Food - 4/5 Service - 4/5 Ambiance - 4/5 Overall - 4/5 Within this busy shopping center lies this small Malaysian restaurant. Parking here will forever and always be terrible, but besides that, this place was almost entirely empty, especially for a weekend lunch (we did come almost right at opening time, but there were only like a few other customers by the time we finished). I think the main issue with this restaurant is the menu. With a wide variety of options with different cuisines, I felt that the quality of dishes was lower than I wanted. That aside, I absolutely loved the roti canai, with it being almost perfectly crispy, buttery, and tasty. The fried rice was really flavorful with the salted fish, almost verging on too strong. The curry noodle soup we got was not very strong and was a little bit disappointing. The beef tripe was so incredibly tasty, though the spice was a little bit much for my family. The beef dry hot pot was nice, though I only really liked the beef and not much else on it (some of it was bitter, other parts were just too salty). I don't think this place is terrible. We did come as one of, if not the first, customers in the restaurant, so everything was made fresh and was hot as we ate it. I just think was so much competition surrounding it in this busy shopping center, I don't think it accomplishes enough to be a go-to place for my family. read more

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We saw this place on social media and decided to visit for Mother's Day. First things first - parking lot was insane. So come early or you might circle the lot for awhile. We were seated immediately but our server was giving us attitude the entire time. He would constantly check on the other tables but never us. We had to flag down the other server whenever we needed something. Food wise, everything was just okay. The best thing was probably the roti canai and the stir fried flat noodles with beef. The green beans were flavorless, the sizzling pepper chicken was not spicy (we requested spicy) and no pepper, and the beef rendang was really oily. read more

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I've heard of this place for many years and finally decided to go a few days ago. This place has a lot of variety - the food dishes we got were pretty flavorful and good. The service is pretty good, the waiter was attentive and the food came out pretty fast. The place is a bit small but still spacious and had a lot of tables open when we arrived. I will definitely come back here again!! read more

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The family loved their meals. Me, not so much. Presentation of the food was good, but the taste wasn't mouth-watering. I'll give it a 4 out of 5 simply because my family loved what they had. Service was good, and the restaurant looked decently kept. I'll try this spot again because of the vast choices they have on the menu. read more

Banana Leaf - Malaysian Near Me - Houston, Texas

I used to love coming to this place with my family, but they recently changed their menu and seems to be more Chinese focused than Malaysian and I was disappointed. We shared a flat noodle dish and I felt like there was barely any noodles in it. The golden fried crispy calamari was kind of bland, not that crispy, and not nearly as good how it used to be. Spicy boiled fish was good, but hella oil in it. Idk I've been to other restaurants and have had the same dishes and I felt like these fell short here at Banana Leaf. Don't get me wrong, it's still pretty good, but not my favorite place anymore. read more

Banana Leaf - Spicy boiled fish - Malaysian Near Me - Houston, Texas

Here's a polished version of your review: Amazing! The food was exceptional. We tried the sizzling pepper chicken, Singapore noodles, and fried rice, and every dish was delicious. This used to be one of our go-to spots before we moved away, and coming back 12 years later was such a treat. We loved it even more than we remembered. It's great to see the quality and flavors have remained outstanding. We'll definitely be back! Sorry no pics! Since we were so hungry! read more

I stopped by last night because I've wanted to give it another shot & love Malaysian food. Imagine my surprise when I see their menu has changed and features only Chinese dishes. The beef rendang, Hainanese chicken, Nasi lemak, and roti canai are gone and replaced with mapo tofu, braised pork, cumin beef and lamb, etc. Don't get me wrong, I love Chinese food but I eat it too often and wanted variety by coming here. I settled for the Sizzling Malay Tofu (luckily the only thing I was craving stayed on the menu) but the price was $18. I found the price a bit steep considering the ingredients are very cheap and the portion was okay. The dish itself tasted the same (except they replaced the seafood with minced meat) & the texture of the tofu was perfect. The waiter was hovering quite a bit which made my meal less enjoyable. Very sad that I came when they were testing out their Chinese menu. I don't think the pivot is good since people come here for Malaysian food. read more

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What a hidden gem! The servers were so kind and attentive, which made the experience even better. We tried the chow fun noodles with shrimp and chicken--solid 9/10. The Hainan chicken? WOW. A definite 10/10, especially the flavorful rice that came with it. We also had the Malaysian spare ribs--super tasty and tender! The ambiance is chill and low-key, perfect for a relaxed family dinner. Nothing fancy, but it hits the spot. We'll definitely be back! read more

The food was amazing the severs even give you advice of you dont know what you want. The restaurant is very quiet and makes you feel welcomed. read more

We went on separate occasions to Banana Leaf which was our go to Malaysian restaurant. We ordered pretty much the same dishes but there was definitely a difference on our last visit. Not sure if they change owners or chefs. There were a number of red flags. We ordered our usual... seaweed seafood soup, kangkong belachan, Malaysian beancurd and beef rendang. The Malaysian beancurd was about the same. First red flag was the seaweed seafood soup... it was sweet. Understand you may put sugar but definitely sweeter than previous. Second red flag... beef rendang had potatoes in it. They never put potatoes in it before and had a much strong star anise taste. Last but not least is the kangkong belachan. Mt wife used to love it. It was the first time she didn't finish it. Something different on the taste. When we placed our order, staff keep on confirming we are having the shrimp paste with the kangkong. Belachan is the Malaysian shrimp paste... maybe that's where it was off... not sure if they actually used belachan or just shrimp paste. Staff was nice. They shoud just be honest though. We overheard the staff saying she was Malaysian but when one of the guest said "Selamat", she did not understood what it meant. It meant "Thank you". Pretty basic even if you have not spoke the language. Good thing another Malaysian restaurant opened close by. Not sure I'll come back as it looks like the previous owners and chefs are gone. Let me know if that's not the case and will give it another chance. read more

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I haven't been to this place in many years and unfortunately the food quality has gone down. We ordered the roti canai as an appetizer and I loved that the roti came out hot, but the dipping sauce was super watery and did not taste like much. The beef satay was yummy, but a little cold. The beef flat rice noodles weren't hot when they came out and didn't have much flavor to them. The sizzling tofu--which I've had sizzling before--was not sizzling and again did not taste like much. We also ordered a dried curry shrimp dish--which was actually a wet curry--which we did not enjoy much. Service was good and they moved quickly, but unfortunately the food quality has gone down. read more

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Where's the rice???? So surprised that only four tables were filled, so it was easy to walk in and find a table on a Saturday night around 7 PM. This used to be a family favorite and we were prepared for a long wait. At one point, they were so busy that they built a second location across the street in the H-Mart shopping center. That was not the case on our most recent visit. Considering how empty they were, we were surprised at how slow and how disorganized they were with not only our order, but other people dining. As we waited and waited and waited for them to take our order, they brought the wrong order to almost every table that was near us. Beef instead of chicken, roti to the wrong table, forget an order completely. This should have been a clue to our meal that followed, but we remembered our family dinners in the past so fondly. So we stayed and we waited. Just as we were about to leave, our waiter finally took our order. Roti, chicken curry and a sizzling tofu with veggies with glasses of water. Not too complicated. The chicken curry came out first. We asked about the plain rice. The waiter said, oops I forget it. I'll bring it right out. Then came the roti. Still no rice. We watched as the tables that came in and ordered their orders after us get red bowls filled with rice and for our table, still no rice and the same oops, I forgot again. The sizzling tofu came out. Surprised at the veggies, but still no rice. Finally the busboy clearing the table next to us helped us with our order of plain white rice. Used to be a family favorite, but next time we are craving Malaysian food, will make the drive to Katy and eat at Uncle Chin's Kitchen. The Roasted Hainanese Chicken with chicken rice and Malaysian Chicken Curry are so delicious at Uncle Chin's Kitchen. read more

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If I can give a 0, I will. Due to the parking difficulty, I sent my 13 year old daughter to store to pick up to-go items. I gave her cash, but came out only food. I asked her what happened to the change, she said they told me 'that's it!' When she asked them for change. I cannot believe that they dismissed my daughter, lied about "she left fast before I could give her change", and bullied the minor. Will not support such dirty local business. read more

The Indian pancake tastes great! Highly recommended. Dishes are kind of salty than expected if prefer relatively low sodium diet. Service is good, waiter stayed on top with adding water and extra napkins... it was busy at lunch time, you could not skip the conversation of next table if you stayed quiet read more

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This is an easy 5 star review for the food! The food is great but the main problem is the loud chairs. I'll explain below. Food: the sizzling pepper beef was absolutely amazing. Grilled and made to perfect perfection. Every single bite was so phenomenal. My girlfriend and I really enjoyed that dish with all the bell pepper, onions and everything like that. It's an amazing dish and I highly recommend it. My girlfriend got another dish as well which kind of looked like drunken noodles. The water tasted horrible. I wish they had a bottled water because the water from here is not good at all so that's one thing you need to work on either get their water cleaned up or serve water bottles because you cannot drink the water here if you care about drinking clean water because this water is nasty. Once again, the food is five stars. No problem with that at all. Also, the customer service is five Where they get the 3 stars is the extremely loud chairs. I could give this restaurant a one star rating because it was that much of a disturbance. When we arrive, all of the waiters kept moving these heavy chairs around making obnoxious loud noise. It was to the point where we were no longer even enjoying our meal. Like what is wrong with your staff? How can you not realize this is annoying as hell. Moving around these heavy ass chairs making all this loud obnoxious noise. I should probably give this place a one star review because of that I mean it literally ruined our experience. How can you not realize dragging heavy chairs and making all this noise doesn't affect the clients experience. It made for a really annoying dining experience. I mean, I could literally give them one to a star because of this, but I'm giving them three stars because the food was good. Management teacher staff to not drag and make all this noises with your chairs while people are trying to dine in and eat it establishment. It's 100% ruined our experience. read more

Banana Leaf - Malaysian Near Me - Houston, Texas

I had Singapore noodles which had shrimp and chicken. It can use some siracha and soy sauce. The Indian pancake roti thing first thing on the menu is good too the sauce. read more

I stopped in here for lunch after a day of checking out the sights in Chinatown. My partners family was excited to try some new cuisine. The service was quite good, we were seated right away and our food came quickly, the waitress even boxed our food in take out boxes at the end of the meal. The food is large portions for a decent price too... the curry chicken was two meals for only 9 dollars. I liked the roti a lot too.I won't lie, the restaurant didn't seem particularly clean and the bathroom was kind of disgusting. Asides from that, it was a decent experience, though the food was nothing too special. read more

Banana Leaf - Curry Chicken with Rice - Malaysian Near Me - Houston, Texas

One of my local favorites, Banana Leaf has offers delicious Malaysian flavors (if you're unfamiliar with this cuisine, think of flavors from South Asia mixed in with those of East Asia) that keep me and my family coming back. I personally highly recommend the Sizzling tofu entree, which I get with meat, and the Roti Canai appetizer, both of which are packed with flavor and go deliciously with rice. Of note; this restaurant is in Chinatown and the interiors aren't super fancy nor will the waiters go out of their way to talk to you. But, they deliver on flavor and that is the metric I use in Chinatown. read more

Banana Leaf - Sizzling Bean Curd - Malaysian Near Me - Houston, Texas

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Stir fry flat noodle was solid. Water spinach was a little bland, could've used more bean curd. Roti was good, flakey, and buttery; curry dipping sauce was ok. Sizzling bean curd was great! Services was great, ambiance = family restaurant read more

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Food is good. However, I gave it one star due to the service and the staff are complete assholes. We went there during a cold rainy night to eat and we decide to sit in one of the bigger tables since it's further away from the door and the place was nearly empty. The assholes told us we need to sit right next to the door due to us being only a party of two. People were walking in and the door was opening and closing and literally my wife was getting wet from the near freezing water outside. Never going there again. They're treated us like shit. read more

Finally tried this gem after passing by it for years and glancing at the menu in the window. Well worth the surprise visit! The restaurant is kind of narrow but they somehow fit about 12 tables and only had two servers in the incredibly busy hours we arrived. The waitress was very accommodating and gave us a high chair for my baby right away. The menu is nice and simple; includes a helpful description of the food in italics. Now onto the food: The best of these dishes, is the Banana Leaf Crispy Golden Fried Calamari. Nice thick, crispy and wonderfully flavorful batter wrapped around fresh, chewy yet springy squid. Tastes even better when dipped into the sauce that comes with the Indian Pancake. Which, is exactly what you expect. Warm, thin, flaky bread you can dipped into the rich, creamy brown sauce. Perfect appetizer. The next two dishes were good, but I could live without them also. The Shrimp with Eggplant Malaysian Style. Mildly spicy and tasty. The eggplant was very moist, just saturated in the brown sauce it's cooked in. Not sweet like Chinese YuXiang eggplant (鱼香茄子）but very savory. And, the Banana Leaf Pineapple Fried Rice, which is cooked with chicken, shrimp, and eggs. Was great. Very flavorful yellow rice, deliciously sweet onion, bit of chicken and shrimp in there (not much, but there), and green peas and cubed carrot. Good enough portion to feed about three people. (They give a bowl of white rice for the table also). Nothing really remarkable it was just good fried rice. Overall great restaurant. I would love to try more the menu next time but not exceptional enough to become my staple favorite! read more

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Food was tasty! But after we had finished everything, a roach crawled across our table. Not a tree roach, a German roach. It's winter. Unfortunately can't recommend. read more

Tried this place for the first time with my family. It's located in the heart of Chinatown in Bellaire and there is a lot of stores around the restaurant and a lot of boba and dessert option. We got the clams, soft shell crab, fried tofu, and Chinese broccoli. Servers were friendly, if you can speak mandarin that definitely helps but they also understand English ! Restaurant is simple and clean too. If you're and Malaysian food I think this is a great place ! read more

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Very small place in the china town section of bellaire in Houston. Have been here many times so decided to give a review. Have not been for a long time so finally decided to leave some thoughts. Had the sizzling beef dish for main and I always start with the roti, some of the best I have ever had. The roti comes with a curry sauce and the satay is char grilled to perfection. Many speciality drinks like coconut water to choose from as well. I usually just get water to enjoy the awesome flavors! read more

Banana Leaf - Chicken Banana Leaf Satay Chicken - Malaysian Near Me - Houston, Texas

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Came here on a whim for lunch while visiting Houston's Chinatown, and had just an OK experience. Based on the reviews below, we may have ordered the wrong dishes - they have a huge menu, so we may try again in the future. The four of us ordered two roti canai, a fried noodle dish, the Hainanese chicken, beef rendang, and nasi lemak. The roti canai appetizer was probably the best dish we had, but it wasn't standout, and the Hainanese chicken was really disappointing: it was dry and tasteless, the complete opposite of how the dish should be. The chicken in my nasi lemak was tender, and the portion size was decent, but the pickled vegetables tasted stale and limp. The same was true for my mom's beef rendang. Overall, the dishes we got were misses, the service was a bit abrupt, and we didn't have the best experience for lunch. read more

Banana Leaf - nasi lemak - Malaysian Near Me - Houston, Texas

I literally wrote this review so I could give the Sizzling Malaysian Style Bean Curd 5 stars. I forgot how amazing this dish is. It's soft in the middle and it has a 'skin layer'. The minced pork & shrimp provides a savory sauce over it all. It's basically all you need. Like get 1 for every 2 people in your party. I probably wouldn't recommend anything else because I'd just want to save my stomach real estate just for the bean curd. I don't think I need to say it, but eat this with rice. 11/10. Move over cheese curds, bean curds are boss in H-town. read more

Banana Leaf - Malaysian Near Me - Houston, Texas

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Came here for lunch midweek and was able to easily get a table around 12:30pm. I ordered the Indian Pancake (Roti) and Chow Fun noodles. The roti was amazing...wish I had much more! Hot, light, and served with a yummy curry dipping sauce. The chow fun noodles were ok...missing a little flavor in my opinion that would have made them great. Their menu is gigantic, so plenty of options to come back and try again (and get more roti). Pricing is very fair and portions are large. Parking is in a large, albeit crowded, lot, since the location is in a strip center. read more

Banana Leaf - Indian Pancake - Malaysian Near Me - Houston, Texas

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Ordered lunch and water to drink. Water was opaque and yellow, very dirty and did not drink it. New owners off Bellaire Blvd and BW8. Trashy place so don't ever go there!!!! read more

I'd heard good things about Banana Leaf, so I was excited to try it out. I got the roti (ordered the one with curry but they gave the egg one), the garlic chicken, and hokkien stir fried noodles. The egg roti was basically a thin crepe with scrambled eggs in the middle; I think the eggs made it a bit soggy, so I'd recommend the regular with curry instead of the egg. The garlic chicken was very crispy but didn't have much garlic flavor, good but more of a classic salted fried chicken taste. The stir fried noodles were nice and saucy. Everything tasted decent, but I probably wouldn't get the same dishes if I went again since the menu is very vast. The restaurant is located in Dun Huang plaza, so parking can be hard to find on the weekends. Try the parking garage by Great Wall supermarket if you can't find a general parking spot. read more

Banana Leaf - Garlic Chicken - Malaysian Near Me - Houston, Texas

A great restaurant for family style and plenty of space for larger parties. We tried 6 different dishes: -Roti Canai (5/5): really crispy and flaky southeast Asian pancake with some sort of curry based sauce. Definitely one of the best appetizers -Stir-fried flat rice noodle (4/5): very standard noodle dish. I do think there could have been more flavor but overall not bad. Add some of the spicy sauce for an extra kick. -Chicken and beef satay mix (3/5): the skewers were pretty small and the chicken was on the drier side. -Curry laksa (5/5): I love a good noodle soup and especially one that is curry based! This was my favorite dish of the evening as the soup had really good flavor. -Malaysian style spare ribs (4/5): they came out really hot and crispy. The sauce was a sweeter sauce and went well with the ribs. -Nasi Lemak (3/5): this dish was kind of hard for sharing and I probably wouldn't order this again, but that's only because of the anchovies. Overall, if you're looking for some Malaysian food in Chinatown, this is a decent spot! read more

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Was craving some Asian food- food this gem on the list of must try in Houston chinatown We got the roti, pearl noodle and balecan fried rice All were delicious The roti- only came w curry sauce in a small cup Balecan fried rice was delicious! Pearl noodle is good as well Very affordable! Would definitely come back in the future! read more

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Food no good, also Service are really really bad, we stayed in Houston couple days and been to some restaurants around that area, they were good, especially their service ,cause I gonna say Atlanta won't have that kind of service .But just want to say only this banana leaf servers were no good, who will just put the dishes on your table without saying a word ,felt like just throw your orders on your table Very nasty bathroom ,trust me, look at their bathroom ,you will see how bad it is .Also we not even finished our orders cause tasted so bad.i should have tried the other Malaysian one not far from there read more

Banana Leaf - Look good but taste no good - Malaysian Near Me - Houston, Texas

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me and my friends were walking around this plaza trying to decide on where to eat, this place caught our attention. we could smell how good it was from the outside. we accidentally were there about an hour before closing time however the lady still allowed us to order despite the kitchen almost closing in a few minutes. we ate fast no worries! food came out extremely quick and service was good! stir fried flat noodle- 7/10 as someone that loveees flat noodles this was good, but not outstanding malaysian style spareribs - 10/10 i really enjoyed these! i didn't even need the sauce to dip! the ribs are crispy but also tender when you take a bite. yu choy with oyster sauce - 7/10 good. standard vegetable dish to balance the meal out. nasi lemak - 8/10 this was really good! not at all what we were expecting honestly but it was delicious still. glad i got to try it. read more

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If you are looking for some Malaysian food in Houston this is probably one of the most well known spots! They serve authentic Malaysian dishes with good flavors and good portions. During my visit I especially enjoyed the flat noodle dish (as pictured) and the chicken rice mixed with the sweet soy sauce. As for the service the waitress was very attentive when it came to refilling out waters and picking up our dishes. The restaurant overall is pretty small and the tables are close together making it kind of noisy depending on the time you go. read more

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Love this place in Chinatown. Not crowded, not noisy, but parking can be challenging. Not impossible but there are spots if you look. It also has 15 min to-go parking spots in front. The owner is really nice. Sorry, I didn't get his name, but he's funny and friendly. Banana Leaf also has a lunch menu that still has LUNCH MENU PRICES! How about that!? Thank you, BL! xoxo I had the basil and beef lunch special and my friend also had a lunch special; between the 2 of us we ate family style and it was just enough for 2 people to share. Love supporting Chinatown and BL! read more

Banana Leaf - Basil Beef Lunch Special - Malaysian Near Me - Houston, Texas

This place has so many options it was hard to choose. I want to go back many times to try everything. I had the Singapore Noodles and also the one of the soups. Both were great. I really loved the Singapore noodles. It was a fun place to eat in Chinatown. read more

Banana Leaf - Ramen - Malaysian Near Me - Houston, Texas

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If you steal my curry you're a THIEF If you insult my Barbi I'll give you GRIEF If you leave her alone, that's a RELIEF If you don't, she'll sit on you and QUEEF Then she'll insult your tiny BEEF While using her shoes to knock out your TEETH Make you vanish faster than the barrier REEF And then drag her muscle guy to BANANA LEAF WHAT Perhaps the best, and definitely the best value, restaurant in Chinatown. Not to be confused with Banana Republic, as in, I'd like to put my Banana in your Republic. It gets a little cold in here, but there's nothing better (or spicier) than the food here. Nommmmm. If Ana keeps on taking off her clothes in this store, they should simply Ban Ana, and ask her to Leaf. What to get: Char Kway Teow, extra spicy, Belacan Rice, extra spicy, and maybe the Tofu dish or the Roti Canai (although that often comes with colder curry sauce). If I had to make a list of the 10 best servers in Houston (friendliest, most personable, and professional), a couple of the servers here would be on that list. And their food is second to none. If you've never had Malaysian, this is the place to try it. A girl eating Banana Leaf Could not suspend her disbelief Upon her understanding They faked the Moon Landing She said "I was right, what a relief!" One of the best restaurants we've ever been to. Some of the servers here are off-the-charts friendly, portions are large and filling, spice levels are insane (if you ask for them) which is perfect for us, and the taste of the food is some of the very best Malaysian we've had in the country. All in all, there's no better place to eat in Texas, honestly. In the winter time, due to lack of good heating, it becomes Brrrrnana Leaf. And dogs don't really like it here, they prefer Boneana Leaf. Sure, sometimes it's a little chilly in here, and yes sometimes they forget the spice levels (but will fix it if you ask). But overall, you'll never have a significantly better Malaysian meal than this. No way. And you won't get this full on perfect Asian food in Houston for a cheaper price... and it really is perfect. So if your best friend is a thief And used your shirt as a handkerchief Strike back with a vengeance And barricade the entrance To their fave restaurant, Banana Leaf! The best Malaysian food in Texas that we've had, and some of the best anywhere - especially the life-changing Char Kway Teow. One of Houston's best, and best value, and oftentimes friendliest, restaurants. One of Chinatown's very best, and such a different cuisine to the likes of Chinese and Korean and Viet, which are more omnipresent throughout HTX. In fact it's so good, it deserves some rap: OK this rap will be BRIEF Which I'm sure is a RELIEF They low-key call me Hot Dog THIEF So you're like Mick Jagger, me KEITH Last night some dude with three TEETH Up and started giving me GRIEF I said "Why you come for me CHIEF? Instead let's do BANANA LEAF!" He said "it is my BELIEF That you believe in free SPEECH" I said "Yes, but here's what lies BENEATH A desire for more BANANA LEAF!" WHAT read more

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Located in busy Chinatown, Bellaire shopping center. Explore the shopping center after. -Plenty of parking if you arrive before busy times, so try to get here 30 min before lunch or dinner. -Small restaurant, only seats about 10 table per Covid protocols, so again, come a bit earlier then peak times. - Staff is friendly but there's only 2 so you may wait a bit for help, they work hard so be patient -Big menu with lots of options. -Everything we got was yummy and if you're not sure, ask the staff, they are happy to help I loved my food, everything was yummy and I am excited to go back and try other items. But not sure on authenticity bc I'm not Malaysian, just going based off my taste buds. read more

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Very good food and service was good also. I recommend anybody to eat there. We love to come back soon.

Service was really good but food left more to desire. I got the stir fried flat noodle with brown sauce. And the sauce was really good and I enjoyed the savoriness of it. I'm a huuuuge noodle person especially in Chinatown and the noodles seemed very over cooked. I tried my boyfriends Malaysian fried rice and was really wanting more flavor and ended up trying a piece of really odd tasting beef, it was all fat but tasted odd. There's still a lot of potential, I've had their dishes and enjoyed before but didn't perform to where I truly think they can go w Malaysian food! Not bad overall read more

Banana Leaf - Malaysian Near Me - Houston, Texas