Melanie C.
Yelp
OVERALL 3.5 STARS
Banana Island restaurant, fusion of Asian, Thai, Singaporean, Malaysian cuisines, at the Westlake Shopping Center has been a fixture there for a long time. The South East Asian decor is warm, welcoming, festive and inviting but the food nor the service doesn't always rise to match the beguiling interior. They serve, appetizers, salads, beef, pork, seafood, curries, rice, noodles and soups. They do have a big menu.
For starters, ROTI CANAI, a Malaysian crispy Indian style pancake with curry dipping sauce was really good. Would do a double order of this. SATAY TOFU was right up my wheelhouse, a crispy fried tofu stuffed w/cucumber & bean sprouts, with peanut dipping sauce. Would order again.
THAI LETTUCE WRAPS, Thai basil, sliced chicken w/house sauce and fresh, crisp lettuce leaves was really tasty and would order again.
HAINAN CHICKEN (HC) is usually a fav and while it looks great on the plate. The rice doesn't have that rich full flavor of having been cooked with the HC broth. And the chicken is tenderly poached but the skin doesn't have that beautiful snap to it when you bite into it. The dipping sauce helps a lot.
EGGPLANT MALAYSIAN STYLE, sautéed eggplant w/spicy Malaysian shrimp paste sauce & shrimp. Love anything w/shrimp paste, enough said!
I always try to make it to the end when MANGO STICKY RICE is offered!!! Sliced ripe mangoes served over the sweet sticky rice steamed w/coconut milk & sugar, w/more of the luscious coconut cream spooned over or on the side. So this is a BIG yes in ordering! Maybe doubles?!?!
I loved the appetizers more than the entrees but I do need to come back to
try the other dishes like SIZZLING MALAYSIAN TOFU PLATTER, HAI-STYLE WHOLE FISH, BEEF RENDANG, CHOW KUEH TEOW. See you there!