Banana Leaf – Dine Out Vancouver 2013

So we weren’t really planning on going to Banana Leaf for Dine Out this year but we just happened to find ourselves nearby and we were getting hungry. It was fairly packed on this weeknight so we were lucky that they must hold back a couple of tables for walk-ins.

Banana Leaf’s Dine Out options are slightly different than other restaurants. You need at least 2 people ($28/person) and you don’t need to pick between options for appies, entrées, and desserts… they give you everything… family-style. We didn’t think that the amount of food would be so huge and we wound up ordering some other items too including the Appetizer Sampler ($18), Pineapple Fried Rice ($15), and Roti Canai ($7).

The Dine Out appies started with the Nyonya Mango Kerabu (julienned mango salad). The Appetizer Sampler also came with a salad – I’ve always found the salads here to be fresh and tasty.

The Dine Out appies continued with the Rendang Beef Murtabak which is basically their rich, boneless stewed beef stuffed into their roti.

The Appetizer Platter is served with roti canai, calamari, and spring rolls (take a look at our previous review of their Appetizer Platter here).

The last appie included in the Dine Out menu was the Drunken Clams in Ginger Lemongrass Broth – these clams were buttery soft and quite plump. At this time, our drinks started to arrive – the Kalamansi with Soda is an effervescent drink with a slight tartness from the kalamansi but if you’re looking for a real treat, try the Virgin Lychee Mojito… it’s pretty much like a fruity slushy.

The Appetizer Platter also came with Chicken Satay with spicy peanut dipping sauce.

The Pineapple Fried Rice is always fun to see when they bring it out… it just wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t served inside a hollowed out pineapple.

Back to the Dine Out menu items, the entrées included Charbroiled Turmeric Chicken Breast served with eggplant and okra. These were very meaty pieces of chicken and I really liked the okra that was served with it.

A regular winner at Banana Leaf is the Sambal Green Beans so we were pleased that they were included in the Dine Out menu. These crunchy beans are stir-fried with small shrimp, tomato and dried fermented shrimp paste .

The Dine Out menu also came with Coconut Rice wrapped in banana leaves into the shape of little pyramids. They mentioned that the rice was refillable but we had trouble polishing off all of the other food.

Speaking of other food, next up on the Dine Out menu was the Singapore Chili Prawns cooked in a sweet and sour chili garlic sauce. The prawns were humongous and the flesh had a nice firmness to the bite.

Meanwhile, the Sockeye Fillet in Pineapple Curry Sauce had an equally impressive size to the salmon fillets. I liked how the pineapple chunks cut through the curry sauce with a balance of sweet and tartness.

Of course, by this point, we were getting pretty full but our order or Roti Canai came by. I still think Banana Leaf makes one of the best in town… pair that up with their curry dip… mmm!

I’ve never had their Mango Sticky Rice before but it was included in the Dine Out menu and I was surprised at how good it was. After all, sticky rice for dessert really isn’t a common thing for us (especially after having all of those other carbs earlier). The thing that makes this work is the fresh mango that they put on top of the glutinous sticky rice. The rice is steamed in coconut milk and sweetened by palm sugar and gives it a chewy richness that pairs nicely with the sweet sliced mango.