Banana Leaf Asian Café

Blogie @ Banana Leaf With a new menu of culinary offerings ready, Banana Leaf Asian Café hosted an intimate dinner for a number of bloggers and journalists last 26 June.

More than a year ago, I’d gone to that branch in Davao with some friends, but we were disappointed with the food and the service. This time, I believe they were able to redeem themselves admirably.

The service seemed much improved — although, that remains to be seen when I go back there as a paying customer. However, they sort of overdid it last Wednesday when they served us 19 dishes and 4 types of dessert!!

They started us off with several types of appetizers, including the intriguing concoction they call Roti Dog (which they should’ve named Roti Hotdog instead…). I really enjoyed and highly recommend the Vietnamese Prawn Balls with Cheese. The soup we had, the Shrimp Wanton Soup (or Curry Laksa), was perfect! It did its job of opening my taste buds to the whole feast.

There were two types of rice served: the Indonesian staple, Nasi Goreng Fried Rice, which was OK but disappointingly not spicy at all (they did say, though, that you can ask for it to be prepared really hot); and the one that I got to like, the Vietnamese Fried Rice. The latter is, to me, much better.

Oh, we were also served Stir-Fried Vermicelli with Curry Flavor (as if two servings of rice weren’t enough). I liked it… but there was too much food I didn’t really get to try it enough.

Among the main courses, what I enjoyed were the Macau-Style Baked Mixed Vegetables in Portuguese Sauce, which had potatoes, mushrooms, carrots and some greens; the Malayan Beef Curry with Potatoes; and the Deep Fried Pandan Chicken. The Honey Garlic Spare Ribs was also nice, but was a tad too sweet for my taste.

The gem of the feast, however, was the Steamed Lapu-Lapu Fillet with Garlic. The preparation was just right, and it had lots and lots of garlic, which I love to high heavens. Surprisingly, the dish had other subtle flavors that weren’t drowned out by the garlic. If they’d served only this, I would’ve still come away very satisfied.

Another veggie dish that I appreciated was the Crab Meat with Vegetables. I liked it because the greens were cooked just right, and the blandness of the dish provided a good contrast to the other food.

What I thought they failed in was the Hainanese Chicken. The three dips that came with the order were OK, but the steamed chicken itself still had a little blood in it, and that really turns me off. It actually looked raw… Stick with the Chicken Pandan, if you ask me.

For dessert, I recommend the Sago Pudding in Thai Pandan Leaf, as well as the Sweet Sago Soup with Coconut Milk, which has bits of watermelon. The latter doesn’t photograph very well, but it’s truly refreshing and cleansing! The Chilled Mango Cream with Pomelo was enjoyable at first, but I only had a few spoonfuls because the mango cream was too sweet.

By the way, it was my first time to try chrysanthemum tea. Banana Leaf’s Iced Chrysanthemum Tea Shake is quite bracing, revitalizing even — perfect alongside oily foods!

All in all, I’d say the new items on the menu are worth a try.

Banana Leaf Asian Café, which specializes in Southeast Asian cuisine, is located in that row of restaurants and shops outside Chimes, on Sales Street, Davao City. For reservations, please call tel.: 225-8898.