Banana Leaves

Drinks/​atmosphere 5+++++ stars. Food/​service 3 stars.
I wish the bar area was bigger and livelier because if it was, it would absolutely be our neighborhood bar. We really like it here because it’s not as if Banana Leaves is trying to be something it isn’t. They don’t make mediocre food and charge a fortune for it. Rather, their sushi and entrees are suitably priced. The drinks on the other hand…
First, they have Hpnotiq Martinis – my absolute favorite drink and so very hard to find. And the price? $ 8.50. Yes, you read right. NO ONE in the area has a regular drink list as inexpensive as Banana Leaves. And they are not watered down in the slightest – VERY generous pours. The cocktail list is pretty extensive with a wide variety of unique martinis, many as low as $ 6.95.
Food prices were reasonable as well. Sushi was less costly than at most of the other restaurants we’ve tried. Not the best we’ve had, but still good and at a justifiable price point. I ordered standard shrimp Pad Thai, which was just okay. I liked that it had chunks of tofu, but didn’t like that it only had a few shrimp. However, given it was only $ 9.95, I’m not sure I should expect much more.
The servers are friendly, but there seems to be a bit of confusion as to who is responsible for what. We walked in and stood there for a few moments, not sure if we should wait to be seated or seat ourselves. (Later, a couple coming in after us faced the same dilemma.) A few staff members walked by us and smiled a lot (frankly because I don’t think their English is very good.)
Finally we seated ourselves at the bar, were given menus, and waited. And waited. Staff members were very busy, rushing around, but the bartender seemed to have many jobs that night: bartending, serving, seating…
Love the décor and atmosphere of Banana Leaves. It’s Asian-​inspired throughout and clean. There is an expansive second floor dining room and a bar and seating area with a street-​facing picture window on the first floor.
In conclusion, I think you get what you pay for. It you want the best food and the best service, go someplace else and pay twice as much. If you want good enough food and excellent drinks at way lower than market rates, go here.

The food is decent but over priced and they give you very little food. We just ordered over $ 100 over food among 5 of us and it was barely enough to fill a plate per person. The general tso’s chicken had maybe 6 small pieces of chicken, there was barely any chicken in the Kung pao chicken, and none of the dishes were even half full with food (including lo me in). Really disappointed. I feel like I just threw away over $ 100. Would never recommend this place.

When I lived in DC this place was truly an addiction. Their food is so incredibly good! If you go I would definitely recommend the Banana Leaves Rice (the sauce on the shrimp is really good), the honey peanut noodles, and the crabmeat rangoon (ask for extra sauce!).

The food is pretty good and they let you stay pretty much as long as you want. I’ve had reservations at 7 pm on a Friday and not left for about three hours. But they also have an upstairs dining area and I rarely see anyone up there so they probably don’t bug us about being there for so long because it isn’t packed.
They also have a gluten-​free menu which my gluten-​adverse friend appreciates.

The food is consistently good and well priced.
I order take out from this place at least twice a month.
The delivery service is also quite speedy.

Nice find during my trip to Washington DC between conference meetings. i didn’t get a chance to order their sushi dishes but did order the lo mein. An okay average tasting dish. However, I am in DC and not in Bellevue where there are tons of Asian restaurants to choose from.
I will say, though, that I did not have reaction to their seasoning as I do in some Asian restaurants due to their use of MSG. So I can only assume they didn’t use it.

Ate there 04/​27/​2016. Sushi was very good, chicken skewers very good, summer rolls very good. Price was reasonable & service excellent.

I don’t normally expect places that claim to serve more than one style of Asian food to be this good– usually it’s quantity over quality. But I really enjoyed both their Thai offerings and especially the sushi. The lunch special is a good deal.

My go-​to for delivery normally.
Food: The sushi is good/​average, but fine for delivery. Ordered the other night and my roll was falling apart when I tried to eat it. But still good.
Delivery: This is where the 3 stars comes from. I was yelled at by the delivery man because I was not waiting for him, he did not read the delivery instructions which said to call me. Not only was I offended but completely turned off by my normal delivery go-​to. Sincerely regret adding the automatic tip. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s standard to wait for a delivery person’s call before going outside to pick up the order…
Anyways will be looking for a new DC sushi delivery place if anyone has tips let me know.

A nice informal townhome setting, the array of choices from a fusion cuisine of Malay, Indonesian, Thai and Japanese is an absolute must for the curry munchers or the not not so curry inclined too.

Ordered food from here, which is average at best.
The delivery man however, was a complete douchebag.
He first delivered to the wrong place because he did not read the delivery instructions. After driving to the wrong place, he called with a pissed-​off attitude asking me why I wasn’t outside. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s standard to wait for a delivery person’s call before going outside to pick up the order.
I talked to him and found out he was at the wrong location, so I directed him to the correct location, as was explicitly stated in the delivery instructions. So I wait another 10 minutes. Once he arrives to the correct location, he calls, yet again with a pissed-​off attitude asking me why I’m not downstairs waiting for his arrival. I ordered delivery, not pick-​up right?
Anyhow, I meet him outside and point out to him on the receipt the delivery instructions which he failed to read and caused a delay in my order. All he says is «Oh,» and drives away.
Horrible service.

I’m in a hotel 2 miles away. Delivery took more than an hour, the teriyaki wasnt great, the presentation was nil, and it arrived without ANY utensils. I had to call room service for a fork. Embarrassing. Never again.

I ordered takeout online. Staff was very kind and order was ready when I arrived… unfortunately, the sushi was sub-​par. The salmon roll was just okay… but the spicy tuna wasn’t good at all. Thick, rubbery cuts. I couldn’t finish it. It’s a lovely, cozy place — but I wasn’t crazy about the food. I wanted to love you Banana Leaves!

We ordered Seamless take out. Got to the bottom of my laksa, there’s a giant staple and it stabbed my mouth badly. Seriously dangerous, I could have got even more hurt had I swallowed it

There are some real winners for cheap here! Sushi is above average for a place that does not specialize in sushi; at times the rice can be a little heavy on the rolls. Bali tofu with peanut sauce is good, and the indian curry appetizer for ~$ 5 is pretty good as well! Food always is very fast, and hits the spot for quick Asian food.

Tasty sushi and friendly service. Great traditional favorites like General Tso’s chicken also. And then there’s the coconut rice! Ymmmmmm! Come with friends or have a seat at the sushi bar. I’ll be back. Great location right across from the Hilton.

I’ve ordered here a bunch of times, and I think the food is OK, not stellar. Last week I ordered delivery and my food arrived after more than an hour lukewarm. In addition, the «grilled lemongrass chicken» was some sort of oily lemon chicken dish – not as described. Tonight I ordered delivery and my food arrived after an hour and 20 minutes, cold. I’ve downgraded my «meh» to an «eek! methinks not.»

I’ve tried a LOT of sushi joints around the city and Banana Leaves is certainly one of the best! Great food and great service. can’t ask for more.

I was so excited to find a place with both sushi and drunken noodles which is why i decided to order from banana leaves instead of my usual thai place, boy was i disappointed!
For the sushi I got a spicy shrimp roll with extra spicy mayo and a grilled eel roll. The rolls themselves were flavorless and the eel was the chewiest fish I’ve ever had! Also the spicy mayo was a weird color and tasted disgusting.
I was hoping the drunken noodles would save the order but it was just a pile of congealed noodles under some chicken and veggies, it was also pretty flavorless.
I will NEVER be ordering from this place again!

The drunken noodles were meat & veggies slopped onto a pile of noodles that had gelled together. Not stir fried — literally a pile of gelled noodles with beef on top. The pad thai was dry and just «meh.» Sad face.

Stopped in for lunch, the miso soup was awesome. Prices were cheap. Nice atmosphere. The hot green tea was great on a cold day. I’d definitely come back again.

Went to this place twice, so far chicken satay is my favorite. The chicken and the sauce are just amazing! Also tried their rice noodles once, which I’m pretty sure I will not order again. The texture of the rice noodles is fragile and tastes cheap.

I popped in to order sushi for lunch the other day, after a session of hot bikram yoga. Service is great and fast :) I ordered the sushi combo and it was very good! I was a little hesitant to purchase the 6 pieces of sashimi for a whopping $ 12 but it was worth it because it was filling with the huge slices of fish. I was also looking to order some soup and the lady suggested to get the miso soup for only an additional $ 1. This value was great! The miso soup came in a large plastic container which was more that I thought I would receive for that extra $ 1.
I love how the lady was very helpful in directing me to the best lunch deals. will definitely come back!

I only go to this place because its very close to my job. the only thing that i order are the pork dumplings pan fried, decent for a quick lunch. Haven’t had the desire to try any of their other items or sushi, i’m very picky

Had a strong sushi craving that was left unmet due to Buredo’s inconvenient hours. so obvi I went searching on Unilocal,and came across Banana Leaves:
Pros — It’s not very busy (even on Saturday night), so chances of getting a table are high. If you’re with a group of people with various pan-​asian cravings, you’ll like likely be able to satisfy them all here — there’s indonesian, malaysian, singaporean, and japanese cuisines all under one roof. The beverages were afforable (all drinks including alcoholic ones) around $ 7, and the servers were attentive without hovering (always a win in my book).
Cons — being a jack of all trades often means you’ll be a master of none, and that’s the case with Banana Leaves. none of the items ordered left me wowed. I’ve definitely had better sushi, and the roti canai portions were not only small, but also didn’t include the meat curry that traditionally accompanies this dish.
My meal at BL left me underwhelmed. it wasn’t bad, but it just wasn’t good enough for me to want to go back again.

$ 8.95 lunch specials — pad thai, honey peanut noodles, pad see ew, curry laksa, and some more.
Not the best I’ve had but pretty good. Very convenient if you’re in the area.

Had a delicious lunch with colleagues to celebrate a birthday. The baba curry chicken bento box was memorable and perfect. Only downside was that it took a long time for them to take care of the check. But then, my coworkers wanted to split the check six ways, so maybe we deserved it.

I’m just going to start off this review by saying that this place does *separate checks* for large groups. This is by far the most important reason I’m giving this place 4 stars. They are so accommodating with large groups (with reservations of course), and have a large, well-​lit seating area. The menus are a little interesting, made up of cut-​up slips of construction paper with the food items on it, basically as if each menu was a project for a participant of Take Your Kid to Work Day, but at the end of the day, this place really pulls through. The drink menu is really creative — trying out twists on your usual favorites — and of course they have a great sake and beer selection. The best items to get here are any of the noodle dishes — they serve generous portions, and the sauces are really great. I got the lo mein with vegetables, which I loved, but a lot of my friends were really impressed by the pad see ew and the drunken noodles. The sushi menu is pretty large too, so you have a pretty great selection to choose from.
Service is prompt and accommodating, and we were in and out within about an hour and a half. With 2 drinks and my meal, I only spent around $ 30, and since I’m coming from New York, I’m really impressed by that. I would definitely recommend this place for a group of friends on a weekend night.

Decent food. Decent service. My bento box was pretty good, but nothing special? Just a typical bento box. Wish it were a little cheaper. I was still hungry after eating here for lunch.

I have only ordered delivery via Seamless, so I cannot say anything of the service. The food is very, very good, particularly if you stay away from the Japanese food (if you want Japanese, order from a Japanese place; just sayin). The menu is very pan-​Asian, and mostly everything I have ordered has been delicious. The mooshoo is quite tasty, they just need to upgrade the wrappers, which are just cold flour tortillas. They have a great selection of vegetarian options, and they are just as delicious as the meat options.
A perfect delivery order from this place includes the wonton soup, which is better than their sweet & sour (a little too gloppy), the tomyum noodle soup entrée, the pepperly chicken, and you have to try the crispy peel beef, which reminds me of Korean style sweet & sour beef.

I order delivery from here at least every other week. Had the salmon lover and crabmeat pancakes again last night. This is one of the best places for sushi that I’ve found in DC.

THIS PLACE IS TERRIBLE! So starving on a Saturday night we ordered some delivery. Upon investigating choices, we stumbled upon Banana Leaves. Their menu looked interesting and they had OK reviews. After waiting a hella long time, our food arrives…
The crab rangoons were super cold, and the dipping sauce was disgusting. It tasted like french dressing, thick, opaque dressing.
The Pad Thai was dry and bland.
The drunken noodles had some sort of «meat» on them. It was supposed to be chicken, but resembled ground beef. The noodle were completely naked and had no sauce on them.
The scallion pancakes were greasy, soggy blobs with some clear, bland dipping sauce. They really looked like IHOP pancakes.
To top off the meal, the mango sticky rice tasted like rice with toasted coconut on it. The rice was not creamy and, well, not «sticky». Of course, the mango was not ripe.
NEVER AGAIN!!!