The Banana Leaf

We are in town for RetroWorld expo at the Hartford convention center in Hartford Connecticut. We have been on a kick for the Asian food in the area and this one did not disappoint. We all ordered something different from the fried rice to the sweet and sour chicken or the pho. Everything was looks good and delicious. Pictures were just right with a good mix of protein. We ended up getting after dinner drinks which would have been the Thai tea and the Thai coffee but I didn't take any pictures cuz we drank them too fast. The melon boba tea was pretty good as well. We ended up closing down the shop and meth when we got the ticket we couldn't believe how cheap it was. If you want to have some good Asian food, definitely stop at this location.

This place has to be the best Thai place I’ve had in Connecticut. The Pad Krapow was amazing and the Pad Thai had the perfect taste. The portions were very generous and the owner was very nice. I would also recommend the mango sticky rice for dessert and the Thai iced coffee something on the sweeter side.

Came here for lunch at the recommendation of a friend. We came at an off time and were the only customers at the restaurant. I ordered pork ramen noodles, the food was decent, served hot. The pork was very fatty with not much meat on it. I confirmed it was not pork belly. My mother ordered pad thai. It had a very fishy taste and smell to it making it unappealing to eat. We brought it to the waitresses attention and she said that there was no fish sauce used in it despite us both tasting a very apparent fishy taste. She had the kitchen remake it, gluten free style, which meant no sauces used. It was better the second time around. And “as a courtesy” did not charge us for the second dish – as it should’ve been. The waitresses had a change of shift during our time dining. The second waitress was talking on the phone loudly and not paying any attention to us. We had to get up and get her attention to give us the check after waiting several minutes to hopefully get her attention. And we even brought the payment and check back to her to cash out. The entire time she continued to talk on the phone to whoever she was speaking to. I understand we were the only customers dining at that time but as someone who has worked in a restaurant before it was very unprofessional, rude, and annoying to be dining listening to someone else’s full blown phone conversation.

Wow, the Thai here food was great! I can't wait to go back and try some more dishes.

The food was pretty good. Portion size was good. Prices were reasonable. Lots of selection. I went here while visiting Hartford area. There are lots of Thai places were I live so all the competition raises my level of expectation so I am biased in that regards. Anyway I think it’s a good place to go for people wanting Thai food in the area.

Off the menu chef recommend fried spicy sweet Branzino (European sea bass) are fresh and flavorful. Everything in the menu is delicious.

I was greeted by James within seconds of walking in the door. He was friendly and helpful when I was trying to decide what to order. The food was delicious. I started with the fresh roll that is served with a peanut dipping sauce. Veggies were crunchy and the sauce was thick and clung to my roll. For my main I had the Pad Thai with chicken (spice level 3). I'm over-using this word, but, delicious 😋. The chicken was tender and the spice was perfect for me. (A little zing but you can still taste the food). The noodles twisted right onto my fork and no oily flavor that you get with some pad thais. I will be back on our next trip to Rocky Hill CT to try something else. Thank you James and the Banana Leaf for a wonderful lunch. (And supper as I have leftovers 😊)

Amazing food! We had the thai fried rice, and the drunken noodle. We also had two thai iced teas! Everything was fresh & delicious!!! Highly recommended this place to anyone looking for some great food!!

A wonderful place to dine. Food is excellent. Have gone there for years, and have never had a bad meal nor have any of the people that were with me.

Great find on our drive from Massachusetts to Tennessee! Cute, very clean little restaurant with great food and fantastic service. When our server learned that we had a long drive ahead of us, she even brought us bottled water for the road. Green curry with chicken, spicy basil ginger salmon, chicken egg rolls and tom yum soup were all great.

I last reviewed Banana Leaf over 2.5 years ago when I ordered the House Special Pad Thai with Shrimp, Chicken Wontons and Fried Tofu. The Grand Opening sign was still up at the time. This is no joke. A stranger, after reading my review, messaged me on Yelp and said you can't really review a Thai restaurant based on Pad Thai. I didn't respond to that message, but I thought it was a bit silly. The National Dish of Thailand according to most sources? Pad Thai! So you think you really can't do a review based upon a National Dish Dude? In addition, there are multiple things to evaluate in Pad Thai. The texture of the noodles. The flavor of the sauce. Whether the shrimp is tender or overcooked. The colors and textures of the vegetables. When you add chicken wontons and fried tofu to the mix, there's even more to evaluate. In any event, this review update is for you Dude. I ordered a Spicy Eggplant and Pork Stir fry in a spicy Basil sauce by DoorDash. I don't live far from Banana Leaf, but this may have been the quickest delivery I've ever had from DoorDash. Very impressive. The dish was good. A stir fry in a basil sauce is a common Thai order for me. This was an above average version. The pork was well cooked. The vegetables like the green beans and carrots designed to be crispy were cooked through, but crispy. Most of the softer vegetables like bamboo, onion and mushrooms were well managed. I would have preferred my Japanese eggplant a bit less cooked, but it was fine. The sauce had good flavors, was appropriately spicy, and ample enough to coat all the ingredients. This experience was a closer to a 4.5 than a 4, but I have to round down since I can't give 4.5 Star scores. So there you go Dude. An updated review not based entirely on Pad Thai. Hopefully, you're not more of a Curry Guy.

What a disappointment the change in ownership has been. I've now gone 4 times since the ownership changed and the quality has gone down after the first two visits hard. This is a regular lunch spot for many at my office being a short ride from work. I regularly get the pad Thai, spicy basil rice, some of the apps and the soups on the menu. My last two visits left me not likely to return anytime soon. One visit was the ramen and I have to say that was some of the worst tasting ramen broth I've ever had. It was a milky white and didn't look or taste anywhere close to a classic ramen. The veggies and other items in the ramen were ok but the taste is driven by the broth and it just doesn't work. The most recent trip was an order of the spicy basil rice with chicken. Ugh has that fallen off. The veggies were clearly old and cut badly or shriveled when served. The taste balance was clearly missing. The waitress was also not listening to what was said, took forever to take the order (especially when I walked in and said I already know what I want) and didn't bring me my soda I ordered at the outset until the app had come and gone and the rice dish was out. It wasn't just me as another table waited a solid 15 minutes for her to pick up the check and run their card and yet another was clearly waiting a while for their order to be taken all while I was there. For a smaller footprint, this likely wont work if that is how the service is going to run going forward. This is not the first time this place has gone through a change in ownership where the original owner left. It dropped off when it happened before and she came back to save the place. It seems it's happened again. The interior has not changed at all in years but the quality of the food and the woman running the front end are no where near the same level as before! (Full disclosure, the guy working the front end since the change in ownership is great and does provide good service so your results may vary depending on who you get).

I did a quick take out order from here because I was craving pho and was so satisfied with my experience! It was quick and easy to order over the phone - I got the brisket pho with an egg and I was very impressed! The broth is more clear from other pho i've had but i really enjoyed the flavor, the brisket was very tender and i was stuffed after! The noodles were a bit stuck together but as you continue to add the broth and mix it all together, it started to break up. i would definitely dine in next time and try more menu items because of the first great experience i had!

Came here for lunch at the recommendation of a friend. We came at an off time and were the only customers at the restaurant. I ordered pork ramen noodles, the food was decent, served hot. The pork was very fatty with not much meat on it. I confirmed it was not pork belly. My mother ordered pad thai. It had a very fishy taste and smell to it making it unappealing to eat. We brought it to the waitresses attention and she said that there was no fish sauce used in it despite us both tasting a very apparent fishy taste. She had the kitchen remake it, gluten free style, which meant no sauces used. It was better the second time around. And "as a courtesy" did not charge us for the second dish - as it should've been. The waitresses had a change of shift during our time dining. The second waitress was talking on the phone loudly and not paying any attention to us. We had to get up and get her attention to give us the check after waiting several minutes to hopefully get her attention. And we even brought the payment and check back to her to cash out. The entire time she continued to talk on the phone to whoever she was speaking to. I understand we were the only customers dining at that time but as someone who has worked in a restaurant before it was very unprofessional, rude, and annoying to be dining listening to someone else's full blown phone conversation.

The appetizer I tried was outstanding. I can't remember the exact name or how to pronounce it but shrimp with a sweet chili sauce, wrapped in wonton hit the spot. The pad Thai was very good and it was a generous portion which fed me for lunch the next day. The service was excellent, very friendly and inviting.

I always judge a Thai place by their Drunken Noodles. I got this one to go, and it was the perfect comfort meal! It was filled with flavor, and I thought the noodles were the perfect texture. It was also very affordable. My only wish was that it was spicier because I got it at level 4 out of 5 for spice and it was not spicy enough for me. I will be coming back, though!

Owner is involved in every aspect. Food was great, a little too spicy for me but great flavors. I would definitely return.

I am not sure where these people get off leaving 5 star reviews. This place was horrendous. My tofu was spoiled and sour. My husband's curry was lacking in every facet of what traditional Thai food should taste like. We drove out of the way to try this and needless to say we are going to bed tonight highly disappointed and still hungry...

Great place for a meal, stopped in after seeing the Yelp reviews and I was very impressed with the staff that accommodated me with all my questions lol. The soup and roll are super fresh, made to order. I had a nice experience and they deserve 5 stars

If you like authentic Thai food - this is the place to try!! The dishes were outstanding. Each sauce was so flavorful. We could taste the fresh ingredients and herbs in everything that was brought to our table. After our meal, we met the chef and were able to share with her just how much we enjoyed our meal! Banana leaf is definitely a favorite for Thai in the area!!

We loved our meal - from the soup to our entrees...everything was delicious and fresh! It's a great Thai restaurant!

The food was delicious! I'm new to town and decided to just stop in when I was visiting Ace Hardware. I look forward to having Pho here again with my honey!

I had dinner from here on a weekday. The place was not too busy. I went with a beef basil fried rice and a chicken currry. Both were very good and flavorful. I ordered medium spicy. But what I got was very spicy. I think they just assumed I can handle very spicy food. Actually I can handle very spicy food, just that I felt like having medium spicy food.

This place is scary similar to the Pho Bar in Berlin, just a speculation but they must have some sort of relation which I would love clarification on as it only helps build their brand! But that's fine because I love that place and I am happy to say that this new Thai restaurant is just as good if not better. It hurts when one of your favorite Thai Restaurants, R.I.P. Puket Cafe ll :( closes down and now you have to rely on other places to make your favorite meal. Mine happens to be Beef Drunken Noodles. So one place down the road changed the noodles they use and now its not up to my standard. The other place I really liked screwed up my last order and for once, I was disappointed eating my favorite meal on this planet. A few other Thai spots make it really good with a special flare to it like cherry tomatoes that explode in your mouth in the best way possible but sometimes, I just want nothing but comfort in my dish without having to alter the chef's recipe. A savory, sweet, spicy, chewy and comforting plate of Beef Drunken Noodles. Well my search for happiness is over as I stumbled upon the softest grand opening I have ever seen here at The Banana Leaf. The only thing I have to say about the Beef Drunken Noodles is that I have found my new favorite place to order it. That's it! As for their Pho, it was identical to the Pho Bar in Berlin. Extra garlicy and you have the same ability to customize it as you did at the Pho Bar. Absolutely no setbacks here, their Pho is as due as their Thai which is an amazing thing when one restaurant offers both. Working backwards here, I started with their Thai Chicken wings which were perfectly cooked, coated evenly to a point where you just knew someone cared while making this and of course, they were delicious. Never been so happy to burn my mouth on some hot chicken wings. Anyways, times are tough especially when people don't even know The Banana Leaf here in Rocky Hill exists. But I am happy to say I fond one of my new favorite Thai restaurants. There is finally some competition for arguably one of the best which is right down the road...

This little restaurant has a lot of big flavor. I've already been three times and work surprised us with free lunch from there today. My favorite dishes so far are: Fresh spring rolls. They put this crunchy thing in it that is unique but delicious! The peanut sauce is perfect. I've had both the red and green curry and I've got to say I like the green better. It has more coconut flavor and just tastes amazing. Word of caution - their spice is spicy! A level 1 is like a jalapeño level spice - little kick that lingers but doesn't burn. Level three will have you burning good! The pad Thai is good as well. A bit stickier than I like it but full of flavor! The only thing I wouldn't order again are their fried wonton appetizer. They just weren't the best. Other than that though, everything on the menu so far has been great! Highly recommend!

Great tasting food and friendly staff! Clean restaurant too! Amazing spring rolls and pineapple rice

Made a big mistake. Ran in here to this new restaurant for a quick bite in between appointments. The food was so food I needed sufficient time to enjoy it. The place was mobbed! I chose the Red Curry special of the day and added Crispy Chicken. So fresh, so tasty and so comforting! All the flavors melded and the amount of rice was perfect; it ended up the perfect. Had the Thai Iced Coffee [without the Boba] and it became my dessert. As I told the owner, I'm coming back with a tent and setting up camp in order to have enough time to order everything on the menu.

I'd show pictures, but we couldn't stop eating our food. It was fantastic. The basil fried rice was perfect. Service was super quick. In fact, I'm not sure how they are doing this level of food so quickly.

Stopped into this great establishment a few weeks ago for dinner with my best friend. I had a delicious drunken noodle and my friend had fried rice and drunken noodles also. There were no complaints and we will be sure to come visit again!

Great family restaurant. Authentic, good portions, good prices. Totally support great folks

**Northeast travelers** just off Route 91 in CT... must stop... so VERY good!!! Sooooo good!!! Regulars will know when my first review doesn't have pics that the place was too good to wait to eat!! : ) Will take pics next time!! Best Pho EVER!!! I got the simplest version... rice noodles, chicken broth, veggies. OH MY GOD!!! So good. The broth is simply the best thing I've ever put in my mouth. Will buy by the gallon next time! Red Curry - perfectly fresh and flavorful! Veggie Egg Rolls... delish... fresh, crispy, sauce not too sweet! YAY! Pat Thai... cannot go wrong so good!!! And the dumplings.... mmmmmmmmmm might have eaten thsese wtih my fingers while my utensils were in my Pho : ) Will take pics next time : )

My current favorite Thai restaurant around. This place is seriously a hidden gem. The staff are such nice people. It's so lowkey, quick service and man their dumplings are to die for...I have gone there two times now and it will be my designated Thai spot for now on.

I have been to Banana several times and they never disappoint! So glad that they reopened after the previous Thai place had closed. Soooo convenient! Great location, and is very authentic (the chef is the co-owner and wife and is Thai) cooking. Rich the owner is so pleasant to talk with while I waited for the order to be ready for pickup. Menu suggestions: Spicy Basil Fried Rice (add chicken), Chicken Pah Thai, Pho (pronounced Pha) with chicken, Spring Rolls....hungry yet? Stop looking and check them out!

I was visiting Rocky Hill on business and craving Thai. I decided to go here and was absolutely delighted...so much so that I went back the next day for lunch. The first evening I ordered the Drunken Noodles and for lunch the next day I had the Veggie Pho. Both dishes were delicious. And the service was excellent. I would certainly go back.

First time and loved it! I ordered 2 apps(chicken rolls and chicken wings) and 3 entrees (Pad Thai, Larb Kai & PadKra pow). As someone who works in the industry I gotta say I'm impressed by how fresh everything tasted! Everything... I admit that the Crispiness in the chicken wings is just insane! That the freshness and flavors in the PadKra Pow and the Larb Kai is exactly what I'm looking for when I order food from any other place but nowadays it's just hard to find! I recall, everything was delicious, it's pretty obvious I have my favorites but in general this is a gem!

First time customer and I can tell I'll be a long time fan. A group of six of us came on a Monday and took a seat in this very clean and charming restaurant. The food is very tasty and fresh. The prices are also quiet reasonable. I had the beef combo pho and it was delish. Others made their own style of pad tai / noodle dishes from the mix and match style menu. Everybody was happy. I would say to definitely check this place out. Pho sure.

The food is great. The service is great. The staff are attentive and friendly. The menu allows you to add your proteins, choose your noodles and create the dish you want. This has become our go-to Thai restaurant!

Kid had the day off from school for an October holiday. The food was just ok. Our fresh rolls fell apart. The kid had pad Thai which was very bland and my drunken noodles had no spice to them at all. If I was in the area I might but honestly wasn't all that to me.

Always. Delicious fresh food. Not fancy but great Thai cooking. We are regulars and are nervous dissatisfied

Great Thai food - love the Tom Kum Pho and egg rolls are more like spring rolls which we enjoy - Crispy chicken is put in separate container when added to meal to keep crispy - now a go to place for us

Excellent Pho! I had the brisket in beef broth. Great fresh rolls as well. I will definitely go back.

Excellent food not far off of 91. Service was fast and friendly. Highly recommend! Definitely need to order the Fresh Shrimp Rolls!

The food was amazing. Unfortunately I ate it all and forgot to take a picture. Our waiter was very attentive. I love what they did with the place. We have the drunken noodle with crispy chicken, green curry with shrimp and the fresh rolls. Everything was perfect. Can't wait to come back.

The food was delicious! We had dinner in the restaurant- it is BYOB (there is a liquor store in the same plaza if needed). Everything we ordered was fresh and cooked perfectly. We're so happy to have such an amazing Thai restaurant so close by!

Delicious, Attractive, Very clean,Friendly, Accommodating and Reasonably priced. I saw the Grand Opening sign and walked up to the window to check out the menu when Rich came out to give me a to go menu. Hint number one that these people care. We decided to give it a try. Then Rich proceeded to explain the menu to us with a little education on Thai food. I like Pad Thai so I had the Wonton Pad Thai. Crispy wontons, shrimp and tofu on rice noodles with fresh bean sprouts and plentiful chopped peanuts. The wontons were crispy, but not at all hard, the rest was only delicious. K had Drunken Noodles with crispy chicken. Assorted veggies and a large amount of nicely flavored breaded chicken over spicy noodles. Everything was fresh and yummy. I'll definitely be back. You should try it too! Say hello to Rich for me.

Was very impressed by the food - have been looking for the best thai in the area and I think they have just made top of the list!

Diamond in the rough. I went here on a whim. Had the drunken noodles with grilled chicken and went back two days later to try the fried chicken with Thai noodles. Food was great. Highly recommend this place. Super fresh food. Worth the price.

Great Thai restaurant! Fresh food, made to order, lots of veggies and great flavor. Level 2 and 3 was perfect spicy. We'll be back for sure!

Delicious food, wonderful staff and a super clean restaurant. You can't go wrong with the beef pho and a passion fruit tea!!

Had a take out of fried rice and pad Thai. The interior looked very nice, spacious and clean. Both dishes were very delicious and tasted authentic. I'm rather picky with fried rice (yes, how can you mess this up) as it has to have a certain umami and they did!

Food was incredible. Got the meatballs, crab Rangoon, pad Thai, and drunken noodles. Everything was very good. Service was great. The inside is very clean and inviting. Definitely reccomend it.​​​

Popped in off the highway and got extra spicy drunken noodles. Delicious! Definitely worth checking out.

Tried this place for the first time tonight with my mom. Super clean and calm atmosphere. The family who own it are super nice. We shared the papaya salad, it was perfect! I got the green curry with shrimp and my mom got the shrimp pho with beef broth. Everything was delicious and so flavorful. Very very good!

Great find. We tried it out as we heard it was a BYOB, we were pleased to discover the food was delicious. My wife had Pad See Eew with beef and I had the drunken noodles. But we're excellent. We will be back for sure!

Terrible takeout experience. We ordered edamame that come with salt and we got very few in the container. Out of the few that we got, half were brown and there was no salt. We also paid extra to get vegetables as a side instead of rice but we still got rice and no vegetables. Unfortunately, we would not recommend!

I've been there twice - this is the best Thai food I've had to date! They will also make their food without fish sauce if you ask to make it vegetarian.

I ordered takeout on my way home from work. My Pad Seew was very tasty and I thought it was quite affordable. My only criticism is that I wish my meal came with some white rice. Will be ordering from here again soon.