Restaurant Review: Banana Leaf

I already lost count on the number of times we’ve been to Banana Leaf. Ironically, this is the first time that I’m blogging it. I remember taking photos of the food but ended up disappointed with how the shots look because of the dim lights of the restaurant.

After a medical appointment last week, we decided to try Banana Leaf one more time since it is actually included in my “Favorite Restaurants” list. Because I love it so much, I have managed to convince my parents to try it for the first time a couple of years ago. I can still remember how they reacted when I first brought them here. “Walang plato???” HAHAHA! E kaya nga Banana Leaf dabah?! Pero nung first time ko, ganun din ang reaction ko! :p

To jumpstart our meal, we opted to get their Crispy Spring Rolls. With vegetables and mostly noodles inside, we fondly call it pansit lumpia. :p  This appetizer tastes good, but I find it extremely oily. :|

Eating Yang Chow when there’s one in the menu made us really meticulous about this fried rice. Just like with the spring rolls, this one is so-so. And yes, it was also a bit oily. That was actually the first time that we experienced mediocre dishes at Banana Leaf. All our previous experiences were exemplary so I wasn’t sure what went wrong that day.

Because of the two earlier disappointments, we were worried that the last dish would also fall short of our expectations. Fortunately, their Sizzling Pepper Chicken saved the day! The boneless chicken strips are very tender. The savory gravy and tons of pepper made this dish really stand out. We totally forgot how disappointing the first two dishes were because of this.


Will I still be coming back? Of course. I’ll just remind myself to get more of the Sizzling Pepper Chicken and less of the oily stuff.


Banana Leaf
Level 1 Midtown Wing
Robinsons Place Manila