Banana Tree Canteen

Fantastic Oriental restaurant with great vibe and excellent food. This is my second home as I seem to always end up there to grab their evening meal

deal! Yummy Brazilian barman! Can't go wrong.
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Benny Mo
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, September 12, 2008

Went to their new branch in Angel. The food was bland and tasted of the cheap Chinese delivery shops I'm used to in America. I've had chicken teriyaki in about 50 restaurants (it's one of my favourite dishes). What they served me was certainly NOT chicken teriyaki. And their lettuce wraps were greasy and over-fried. My tap water was nice, at least.

The service was polite but we had to ask for the bill literally 4 times before they finally brought it. Definitely won't be back.
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Ryan
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Went there for a late lunch yesterday. I hadn't been for years, and it was my girlfriend's first time.

The food was alright, although my GF's satay chicken starter had this weird yellowy glow-in-the-dark oil coating - wasn’t sure what that was, but it smacked of MSG and e-numbers which is always a sign of dodgy oriental cooking. I had the Pad Thai and I really enjoyed it but I think the Good Earth Express down the road does a better one.

However, any shortcomings with the food paled in comparison to the diabolical service. We had read a couple of the reviews on here and saw the comments about service, but thought we might try our luck. I can now confirm that nothing has changed. For example: there was a dish with ‘Galangal’ on the menu, and when we asked the waitress what it was, she said she didn’t know! What’s worse is she didn’t even bother to try and find out, she just shrugged it off. We had to wait about 15 minutes after receiving the bill for someone to process our payment.

Not only were the two staff on duty incompetent but rude as well. There was a guy at the table next to us who didn’t get his beer for at least ten minutes and when he told the waitress to just not bother, she scowled at him!

No excuses really, the food here is passable but unless they improve their service we most certainly won't be coming back.
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Jonathan
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 4
Monday, July 28, 2008

I would dearly love to have written a positive review on the Banana Tree given that I have always enjoyed my previous visits. I would dearly love to but I can't as in the 30 mins myself and a friend were there, we were not asked for our order - drinks or food - once. This is further exacerbated when you consider that there were more staff than customers in there. Perhaps people knew something about the Sunday service that we did not?

Either way, when we stood up to leave the waitress scurried over. When I explained that we had been waiting for ages, she had the cheek to say 'it wasn't her service area' and rather than apologise and offer a token drink on the house, she stood bemused as to why we would want to leave.

Food is good but if you can't get it from the kitchen to the table, what is the point. Will be avoiding in future.
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Sam
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Sunday, June 29, 2008

Just thought I'll write to support my favourite restaurant in West Hampstead and everyone else's favourite for that matter seeing how constantly busy they are. The food is faultless and the service is always friendly. Can be a little hectic during the later part of the week but if you want some quiet time get there early and get out of there by 8.30pm if you want to miss the crowd! Great little gem and should not be missed.
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Anna Maria Jumano
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I got frowned upon for asking for tap water...so I walked out.
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AJ
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, May 13, 2008

I really liked the food. Totally agree with lots of reviews here.

But one thing I desagree is the service. When I asked one of the waitress about the menu and describe the dish, she didn't know how to. She even said 'ahm, I don't know. I think it's....' and she didn't even try to find it out by asking the fellow waiters.

We were left alone with feeling unwelcomed and unsure. I understand it was quite busy and didn't have time to be friendly but even when it got quieter towards later in the evening, they stood around the bar and didn't care about tables that wanted to pay. May be I shouldn't have high expectations for service in this kind of place? I'd like to go back for food but may be during quieter time of the day.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 7
Thursday, September 06, 2007

The food here will awaken your taste buds. Bored of Italian, curries and the usual Chinese? Try here. The platas are wonderful and give you a little bit of everything. The only downsides is it's canteen style which could be less cosy with other diners, but you'll forget that once you start to eat.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, August 22, 2007

This is one of the only places I have been, where every time I have visited (without exception) the food has been fantastic. Thoroughly recommend the spare ribs, pork and prawn dumplings and the lamb curry main (the latter being completely exceptional). Service is with a smile, atmosphere is great, prices are fair and the early bird menu is really good value.
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Kate
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, July 23, 2007

The Banana tree is a neighbourhood favourite of mine. Always great for a relaxed cheap bite out with friends. The varied menu is great (always takes me ages to make up my mind), the service is good, and the brazilian waiter there is very friendly!

A couple of tips:

Avoid sitting by the doors on a cold day as it can be a little draughty

Try the blackened chilli pork Nasi Goreng if you like a bit of spice!

and take this place with a pinch of salt. It is not high-end dining, it is quick, cheerful and tasty (like a thai Wagamama).

Enjoy!
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Monday, May 28, 2007