Banana Leaf

Our first time in this place, very pleasant experience. Food was good and plenty to fill you up. Not an expert in Malaysian cuisine but for us it was tasty! Got it pretty quick too but we were late so not much other guests. I think we’ll be coming back.

Best food anywhere! Service: A+, Menu Selection: A+, Flavor: A+. We can’t wait to go back up to B.C. to go here again. Great place!

I ordered Hainan Chicken (didn’t come with rice or soup, had to pay extra) and Singapore Laska. the portions were quite small!
I have had better Hainan Chicken with Rice/​Soup at Café Delight (Aberdeen Centre Food Court) and at Mamalee.
For Singapore Laska, I had better at Tamarind hill in New West (bigger portion, taste great and 10 $!). Penang Delight is great as well.
Will not be back to this place again, not sure if they cheap out on the portion for take out. but there are other great places for Malaysian food (taste, portion and price).

More like three and a half stars, but there were some definite highlights.
Went for lunch the other day, and we ordered the Hainan chicken and the big lunch special along with a side of roti canai.
The roti canai was one of the best I’ve ever had here, and the curry dipping sauce was a perfect balance with great flavour, consistenty, texture and very slight heat.
The lunch special was beef rendang, rice, roti canai and a side salad. All quite good, the beef was a tad dry, but it was also late in the lunch time slot. The roti was same as the side, though a smaller portion. A sizable lunch for a very good price ($ 8 if i recall correctly).
The Hainan chicken was presented with the three sauces as well as a soup and coconut rice. It was very good, but I’ve had better hainanese chicken here. Good size portion for very reasonable $ 11.
Decent beer and wine list with reasonable prices, very good service from our water.
Fruit flies were a significant issue, to the point where we had to stop eating to bat away at them and they were all over the food and our wine.
Our waiter assured us that it was temporary and not usual and they weren’t sure what caused the infestation.
I would eat there again — they have a tasting menu for lunch as well as dinner which would allow one to try a wide variety of dishes, but bring your appetite. I found the lunch servings quite sizable.

Food used to be really tasty, this time the food wasn’t too fresh, and seemed overcooked

One of the best meals we had in Vancouver. Kid-​friendly restaurant with baby plates. Roti canai had a wonderful, sweet chewy aftertaste.
I got the Hainan Chicken lunch special. I was a little concerned when I read reviews saying that the Hainan chicken didn’t come with rice, but my lunch special had chicken, rice and soup so I was a happy camper. I compare all Hainan Chicken to Savoy’s version (LA restaurant) and usually places fall short. However, Banana Leaf’s was comparable, though its strength is not in its chicken or sauces but in the rice, which was incredibly flavorful: sticky with a nice firm density, garlicky, and tasting like chicken broth. Washed down the food with a refreshing calamansi with honey drink — first time having it and enjoyed it.
My husband loved his Mee Goreng and is now on the hunt for an excellent rendition of Mee Goreng in the LA area.
Only thing was I went to the bathroom before the food arrived, and one of the toilets was really foul, like someone dropped a massive, splashy deuce and was too proud to flush. Not the restaurant’s fault, but it did taint my enjoyment of the food just a tiny bit.

This location has stepped up its game. I’d been once before a couple years ago because I was too lazy to walk all the way to the Denman location, and it was just so-​so.
I went here a couple weeks ago with some friends, and their food was on-​par or maybe even better than Denman’s. I got the Kung Pow Chicken with steamed coconut rice. We also shared some roti, which was delicious.
This location one-up’d Denman with their drink specials: Fridays $ 4 frozen Margaritas – heck yeah! And they were goooood. Possibly a hint of lychee?
I’ll be back and hope for repeat experiences.

The service and food was good at Banana Leaf.
I came to the Banana Leaf late in the evening and was famished.
For appetizers we ordered roti canai and peppercorn oysters.
For my meal I ordered curry boneless chicken, char kuey teow, and mango chili prawns with basil leaves.
The food was delicious and tasty!

I got to the restaurant late so I felt a little pressured to get the hell out. The servers were still very polite. Unfortunately I went there specifically for mango-​sticky rice which they ran out of.
I had the mango-​papaya salad which was very sweet, almost too sweet. The fish in banana leaf was tasty but the pineapple fried rice was quite bland with very little seafood.
So I gave them a star for service, a star for ambiance and a star for the fish. I couldn’t in all honesty give it 4-​stars because I’ve had better and it’s quite expensive. For an appetizer, a rice and a meat dish it was $ 50 before tip. Pricey!

Walked pass this place on our (me and my BF) way to breakfast before going up Grouse Mountain, looked at the menu, and decided that this place will be the place we go for my last dinner experience in Vancouver. I must say that we were not disappointed at all. The ambiance and décor was great! We got sat right away but a few minutes later, the place started to fill up. Our food came quickly and the service was good. We ordered Pineapple Fried Rice, Braised Lamb Shank, and Roti Canai. It was delicious! If you are in the area, it is worth giving this place a try.

First time trying Malaysian food while we were in Vancouver. The banana leaf could be considered a good introduction, especially since they provide a sampling menu that allows allows one to taste their most popular dishes. the food was excellent, the freshness of the ingredients really came through. From what we’ve sampled at this restaurant, it seems as though malay food incorporates some indian influences, except that the vegetables arent cooked as much, and so they remain crisp and light. Liked the food, good ambience, great service. Give malaysian food a try, you might be pleaantly surprised

Glass had black moldy sludge on edges and bottom. Good came fast and hot. Servers adequate but less than stellar on a slow early supper.
Sampler menu for two was okay nothing special. Their fried calamari was bland. Satay bland. Shrimp. over cooked.
Black rice dessert was a hit fried banana dessert was okay.
Dishes are large enough to be shared, although menu does not state this, nor do the servers tell you so.
My drink was remade but I was offered no apology nor comped for the gross glass.
Overall… Nice food slightly high prices, might try again.

We came back here a few nights later to get only dessert — I was really craving sticky rice with mango. Their sticky rice is not like what is served in the US. it was pretty thick and SUPER sticky and chewy. I enjoyed it, even though it was different from the usual!
We also ordered the fried banana sundae AND the durian with black rice tapioca (yes, we’re fatties). The durian flavor was not AS pungent as usual, I think bc it came out frozen. Although next time I think I would pass on the black rice tapioca… it was a little too soupy and the texture of the rice not that appealing to me. We still ate a majority of it though ;)

Great experience at Banana Leaf tonight —
Very obscure location on Davies street and it is a gem!
Server was very friendly and informative helping us make our dish decisions.
Everything we ordered was fantastic and this wasn’t the hunger pains speaking for us cause we were starving.
The eggplant fries were tasty and offered a bit of change from straight up French fries with a slightly healthier twist and this was just the start.
The cooking staff delivered well thought out dishes that presented flawlessly.
May consider going back again for lunch or dinner!
Great job!

Dazzled by the picture-​laden menu amd enjoying our fruit-​filled Sunday special sangrias, we were excited for our Malaysian meals. They did not disappoint, an especially bright spot being the shrimp and vegetables (green beans, okra, eggplant). The sauce was worth the price of admission alone.
Subtracting one star for service — in a party of two, one dish arrived 5 – 7 minutes before the other. Not particularly bad, but a bit awkward. Otherwise, experience was very pleasant. I have no prior experience with Malaysian food so I can’t comment on authenticity, but it certainly tasted good.

Perhaps one of the best restaurants in the West End
Food is very tasty, good portions, and ingredients
The roti is amazing, can’t get enough of that

I’ve never tried Malaysian food before so we opted for the 9 course tasting menu for $ 30. All the portions they serve are for two people and it was more than enough with leftovers to take home.
I don’t know what authentic Malaysian food is supposed to taste like but the dishes we got seemed like something we could get at a chinese/​thai restaurant. Regardless, the plates were pretty tasty especially the green beans which were very crunchy in texture.
I ended up getting food poisoning from this place though (I think it was the beef) so I will not be coming back.

Was here for lunch today. I usually try to make my way here about every two to four weeks when I’m craving South East Asian food that does not begin in Viet or Thai. This location has been here a few years, replacing Kam’s Place, a Singaporean restaurant.
Anyway today I had the Pineapple Fried Rice Combo which consisted of Asian salad, pineapple seafood fried rice, satay chicken, and a spring roll for $ 12.99. Imho it’s a great choice when you don’t really know what to order. You get a little bit of everything! The highlight was definitely the fried rice. The pineapples and scallops really make your taste buds dance! The last time I ordered the fried rice on its own, it actually came in a pineapple! Easy 4 stars. I’ll be back in the near future for sure.

Excellent food! I came here with my family and we got a Singapore Laksa, Mee Goreng, Boneless Hainan Chicken Rice and a Tofu Goreng.
The Singapore Laksa was delicious, the soup was very creamy with lots of flavor. Mee Goreng was fantastic as well, packed with flavor.
The tofu goreng and the hainan chicken rice were tasty but average.
The portions were quite large so we all left feeling full, happy and satisfied!

This is my 4^th or 5^th visit to the Banana Leaf chain, and very likely my last.
I frequent another Malaysian fusion restaurant which you’ll find in my other reviews, and almost always order the Rendang Beef there. There’s simply no comparison between the two — the dish you get at Banana Leaf is watered down and tasteless in comparison. Ditto for the Roti Canai.
Points to the Davie street location for server and food promptness.
I ordered — or attempted to order — the lunch special in the window. Somehow this is NOT in their menu. WIndow sign says «BIG LUNCH SPECIAL» — menu says just «LUNCH SPECIAL» for their Rendang Beef, with very little difference between the two.
Server brought me the latter, and I didn’t make a fuss about the one or two things missing from the ‘big lunch’. I did not enjoy the meal, but it wasn’t bad enough to send back. Again, paled in comparison to my favorite Malaysian place. The bill came and I was charged the lunch special price — only a couple dollars difference, but I explained to the waiter that that was not what I ordered. He made a bit of a fuss before going to get the manager. The manager changed the bill for me, but the damage was done.
I sent a letter to this BL location shortly after my last visit, and have not received a response.