Banana Leaf

6/25/2011

It’s a not-so-nice Saturday! It has been raining nonstop and typhoon Falcon has flooded some areas already. Kinda started reminding me of Ondoy, but reports say that it’s nowhere near Ondoy which probably is a good thing. Well we had to postpone a photo shoot scheduled tomorrow which is such a bummer. But anyways, we’ll get it done next week when the weather is better for everyone.

Since I am actually in the middle of work right now, wanted to share just a short post about one of the new places I have just recently discovered. I am talking about Banana Leaf Restaurant. Actually it’s been here in the Philippines for quite some time now but I just haven’t had the chance to go and try and eat there.

So here’s the story. Back in Bangkok (during my last trip just this month), my hubby and I saw a hawker stall selling roti. Roti is a bread which I think is popularly known in Singapore and Malaysia (and maybe in India too, I’m not sure.) But I remember when we were in Malaysia, in the hotel we were staying at, H and I would always eat roti for our breakfast meal and I loved it ever since. So when I saw it in the side street, I told H that I wanted to try it.

It was topped with egg, condensed milk and some sugar.

It was different from what we had in Malaysia because the one we had was paired with some curry sauce. However, this sweet roti was also superb! In fact, H loved it too that he went back and bought some more.

When we got back to MNL, H was still craving for some more roti. He eventually started researching where we can get some roti here in the Philippines and one of his friends recommended Banana Leaf.

So the hunt was ON! We visited Podium (we rarely go here) to go and dine at Banana Leaf. The place was very cozy and there were a lot of booths and tables that you can easily get one even without reservation. I wasn’t able to take photos of the place anymore but I’ll try next time. *hint hint*

For our food, I wasn’t able to get the names nor the prices as well. H and I were discussing important things about our new project so I wasn’t really paying attention of me being a blogger. :/ But I still wanted to talk about the food and experience I had in Banana Leaf so here I am, writing a post about it.

Roti with Banana

Condensed Milk as dip

This is the sweet kind of roti. With the banana tucked into the warm bread, it was sooo good. Then we dip it to the condensed milk, it just reminded us of Bangkok once again.

I liked it but did felt that it was too sweet for me. With the banana inside that was coated with a little bit of syrup and the condensed milk, I felt it was more for dessert that appetizer.

So I ordered another roti. Anyways, I chose a regular one and got curry sauce for dip.

I assume you already know how this goes. I love curry and I love this bread. Combine the two that I love- MAGIC! I obviously enjoyed this better than the previous one because of the dip. And I think I like the plain roti better too.

I liked the roti of Banana Leaf that I will go back for it. However, compared to the ones we had in Bangkok, these were a little drier. It wasn’t as chewy as we hoped it would be. But since we haven’t found other roti restraurants yet, we’re okay with Banana Leaf.

We also got some more food. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take down the names of the food. 🙁

This dish I loved. It was a Malaysian chicken dish. It was breaded chicken. As it is, it was already flavorful. But knowing that I am very much into flavor and I’m quite extreme. I tried dipping it into my curry sauce and BAM! It was TO DIE FOR! It was sooo delicious. H eventually did the same thing and he said that it did really match perfectly. 🙂

Lastly, we ordered Baby Back Ribs. But honestly, it was such a disappointment. It wasn’t that good. The only thing it’s got going is it was tender. But I did not like the sauce, nor the flavor of the ribs. H did not enjoy this as well. Will not order this again next time.

And for Citibank Gold and Premiere card holders, Banana Leaf Podium branch has a 15% promo for dine in customers. 🙂 Yey!!! The prices are actually pretty reasonable but who wouldn’t want additional discounts right?

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