Banana Leaf

Banana Leaf at Milpitas, CA

Recently, I was told about a restaurant named Banana Leaf that had pretty good meat skewers and some sort of Indian roti and curry sauce. It immediately hit me that this place is probably some Malaysian or Singaporean restaurant. Although I cannot quite put my finger on it, Banana Leaf simply stood out to me as a name that only a Southeast Asian restaurant would go for. Also, the description of the meat skewers and the roti from my friend sounded a lot like the satays and roti prata that are so common where I am from.

Roti prata, to those who are not acquainted with this appetizer, is a type of Indian pancake typically served with curry sauce. The roti prata, which I did not take a picture of because I ate it so quickly, was pretty good.

I also ordered Hainan chicken rice but was greatly disappointed. The presentation of the chicken rice was great but the rice that was coloured yellow did not make up for its lack of flavour. The chicken was also not as tender and flavourful as it should be. It was in fact the worst and least flavourful Hainan chicken rice I have ever had. It paled in comparison  to the one I had in Savoy Kitchen when I was in Alhambra, CA.

The Wa Tan Ho (which was spelled ‘Huat Tan Ho’ on the menu), on the other hand, was great and tasted like the ones that I had in Asia. The restaurant did this dish justice and I had no regrets ordering it.

Banana Leaf, which has been described by some as one of the best restaurants in Milpitas, will not fail to impress if you are new to Malaysian cuisine. The roti prata and satay will blow you away. If you are a fellow Malaysian or Singaporean looking for some decent Hainan chicken rice, this is the wrong place to go but their roti prata can probably satisfy you if you have cravings for it.