Banana Tree

The place every Maida Valesta loves. While the neighborhood selection in restaurants pales in comparison to many other London locales, this Indo-​Chinese diner stands as the beacon of hope. Their food is pretty legit with regards to authenticity and taste, and works as the perfect casual meal when you wish to put off cooking. The Pad Thai, Mee Goreng and Duck are wonderful, though for a restaurant with such a diverse menu, not all is up to par such as their green curry.
What else? The ambience is relaxed with its small size and wooden décor, and while the staff may sometimes forget to smile, the service is always affable, professional and swift. Affordability-​wise too, their working day lunch deals (from 12 until 19) are spectacular with some dishes offered for mere six pounds.
While Banana Tree isn’t a place you should travel the city for, it is a lovely spot to grab food in, or take away, if you are hungry and living or passing close by.

The choice in the menu has a distinct dare I say british feel to it. The staff member could not give me tofu and prawn pad thai. Quite a ludicrous request, as their rigid owner will not allow customers to mix and match existing ingredients on their menu. He was very happy to offer me tofu for an extra £2.50. This left a bad taste in my mouth lol and inspired this review.
For anyone who likes choice and staff who are allowed to practice hospitality to customers and their unique pallets I’m afraid it is a downer. I would not recommended maida vales banana tree to anyone who likes to add dynamism to that regular evening meal, mockingly thanking BT in advance.
Paying that little extra to Ebenezer for his lack of hospitality wasn’t worth it.

Be careful about getting a take-​away here, as they give you tiny portions and the containers are only half full.
I find the service isn’t very nice at all, rather indifferent and can’t be bothered. The food is mediocre. Its bang next to the tube station so if you come home hungry and haven’t got any food in the house, you can go in. but it is overpriced for what it is. I would generally avoid.

A quick review for a quick meal! I stopped off here on the way home because I saw the Express menu still running and I had heard good things about it. I was not disappointed by the Pad Thai. Very tasty, fast and a fair portion for the price (ok a small but more wouldn’t go amiss but it just about filled me up). I’d go again if they continue to run the offer until 7 when I am coming home from work.

Really great food that has a punch of flavor. They carry a few staples like Phad Thai and curry, but they also have other exotic cuisines to try. The space is small, but they also have take-​away and supposedly delivery (it is through an app that wasn’t working at the time). Only disappointment was how much you get for your money. I wish the entrees were cheaper or I wish they included sides and more for your money.

Having BananaTree near my flat is a wonderful treat! Their lunch special (12 – 7) is a great deal and hard to resist.
I’m a pad Thai lover but the real highlight for me is the steamed chicken dumplings! I would order only that if I didn’t also want the other dishes.
I usually opt for take away since I can pick my food up on the way home but eating in is nice as well. Well lit, music is not loud or distracting and very clean.

Mediocre.
I feel like either this place should be cheaper and therefore better value for money (in which case I would tolerate the lacklustre service and unexciting food) or they should up their game and give more to the customer. Having said that, maybe I am just too demanding, because this place can get really busy on a weekend! Mind you, with a restaurant that only serves around eight covers, a football team could come into here and pack the place.
It is actually very well fitted out and I really like the décor here. Dark woods, exposed brickwork, and low lamps serve up a really nice canteen style ambience with a funky feel. It’s probably the best selling point of the whole place.
I get fed up with being asked «would you like some prawn crackers?» here. Most restaurants ask this and give you them for free. Not charge you four quid on the bill. Stop it. It’s shitty. Especially for people who visit for the fist time.
Will I return here? Probably. Will I enjoy it? I am not certain. I just know the next time to say no to the Prawn Cracker trick. Thai Rice is across the street. Pretty decent competition. Is it really? Well the last time I went to Thai Rice, they tried to pretend that deep fried bread was tofu! I will leave it at that.

Terrible food. I’ve tried eating at two different branches of Banana Tree in hope that my experience was a one off but with no luck. Everything tastes bland! I’m surprised it’s got a four star rating. You’re better off going to Thai Rice or Taxin Thai.

I love this place. Interesting menu, fresh ingredients. I always got take away and only ate in once. Try the laksa soup, five spice chicken or the monk spring rolls.

Good place, for the food.
I asked takeout and found 10% Service on the bill. Was more expected 10% off for takeaway !

Used to be called Street Hawker — great local joint. To be honest, the food is not that authentic but the interrior is clean and the manager has been there forever and very kind and nice. It is a very casual, local joint with reasonable pricing. Ticks all boxes if you are looking for a casual bit in the hood
My top 3 dishes are
— 5 spices chicken
— Blackened grilled pork (Starter)
— Laksa noodle soup

There is nothing to dislike about the Banana Tree apart from the fact that you can get food with tofu in it but that’s about tofu, not the Banana Tree.
I love this place because it’s only a 10 minute walk from my flat, the staff are friendly and not only is the food fab but it arrives just quickly enough so the you know it’s fresh but not too quickly that you’re worried it isn’t.
The menu is varied but sadly I’m not. I tend to go for the phad thai (with chicken, not tofu) or the Singapore goreng. I also love the chicken satay type starter with the amazing peanut dipping sauce and the chicken parcels of greatness that I think they call money bags.
Whilst they may have a menu item called money bags (or something like that), money bags you don’t need to be to eat here. The lunchtime express menu is served until 7pm and you can get a range of starters for c£2.95 and the main courses are around £6.
So if your looking for good Indo-​Chinese food, get yourself to the Banana Tree. STAT!

The tiny restaurant known as Street Hawker just off Maida Vale station was integrated into the little Banana Tree chain some months ago and recently also changed its name to Banana Tree. I have never made it to the place while it was still called Street Hawker, but a few weeks ago I finally managed to go to the rebranded place.
If you have been to any Banana Tree branch before (for example near Clapham Junction:
), you will know what you can expect. It is kind of a tiny branch, so it might feel a bit different from bigger branches. At Banana Tree Maida Vale, the staff are friendly and the service is good.
I quite enjoy the somewhat light and spicy food at Banana Tree from time to time. I am not convinced by their dessert offerings, but for starters and mains, I can really recommend Banana Tree. It is different from your average Chinese or Japanese restaurant and offers great dishes at a fair price.

Latest update: Dropped by one day and found a new addition to the menu that is even better than the Singapore mee goreng! It’s called the Kway Teow Mee and is also made of wheat noodles but tasted even more flavourful because of the oyster sauce, garlic and green onions. It’s official, I have a new favourite!:)
I went again today for lunch and this place was DELICIOUS. I got a fresh and steaming hot plate of Singapore mee goreng noodles with chicken and it was the pefect thing to have on a rainy day! The service was excellent too. I love this place! It also has a reasonable express menu for lunch (you can do it for under £10 if you choose right), which is great for anyone on lunch break! Can’t wait to go again and try something else!
(Edit: Done! Tried the «legendary» beef rendang, and it was really good! But nothing hit the spot quite like a steaming bowl of mee goreng noodles. I tried the chocolate fondant dessert too, and it was decent, but nothing memorable.)
This place is okay, a good place for a quick and cheap lunch. The pad thai here is decent although the first time i went and got a takeaway the portion size and flavor was much better than when I ate in (it was much smaller and drier then). The Phở soup is ok too, not bad on a rainy day and a good size for a meal.