DINNER AT BANANA LEAF TROPICAL CUISINE - Northeast

Located in the Horizon Auto Center in the corner of 32nd and 32nd in the NE, this unassuming little gem is tucked in the middle of the strip mall. I stopped here after work on Friday to grab some take-away. Naturally, the place was empty since it was around 5pm, but I know for a fact that once it hits 6pm all the tables will be full. This restaurant has both Malaysian and Taiwanese cuisine. I've been here a few times and each time the service and food was excellent. This was my first time getting take-away from here. I have tried at least one of every variety on their menu. Their laksa is very good and very spicy for me. It took me a while to eat it with a lot of water and soya milk with grass jelly. It was worth it.

I went to Banana Leaf earlier in the week, but it was closed. After being good and eating well for the past two weeks, I was craving deep fried stuff. Banana Leaf has pretty good deep fried tofu, and I love deep fried tofu. Tofu is one of my favourite protein after beef. Sure it doesn't taste much, but I like it pan- or deep fried. Ok, getting back to Banana Leaf. So, the bad thing about getting take-away is the leaking or soggy mess the containers make. I don't live far away from Banana Leaf but when I got home my appetizers containers were a soggy mess. The containers they put the hot items in were cardboard and they didn't line it with anything. So after about 5-10 minutes between picking up and arriving at home, the cardboard was soaked and had collapsed on the food. Other places lined their cardboard containers with aluminum foil, and it ended up intact when I got home.

Deep Fried Tofu with Garlic and Green Onion $5.50

Yum Yum. This is dish is always good. The tofu was only a little crispy. I think it lost its crispiness when it was steaming in the box. There was lots of garlic and green onion present too. I think the garlic was a little off. It tasted different from before, not a brunt taste or garlic chip taste. It was just different. I just scrap off all the garlic off and ate the tofu.

Deep Fried Crispy Chicken Nuggets $8.95

I highly recommend this dish to try, but probably not for take-away. Again, the chicken was not at all crispy when I got home. However, it was still good as this was all chicken. It was not heavily breaded like other chicken nuggets you find elsewhere. Again, the garlic was off for this dish as well as I think they make a big container of the garlic and green onion mix.

Ground Pork Sauce on Rice $7.50

I haven't tried this dish yet. As the name suggest, this was just a pork sauce poured over rice. It was very good if you want some flavour on your rice. The pork sauce acted like a gravy for the rice. It had a light taste to it and was lightly seasoned. There was not define taste like black bean nor was it spicy. I was surprise that hidden underneath the cilantro sprig was a whole soy-boiled egg. The egg had a nice light soy flavour it to and was a nice addition to the dish texture-wise.

Overall, I like going to this place since it is close by work and home. The meal that I ordered was just enough for two people with the right portions. I have been recommending this place to everyone at work. The food is always good, and the service is excellent. I now know I have to be careful on take-away orders as I don't really want to a soggy cardboard mess when I get home :( One thing to remember is that they close on Mondays and they only open to 8pm rest of the week with a last call for kitchen order at 7:30pm. Also, I think if you have 4 or more people in your party, everyone in the party have to be present before they can seat you as written on their entrance way.

Banana Leaf Tropical Cuisine
3330 32 St NE
403-450-3880