Achi Ayahdorai — Restaurant in Petaling Jaya

First and foremost, Banana Leaf Rice is only served until 3PM.This is not mentioned anywhere and we found out only when we rocked up at 7PM. This new-ish Banana Leaf Restaurant is located on the first floor near Burger Lab. The moment you reach the top of the stairs, the inexperience nervous staff will show you to your table and hand you their menu. And they have a lot of tables in such a small space. The place is very clean. The decor is eclectic with art that's rather irrelevant to the place. Upon opening the menu was when we found out that the BLR was only served till 3PM. No worries as reviews did say that the mutton varuval and other dishes were good. The nervous staff would come over whenever we had a question, then scurry back to where they must have been told to wait. After some to-ing and fro-ing, the owner/manager came over and helped recommending some dishes to us. We ended up ordering the mutton varuval, mutton perattal, bendi masalla, fried tengirri along with some thosai and roti canai. The staff served our drinks (2 warm waters & 1 Teh tarik) and scurried away. 5 mins later, the owner/manager brought him to our table, took our order sheet, gave it to him and asked him what he needs to do next. He was using our table to train his staff! This was like a scene straight out of Fawlty Towers . The staff scrambled back and started bringing out the dishes one by one until we had all the dishes on the table but no thosai or roti for the next 15mins while everything got cold. Finally the roti canai came- a small 6inch disc on a 8inch plate. No curry. No dhal. No nothing. I could have sworn that this was a warmed up supermarket frozen roti canai (the owner insisted it was made fresh). It was during this time that we noticed that the other 2 tables with a couple on each where getting their orders wrong or mixed up too. Then 2 of the 3 thosai showed up. Again these came with nothing. They looked more like pancakes. Both the canai and thosai were way below par even when compared to the humblest roadside warung standard. The mutton varuval wasn't fresh- probably leftover from the lunch crowd but it was decent. The mutton terattal was also quite good as was the bendi masalla and fried tengirri. This was when the 3rd and final thosai showed up accompanied by a very decent mint chutney. But this thosai was thicker than a pancake. And with good timing the owner/manager showed up and ask if everything was ok. I asked him whether he wanted an honest reply and he said yes. I showed him the thosai and ask whether he would accept it if it were served to him. He started waffling about not having a thosai or roti guy in the kitchen. But having said all this, the owner/manager was kind gentleman who was trying his best. He seemed genuinely concerned about our complains and even offered to remove any items from the bill for us that we didn't enjoy. We politely declined the kind offer. The bill came up to RM62.00 This restaurant have many teething problems- from new nervous staff to an inexperience manager. But they do try hard and the dishes are actually decent and should easily get better. Meantime it is a comedy of errors but like Fawlty Towers, it is...

First time trying out this banana leaf spot nestled at the top of a shoplot. Parking was difficult during lunch hour in Seapark but once we managed to get there we realized the space was actually quite small. It was quaint & colourful but space is limited.

We ordered the banana leaf set with parboiled rice, fried chicken, fried squid & some cutting tea. The set came with a variety of vegetables & the standout to me was the pineapple pachadi as you don’t get that a lot in banana leaf servings. The rest were standard, nothing out of the ordinary.

Unfortunately I have to say that I was a bit underwhelmed by the fried dishes, both chicken & squid, as they were cooked with a thick batter that lacked the masala kick. They weren’t tasty enough to justify their price points. I did however appreciated the fact that the cutting tea & kesari controlled the sugar content in them. It was just nice.

Overall I’d say due to how much competition there is in the banana leaf field they still have much to improve in their basics. There were a variety of curry selections but when all of it were put together it just didn’t hit the spot. The quality of their fried dishes really affected the whole experience.

I wish to hear more from them at some point when they have new variations. Maybe someday it’ll be worth it. I’m still...

The food here truly feels homely and comforting, almost like a meal cooked with care in your own kitchen. Most of the dishes were delicious, rich in flavor, and well-balanced. However, the mixed vegetables dish fell short. It was a little too salty and watery for my liking. Perhaps the chef attempted an Indian-style stir-fry using just water and salt, but it would have turned out better with a touch of oyster sauce for depth and texture. That said, every other item we ordered was flavorful and satisfying, clearly made with fresh ingredients and passion.

Service-wise, the staff were polite and friendly, though a bit forgetful at times. Given how crowded the restaurant gets, they could improve efficiency. Moving faster to serve and clear tables would make a big difference, especially during peak hours. We had to wait quite a while just for our cutting tea after finishing lunch, and it was a little frustrating, especially seeing customers queuing up along the staircase. Thankfully, the owner was present and stepped in to assist us, which we appreciated.

The overall atmosphere is cozy and vibrant, though seating is limited since it’s located on the first floor. Queuing on the staircase is part of the experience here. So plan ahead and try to visit outside peak hours. Despite the wait, the food is...