Banana Leaf

Wow! Took my mum here a few weeks ago and left saying we couldn’t wait to go back. The chopsticks sitting on the peanut looked great, though my mum thought it was so you could practice using chopsticks lol. The complimentary spicy pickled veg (soz cannae mind name) was gorgeous, so tasty. I had beef brisket with curry sauce and coconut rice. It was beautiful, unfortunately there was too much fat on some of the meat but that’s a personal taste. Rice was good though I was expecting more coconut flavour. Mum had pork in soy with noodles. OMG this was tremendous and I’m taking my man there tomorrow and can’t wait to. order it!!! The staff were lovely and the chef was out waving to us when we sent our compliments. At lunchtime it’s only £10.80 for a drink, starter, main and side… A must try…

I’ve emerged from post-​Christmas hibernation to head along to one of my fav restaurants in Glasgow for an early Sunday night dinner, and I really, really appreciated it!
I love Banana Leaf. I actually don’t know how many times I’ve eaten here now but it’s definitely pushing double figures. I also love that you can make reservations on the Unilocal app now — super handy and they even phoned me shortly afterwards to confirm the booking which was great. The food is Chinese/​Malaysian, and all the times I’ve eaten here I’ve always enjoyed the food and the friendly service.
They recently had a refurbishment and I love what they’ve done with the place — overall I’d say it looks a bit more upmarket/​intimate than before, with a beautiful mural on the wall of dark green leaves which is just lovely. The menu hasn’t changed too much thankfully so my old favourites are still there, and there’s also a banquet option which includes a sharing entrée platter and 4 mains for about £32pp which I think seems like really good value. We decided against that though, and ordered:
Chicken satay skewers. The sauce that comes with these is SO addictive and I promise you’ll be eating it straight from the bowl once you’ve finished the chicken. The portion comes with 4 skewers so it’s perfect for two to share.
Golden soft shell crab. Could I live on soft shell crab? I don’t know but I would love to try. While this is one of the pricer starters at £6.90, I think it’s definitely worth it and there is plenty to share between two.
Braised eggplant with minced pork in oyster sauce. I tried not to order this, I really did. I wanted to try something different but I love this dish so much that I gave in and ordered it. It’s beautifully presented in a bubbling hot pot and jam-​packed with eggplant and pork. The flavour might not be for everyone, but I just love the combination.
Kung po chicken. I didn’t have much of this as it was Graeme’s main but it definitely has a real kick to it — you can see the chilis in the dish and the cashews as a lovely refreshing break from the heat!
Graeme got ice cream for dessert and I tried some of it — to me, it tasted like dairy-​free ice cream but I forgot to check so I’m not totally sure. Our bill for dinner came to around £50 with soft drinks which I thought was reasonable for the amount of food we had. All up, a lovely meal with very friendly and helpful staff — I can’t wait to go back.

Utterly wonderful in every single way. yummy Malaysian food with stunning presentation, wonderful flavours and friendly service.
The chopsticks were presented on a monkey nut, which made me smile.
For starters roti canai and salt and chilli tofu. a light fluffy pancake with peanut curry sauce, not too spicy but with a nice kick and beautiful flavours. The tofu was a huge portion for a starter and complemented beautifully by the mocktail I ordered. The service was really speedy, such fresh food.
Our mains were from the ‘vegetarian comfort dishes’ menu. they were indeed comforting, and delicious. The sizzling hot pot tofu was melt in the mouth delicious tofu discs, with a huge range of vegetables, and the coconut rice was light and fluffy, and so flavoursome. The seasonal veg curry pot came with huge portions of mushrooms, aubergine and other veg, cooked just the right way. That was tofu 3 ways. such variety.
Our side dish of kailan was garlicky and steamed to perfection, perfecly completmenting our main meals and we were too stuffed for dessert, even though they also sounded beautiful.
Can’t reccomend the Malaysian Banana Leaf enough!

Today I paid a second visit to Banana Leaf.
My first visit was only a few weeks ago for the relaunch of the restaurant following some renovations. I was blown away by how good the food was so just had to go back for more, and I am thrilled to say I wasn’t disappointed.
The newly renovated restaurant looks beautiful. It is very warm and welcoming with beautiful lighting and calming green walls and ceilings. The staff are all so friendly and helpful, and the menu is right up my street. I love the flavours of Oriental cuisine, and I really struggle to choose between so many delicious-​sounding dishes.
On my first visit I went for the Chicken Satay Skewers with Peanut Sauce. It was delicious… tender and moist skewers of perfectly cooked chicken accompanied by a heavenly peanut sauce. This was one of the best Satays I have ever tasted.
My other half went for the Salt & Chilli Tofu with Peppers & Onions. Wow! This was packed full of flavour, and definitely a starter that I would order again.
For main course I opted for the Char Siu Pork with a side dish of Pak Choi. The pork was deliciously sweet and the pak choi was the perfect accompaniment. Mr M chose Mixed Seasonal Vegetables in a Curry Sauce. The curry was incredible, packed full of flavour and perfectly spiced.
The portions were extremely generous, so there was little room left for dessert. However, on Michelle M’s recommendation, we decided to share the Pandan Pancake with Ice Cream. This little pancake is filled with a delicate pandan-​flavoured custard. A really beautiful dessert, and definitely one I would order again!
Today I took my Dad along to try out the lunch menu. It is £10.50 for a drink, a starter, and a main course. I think this is a pretty good deal as the portions are all very generous, and the quality of the food is second to none!
Once again I went for the Satay Chicken starter, which was just as delicious as first time, and for main today I opted for Roast Duck stir fried with ginger and spring onion. The duck was beautiful, and perfectly complimented by the delicious ginger sauce. My Dad had Hot & Sour soup to start, and Pork Belly stir fried with dark soya sauce.
I think the pork belly was my favourite dish today… tasty pork in a sumptuous caramel-​like soya sauce — this dish had real depth of flavour.
If you haven’t been to Banana Leaf yet, you really must go. I could eat there every day… I love the cuisine, and with lovely surroundings and staff, this place is a real winner, and a true Glasgow gem!

We stopped in over the weekend for dinner. I had sizzling beef with onions and oyster sauce. It was good, but nothing amazing. It was a bit frustrating ordering because while they can accommodate gluten free dining, they don’t have a menu or labels nothing what’s OK to eat. I had to pick a few dishes and ask if I could have them — disappointingly I ended up with option 3 this time.
If they labeled their menu, I’d probably go back, but the gluten guessing game is not fun for me.

Food was delicious! We had a sampler platter — delicious, though a fried slice of salmon was not my cup of tea. The stir fried water spinach was extra fine. We also indulged ourselves in a prawn dish that had them lightly fried with a garnish of cilantro and very fresh lemon grass as a perfect bed upon which the lay these sumptuous prawns.

Great find. The aroma and warm welcome were appreciated.
We had spring rolls, salt and chili king prawns, jemput jemput, kung ponchicken and rice. All was flavourful and delicious — favourite was salt and chili king prawns. I recommend this spot if you are travelling in the area and want a quick flavourful bite to eat. :)

I am malaysian but been living in florida, usa since 1998 and always looking for a good malaysian restaurant when i visit a new place. Very happy to found this place through Unilocal.We ordered nasi lemak and curry laksa. Both are delicious. Mom loves it. Unfortunately we are in glasgow for 1 day only, if not will definitely go back again. Only thing stopping me for giving 5 stars: chinese tea! Mom and I want hot chinese tea. They charge 0.70 pence per person which is totally fine BUT seriously just so little tea leaves in the pot??? My mom was like WHAT!!! The tea tasted a lot more like hot water than chinese tea. Chinese tea leaves are cheap. More tea leaves next time.

I had never heard of this place before joining Unilocal and as soon as I had a wee peek at the menu and the reviews I knew I had to go at the earliest opportunity! Luckily, less than a week later opportunity knocked — cinema date night!
I arrived first at Banana Left at the decidedly eager time of 4.30. The restaurant was pretty quiet this early with just a few groups seated so I had my pick of tables. A waiter came over to ask if I was dining alone or waiting on more people and he brought me some menus to read. I had pretty much picked exactly what I wanted by the time my boyfriend arrived.
The menu had a great choice of vegetarian options, which were listed separately on the menu. I’ve mentioned this in reviews before but I really appreciate when restaurants list their veggie dishes separately, it saves me time reading every item description on the menu only to be disappointed when it happens to contain meat!
I decided on the salt and chilli tofu starter and the bf had chicken satay skewers. He let me try a little of the satay sauce before it was defiled by the chicken and we both agreed it was one of the best satays we’ve tried, we just wished there was a little more of it! My tofu was perfect and I was even able to eat up all the chillies, unusual for me! For my main I had the sizzling hot plate tofu and vegetables in vegetarian oyster sauce with a side of steamed rice. Guys, let me tell you, this dish blew my mind. I was making yum yum noises as I ineptly tried to use the chopsticks to scoop up every last bit! The tofu was pretty slippery as it was in batter and I found it quite hard to pick it up with my chopsticks! The variety of veggies was great (didn’t even know what some of them were but ate them anyway) and the portion size was enormous! The bf had beef with ginger and spring onions and steamed rice, which he liked. Because the portion sizes were so big I definitely think that one side of rice is enough between two as we both couldn’t finish ours!
The restaurant as a whole was nice and had a pleasant atmosphere. The choice of music (muzak instrumental numbers of Rod Stewart songs) was quite dated but we found it amusing. The staff were very attentive and polite. The presentation of everything is fantastic, right down to the bill being presented on an actual banana leaf!
Since our film was at 5.45 we were seated, fed and on our merry way in just over an hour, which I think is fantastic! I think it’s always good to know where you can get a quick and tasty meal, so next time your going to catch a film, schedule in an hour before to experience Banana Left for yourself!

Some say that the stomach leads to the heart. After eating at Banana leaf, I’m inclined to agree. This family-​run hidden gem holds the key to my heart, for sure.
I’d had no experience of Malaysian food before I laid eyes on Banana Leaf’s online menu. I love that the two for £9.50 lunch menu on their website features pictures and suggestions. There’s countless combinations, and trying a new cuisine can be a little overwhelming, so it was really nice to have a little extra to help with choosing. The roti canai and curry laksa with egg noddles sealed the deal. — Crispy flatbread served with curry sauce and spicy soup served with crispy wontons, honey-​glaze barbecued pork and fish cake. I was having foodie sweats just thinking about it.
You’d be a fool to rule out Banana Leaf based on its minimalist, unassuming décor. It’s on the small side too. But that’s all parts of its charm, and the food really does speak for its self. Delicious, wholesome, warming. — And with beautiful, beautiful flavours. I’m trying to think of the last time a meal made me as happy as this one, and I’m struggling. From the crisp roti canai to the hearty yet fiery laksa with those plump wontons, this really is the stuff of foodie dreams. And it was impossible to leave without a smile.
Service was attentive, speedy and friendly.
I literally don’t have a bad word to say. For me, this is a stand out meal in Glasgow and a place I’d visit again and again. I’ve had roti canai and curry laksa on my mind since my first visit, and I will do until my next.

For a change, some non Unilocaling friends recommended this place last weekend.
First impression was that this is way off the usual beaten track, yet weirdly still quite central when you get your bearings. Lovely glass front giving a welcoming feeling and more cosy due to the Christmas decorations still being up.
Echo the previous reviews, that the service is remarkably friendly and engaging.
Ordered salt and chilli squid as a main and chicken curry with potatoes. Sadly, they forget the curry and we polished off the squid whilst they quickly knocked it up. Very apologetic, but a simple mistake as two of the same was ordered.
Flavour wise, absolutely brilliant. Couple of downsides, was the curry was really nippy. Really did take some work to finish it through the spice pain! Also, the squid portion wasn’t that generous for a main. Now to explain, I am comparing to Asia Style, given thats my go to Malaysian/​Chinese restaurant. The squid there for the same price, is twice the portion.
Place started getting busier around 5pm on Saturday afternoon, but we were not rushed even after paying the bill.
Whilst this is out of the way from where I am normally, I probably wouldn’t be here that often. That said, if you are around this area & want a fantastic authentic meal, you’d be daft not to eat here. Hands down, it is worth that extra 5 min walk in the centre to eat here.
You Gotta Eat Here — For Sure! :-D

I love Malaysian food and no matter where I am in the world I usually end up getting it. It’s almost never a mistake, and this was no different. Great food here and good lunchtime prices. I got the Hainanese Chicken rice, and my companion let me talk him into the laksa, which he had never had before. We were very happy.

I’ve eaten here twice now and both times I really enjoyed myself. Service is warm and friendly. Décor is simple and could be improved/​made to feel warmer. I love their coconut rice. Their claypot fried fish is lovely as well as their sweet and sour pork ribs. Their stir fried garlic veggies are good too. I would recommend this place!

Having heard a lot of good things about this place, I thought I’d pop in & try their lunch menu. At £9.60 for starter, main course and a drink, I think this place is really good value for money.
I walked in and was sat down quickly despite it being fairly busy. The staff were curteous, but really efficient. The restaurant was filled with a reassuring mix of students & locals, so I figured it was going to be fairly authentic.
I ordered the roti canai & stir-​fried tofu. The dishes were brought out within 5 minutes but looked fresh. The Roti with accompanying curry sauce reminded me of eating at hawker stalls in Kuala Lumpur (albeit without the choking humidity of SE Asia), the smile on my face was testament to my enjoyment of the dish. The stir-​fried Tofu in Black bean sauce was really tasty, well presented with a generous amount of rice & mixed veg. As I ate among the chatter of fellow diners, I felt satisfied that this is a place I’d happily return to. The speed at which my plate cleared, testament to the quality of the food & my hunger this lunchtime.

One of the best authentic Malaysian restaurants in Glasgow, and this coming from an actual Malaysian. Food portions are huge but delicious nonetheless and staff are helpful and kind! Eating here reminds me of food at home :) highly recommend

Banana Leaf is somewhere I’ve been planning on trying for absolutely ages but only decided to get round to it the other night before seeing my friend Ross in Lord of the Flies at the Theatre Royal. They offer a pre theatre menu but we decided to go A La Carte and definitely made the right decision! I’ve never been the biggest fan of Malaysian/​Chinese food, much preferring Japanese and Thai, but a visit here has assured that I’ll be eating more!
I ordered a beef and shiitake dish which was lovely, but the standout food was Colin’s Beef with Ginger and Spring Onion dish — honestly one of the tastiest things I’ve ever tried. Didn’t last long on the table mind you!
Lovely staff, lovely décor and wonderful food — you should definitely be trying this place out!

I am afraid I am just going to have to follow the trend and give another 5 star rating. I was lucky enough to go to dinner at Banana leaf last night and I was not disappointed.
It was very busy and I was glad we had booked a table in advance or we may have been waiting a while. The service is very quick and the staff are friendly and helpful.
On to the food, we shared quite a few dishes between myself and Trudie M, starter platter to share, salt and chilli squid, salt and chilli scallops, beef brisket curry, chicken rice and some egg fried rice.
The stand outs for me were the squid and scallops, which were the best salt and chilli dishes I have ever tried. Perfectly cooked, they just melted in your mouth. I also really liked the beef brisket curry and happily devoured it with the rice.
The menu had loads of options and when I go back I plan to be more adventurous as there was plenty of choices I had never heard of before that sounded lovely.
My only minor gripe is the beer menu was very limited and they could do with having much better options. Other than that, no complaints and this will now be my go to place for Chinese/​Malaysian food in the future.

I could eat in this place every single night!
I am not sure I have enough words to cover how good this place is. Ok so here goes.
For starters we ordered the platter, but only for one person which was plenty and the Salt and Pepper squid. I would recommend the salt and pepper dishes every time, they are that good!
For mains we tried to do the whole lets share but when we both tasted our dishes we didn’t want to give them up! We got a Braised Beef curry (spicy!!) and Salt and Pepper scallops! Oooo mmmm geeeee! Nice! We also ordered 2 portions of rice, Which seemed to be more than enough.
As we watched more people being served their food we noticed they seemed to be all doing the same thing which was ordering your own portion of rice and then sharing all the mains with veg as well.
The only negative thing I would say (and I really don’t want too) they don’t have a great selection of beers that are local to their cuisine, so we both selected the tiger beer.
I really want to mark this place higher than I can. 10 stars for me!

I first went to Banana Leaf in June 2012 and instantly fell in love with the place. It has been my favourite go to place in Glasgow for Malay Chinese ever since. I grew up in Singapore & can get a lot of my childhood favourite dishes here.
On my first visit, I wrote a review on my blog which I have copied here for more info. It is well worth the visit:
Within 5 minutes of sitting down, the entire Restaurant was full and people were being turned away. Surely a sure fire sign of how good the place is? Especially since half of the Restaurant was full of Chinese (& Singaporeans, I can’t forget the accent!). I was even more excited flicking through the menu, there was a vast selection to choose from. All I could think about was Kai-​Lan though so I knew instantly what I wanted.
So we ordered a mix: Crispy Won-​Tons served with Sweet & Sour Sauce, Kung Lou King Prawns, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Stir-​Fried Kai-​Lan with Beef, an additional huge plate of Stir-​Fried Kai-​Lan in Oyster Sauce (which I especially asked for since that wasn’t on the menu!) and a bowl of Chicken Flavoured Rice.
First up were the Won-​Tons, 4 of them. Sadly, they were a little too oily and crispy on the outside but the filling of Pork and Shrimp was really nice and full of flavour. Not sure if I’d order them again though.
Next up was my Mom’s Hainanese Chicken Rice which was served before everything else. She loved it, not as good as what we normally get in Singapore but a damn good replacement! One thing she didn’t like was the fact there were a lot of bones. In Singapore, when you order this dish, they ask you if you want it with or without bones. I think she would have enjoyed it before if there weren’t bones. Possibly we need to ask if they could do that for us? The Chilli Sauce that came with the Chicken Rice had a little too much ginger in it which overpowered the sauce on it’s own but when mixed with the Chicken and Rice, it was great.
5 minutes later and a few belly rumbles, everything else was served. I started digging into the Kai-​Lan with Beef, firstly attacking the Kai-​Lan while having the craziest smile on my face. My eyes lit up with every bite and a few silent WOW’s! It tasted just like what I’d have in Singapore. The Kai-​Lan was nice & crunchy, the Beef cooked perfectly in the sauce. Instant favourite!
Kung Lou King Prawns or Sweet & Sour Prawns was faultless. I honestly couldn’t find one thing I didn’t like about it, other than the fact I wanted more. The prawns were cooked perfectly, the sauce was good and I will 100% definitely be getting this again.
Then some more Kai-​Lan which was stir-​fried in Garlic and Oyster Sauce. I couldn’t actually finish this (my eyes got the better of me!) and I ended up getting this wrapped up to takeaway so I could have it for lunch the next day at work complete with rice and chilli sauce
Needless to say, I have found my new favourite place to eat in Glasgow. I will be back, I know that for sure, so sure that I’ve been looking at the menu to see what else I can order next time!
Banana Leaf gets very busy quickly, it’s not the type of place to make a reservation, just turn up and hope for the best. If you can’t get a table, they’ll tell you to come back in ¹⁵⁄₂₀ minutes. It’s worth the wait! While in the Restaurant, I looked around to see what everyone else was ordering. I noticed that a lot of the local Glaswegians were asking the waiters what someone else on another table were ordering, in fact, I overheard a table asking about our dishes which made me laugh. The Hainanese Chicken Rice was a favourite with a lot of people along with the Roti to start with, which was another thing I used to have in Singapore a lot.

I love Malay dishes and they certainly provided very tasty ones. My favourite for the evening was a battered soft shell crab with some fried rice -. Tasty and well presented. I had a taste of their ‘smoorkip’ — or curried chicken and it taste like my Grandma used to make it — (she’s Indonesian).
Thank you Banana Leaf for providing tasty and authentic tasting dishes for all Malaysian foodies out there!