Never one to pass up a meal in Chinatown, we headed out to Banana Leaf for my second visit there. I was excited, because I really enjoyed my first Banana Leaf meal. We had a big party, and it’s actually quite a good place for large groups. They have several large round tables there and where we were in the back, a slightly sectioned off area in front of the kitchen, perfect for groups who want a bit of privacy. We started off with some appetizers including roti canai, satay tofu, and a smattering of other random appetizers that I didn’t know the names of. Point is, they were all good. This place is really good. I might even like it better than Penang now. There was a bunch of deep fried looking stuff. Those are my favorites. They came with several different dipping sauces, each of them fabulously tasty.
I really wanted a noodle soup dish, but it was just too hot outside for this option. So I went with the mee siam. with is a vermicelli noodle dish with tofu, shrimp, sprouts in a spicy thai chili sauce. It was very flavorful and barely spicy. I enjoyed it, but the shrimp tasted a bit odd, perhaps not so fresh.
Here is the mango shrimp. It has shredded mango cooked with shrimp, in a sweet and sour sauce served in mango shell. It’s a very beautifully presented dish. You can also get this in chicken or fish varieties. This is a good dish, but it’s not very exotic. The mangos make it a bit exotic, but it’s basically a sweet and sour dish.

I’ve visited this restaurant after visiting the TUT exhibit. I will tell you it was one of the most enjoyable experiences in a restaurant I’ve ever Had! Ive travelled all over Europe and my husband is a food scientist (Very hard to please) and my child is a messy and adventurous eater. Great choices, great service, good food, great presentation, and great Prices. It has it all in my book. Must come back again for the Coconut pudding served cold in a coconut shell. Highly recommend this resturant to anyone visiting Philly and China town. Brenda