, the plates started to stack up. They seem fresh, hot, and some were sizzling.
1.) Roti — get some kind of roti for sure. They make it right in the center of the restaurant, so you know it’s all good. Plus, the sauce is an added bonus. If you like bread at Italian restos, you’re going to love the roti.
2.) Volcano spareribs — they ain’t lying. Comes out in tinfoil on fire! Tasty.
3.) Hokkien Mee — had no idea what this was, but my family was feeling adventurous. But as a noodle dish, it’s very flavorful and a must try.
4.) Pineapple fried rice — probably worse dish we had, but still not bad. Nothing special, take a pass on this one.
5.) Hainanese chicken — apparently THE DISH in taiwan. Chicken is just like any other steamed asian chicken. But I’ve always like this. It comes with a chopped ginger/​onion sauce that will elevate the taste of the chicken to new levels. The chicken rice (rice that is cooked in the chicken oil) is a… just do yourself a favor and get it.
This place is legit. It’s something you would find in the heart of SF ChinaTown, not necessarily a shopping center in DC. It’ll probably be my new take out Asian food place.

Roti here is the best. You know it’s legit when you can see them making it in front of you. Very thin but also very crispy, and it goes perfectly with the dipping sauce. You can’t go wrong with multiple orders of this appetizer.
Some other highlights are the sarang seafood, which is a tasty fried nest of taro holding a bunch of seafood and vegetables. Char kway teow is like your standard chow fun but with more flavoring and also a lot of seafood. I wanted to like the lamb rendang a bit more but unfortunately the meat was a bit dry. Perhaps stick with the beef rendang next time.
I also liked the Malaysian iced tea, which is much less sweet than the Thai counterpart.
Waits here can be long. Even on a Monday night it was packed and we had to wait a good 20 minutes, and the waiting area was crowded as well. Make a reservation if possible.

Very good food here
I definitely enjoy the food a lot. It has such good flavors! If you like salty/​savory and sweet mixed with spicy, you’ll definitely like this place.
We ordered:
–the lady fingers stir-​fried with shrimp, bell peppers, and onions. I am not a fan of okra but the flavors were nice. It wasn’t too slimy like okra tends to be, but I can’t really handle that texture.
–chicken rendang: mmm the sauce that came with this one was definitely savory and yummy. It was perfect when I paired it with hot steamed rice. I would recommend this, not too spicy and very savory.
–roti appitzer: you can’t come here without ordering this. It’s the perfect beginning to your meal. It’s slightly sweet with a hint of coconut in the curry sauce, perfectly crispy and doughy. Eat it when it’s hot; when it cools down, it drops from an A to a D+
–tom yum soup: it was a little bit thin, but it had a lot of flavor and a huge assortment of vegetables and seafood. It was very delicious! The small size is good for ~4 people
–Mango sticky rice: mmm this dessert was the dessert that showed me how magnificent mango and coconut were as a pair. it’s sweet and rich but so refreshing with the mango.
Service was very acceptable. The server even served the soup for us when it came. We were not bothered and got service when we requested it. I’ll be back again!

Came here for the 2^nd time ever with my parents since we were already in the Westlake area and were craving some Thai food.
FOOD:
2 STARS. First time coming here I remember the pad thai tasted like it went bad or it was sitting out for a couple of days. This time, the food we ordered wasn’t anything spectacular. The deep fried pork in red seasoning we got was very dry, fried noodles we got came with VERY little chicken and the other two dishes were too oily. Maybe there are better things on the menu we didn’t order, but my second expereince here didn’t improve much from the first.
SERVICE:
5 STARS! Attentive, polite and efficient.
AMBIANCE:
Very cute decorated place. Give you the vibe of being in a bamboo forest café.
Overall, I won’t be visiting this spot any time soon.

Sooo many choices on the menu! and all so yummy!
Came here with the parents and boyfriend, now fiancée! (separate event though). Parents had been excited to take us here to try out the food and i’m glad that they did. It’s very similar to the Banana Bay in LA area– hmm same company?
Anyways, gotta always get the roti canal– it’s basically just weird tortilla type of bread and you dip it in this amazing sauce. We got an order of three because we’re fatties lol.
LOVED the okra dish that they had, and I normally love ong choy but wasn’t a fan of the shrimp paste that they added with it. They have all different types of curries and noodle dishes too, can’t wait to try that out next time!
It’s a bit hard to find too, it’s in a shopping mall plaza, but you gotta go past jamba juice and down this alley looking way, and it’s basically by the backside parking lot. The outside definitely looks shady but the inside décor is actually pretty nice, they did a good job! hope to see you soon again! :)

When my family and I get together and dine, we usually go big. Picture 5 – 6 Filipino women with appetites like bears entering an establishment that has a lazy Susan. We all wore our fat pants because we were ready to throw down! What was spinning on the Lazy Susan you may ask?
Roti canai-​Yum! If you never had it, try it!
Coconut shrimp-​Standard, it could’ve been better but I’m a fan of them peeling the shrimp. They just fried it with the coconut and peel.
Papaya salad-​I like mine a tad spicier, this had a very sweet flavor but was fresh and good
Singapore fried rice-​green beans, eggs and ham-​pretty standard
Pineapple Fried Rice-​Yes, we ordered rice dishes because we love rice. This was my least favorite of the night but I have high standards for this entrée.
Beef chow fun-​My favorite. I highly recommend it
Kang Kung-​Oh, what can I say? I can eat three plates of this stuff myself!
Fried tilapia
Malaysia Buddist-​I was thrown off originally by this dish but it ended up being the star of my meal!
Mango Sticky Rice-​Love, brings me back to my childhood!
Coconut Pudding-​Get it!
Was there anything I didn’t love? Nope. They were so busy but the staff was great in making sure that we had everything we needed. Almost $ 280 later we were stuffed and ready for naps. I’ll definitely be back.

We were craving Thai food and this place hit the spot.
We ordered the green curry, the seafood scramble egg noodles and sizzling beef. Everything tasted pretty good. My favorite would probably be the sizzling beef.
It was really busy so service was a bit slow however when we did get there attention, they took care of all our needs. Great family vibe while eating dinner there.
Overall: will return when in the area.

I can’t believe I have never written a review after coming here since high school! Then again, I don’t Unilocal existed when I was in high school. Haha.
Anyhoo, I have a love/​hate relationship with banana island. Sometimes, the food is piping hot and wonderful. Other times, dishes fall flat on their faces. I normally start with an order of roti, move onto some beef rendang, pick up some spareribs that are served on fire, and a sizzling tofu dish.
For dessert, I get roti with coconut sauce. Super delish. These are my absolute staples here after trying numerous items. Service is hit or miss also. Don’t expect friendliness… they just get it done.
Oh, and don’t forget to pay a little extra and get coconut rice. Bomb!

Seafood chow fun, Malaysian eggplant, green curry are a must! Food comes out within 10 mins.
Don’t get confused with the aroma chicken though, it’s like sweet and sour chicken.
I recommend coming here :)