Another BCIT buddy reunion! With both Adrian and Liane back from their vacations, we decided to hit up Banana Leaf on Broadway. I have to admit that in the past, I’ve had pretty spotty service here, so I wasn’t exactly looking forward to this particular visit. However, I’m all about giving places second chances and my negative experience was years ago, so here goes!

We started off with the Appetizer Sampler for 2 (which they offered to make for 3 people instead). The platter started off with delectable green salad (tangy and sesame-y, it had great bite and was very clean tasting) for each of us. It was followed by a big platter of spring rolls, roti and calamari. The spring rolls were very good and tasted fresh, the roti was not too bad and enjoyable with the sauce provided, the calamari felt a little lacklustre – as it seemed like something from frozen.

It also came with some chicken satay, but we also ordered some beef satay skewers as well. The chicken was very delicious but we all agreed that the beef was just okay. The sauce wasn’t so bad either, but it was just average.

We ordered Pineapple Fried Rice with Seafood & Chicken – in the mix was some egg, raisins, corn served in a half pineapple. I do enjoy this dish wherever I go, it wasn’t so bad here either.

Our last main dish was the Braised Lamb Shank in Cumin and Star Anise. On the menu it’s described as being so tender ‘it almost falls off the bone’ – and guess what? It totally did. Delicious.

I’m usually not a big fan of lamb, but when it’s been marinated in flavourful sauces – it’s quite tolerable.

We finished off with two desserts: Pisang Goreng and Kuih Dadar.

Pisang Goreng is more commonly known as deep fried banana, it’s served with some vanilla ice cream, crushed peanuts and palm sugar. As usual, the deep fried banana is delicious and the vanilla ice cream pairs well with it to give it a creamy, heavier taste.

The Kuih Dadar is a sweet coconut crepe made with Pandan leaves, palm sugar and grated coconut. It was presented so amazingly in these great, vibrant green wrappers! The palm sugar really helped the taste of the dish and complimented the grated coconut.

I have to say that the service was FAR better than my last experience here, the manager and our server were extremely friendly and knew when to check on us and let us be. The food was quick to come out and there was no wait to pay our bill – not to mention this happened on a Friday night, I am impressed.

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Check out their website and menu here.

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