Banana Tree Islington — Restaurant in London

Went in shortly after opening at 12pm for lunch with my mother, as we had gone the week before and had a great experience. We were served by different people on this occasion. We were seated and ordered rather quickly. However, when my mother received her food and cut into her chicken it was very pink inside in many parts. She had ordered this dish (Indonesia Jawa) previously and while it had been a little bit pink on that occasion it was nowhere near as pink as this time. I flagged down an employee and when we explained to the boy that it was too pink for comfort he tried to argue that it was stated in the menu that the dish comes like that. We (my mother and I) both knew that wasn't true but the server went to go get the menu anyway. After seeing that it was not stated anywhere on the menu that the chicken came like that (he was very desperately looking to see where on the menu it said that) he went to the kitchen and asked the cooks/chefs to verify if that was normal or not, without actually taking the dish to show them. He returned shortly afterwards and said that they insisted it was meant to be that pink. He offered to get us something else but after he had tried to fob us off that way we had a bad taste in our mouth and so we asked for the bill not long after. My food was good but I had lost my appetite at the way the situation was handled and asked for a takeaway box so that I could get out of there. The bill took about 5 minutes to be brought to us even after we asked him a second time (although this is understandable considering they are understaffed). I had tried to get the server to scan a £10 voucher I had gotten from my previous visit, but he returned and said that the system had declined it, saying that it had already been used. The only reason I had came was for the sole purpose of using that voucher, which I had only gotten a couple days before on a date with my partner so I don't know what happened there. He added a 20% discount that didn't amount to the same value as the voucher. Then it took almost another 5 minutes to get the takeaway box. Unfortunately, I forgot to remove service charge.

The time before I went with my mother and the time I went with my partner was great, and we had been served by two lovely ladies who were very nice. Great service from them, but not this guy or the other...

I was a bit dubious before because I have never been and it always at first glance seemed too expensive for me. Well I have been nicely surprised. They have a happy hour on drinks and food at the moment ( not sure how long for) so you can get 2 for the price of one. Obviously there are only certain things included in this offer but I found all things offered to be reasonable. I had the Thai sticky wings for my starter as did my mother who is a very fussy eater, and we were both left with a plate of bones. They were soooooo good. Highly recommended 👌 My vegetarian sister had the gyoza which she enjoyed throughly also. Also the portion size is on point. Usually in restaurants the starter will consist of for example 3 chicken wings ( if your getting chicken ) and some pointless garnish and are paying silly prices,well nor at Banana Tree. I had about 5 wings and I can eat alot so I was very impressed. For my main I had the classic sweet and sour chicken stir fry (they do have a vegetarian option also in the classic sweet and sour) and it was again a very decent size, aesthetically pleasing, yummy and super filing. My sister had the Thai green curry vegetarian option which she loved also. The flavours work so well together. For drinks we ordered the wild strawberry sparkler and the lychee and lime cooler. They are mocktails and super refreshing. I preferred the wild strawberry sparkler because it also has passion fruit in it making it the perfect level of sweetness for my palate. My sisters favourite is the lychee and lime. We ordered 2 of each they were so good. The only thing that was a bit disappointing is we ordered a mango sorbet from the children's menu for my son and it never came. And also his apple juice was one that you get from a cornershop for 55p, how do I know this you ask, it was left in the original packaging. I think even if they do get it bulk from somewhere at least put it in a cup, make it look pretty because you are charging £7.50 for that child's meal and that drink. Just a suggestion . Highly recommended for couples,friends and family's (as long as there are no fussy eaters because the food is very flavoursome) Definitely will be going again. Very good...

Booked a table for two for 6pm, ahead of a theatre visit at 7.30pm. Arrived at 6pm, asked to wait, even though some tables were vacant. At 6.20pm I forced the issue and asked to sit at one of the vacant tables, which the staff had somehow failed to notice.

Ordered at 6.30pm. For simplicity and the reduced time available, we only ordered a main and a side dish each with a carafe of water.

One side dish arrived at 6.50pm. One main course arrived five minutes later. The other main dish arrived at 7pm. The other side dish failed to appear, and we only got some water by asking.

This is an established restaurant, in a location near a major theatre. Many guests, like us, will have a time window to complete their meal. If 6pm is a pinch point, then take fewer online bookings and/or don't accept walkups.

What should have been a relaxing pre-theatre meal turned into a rush to finish - which, given we had allowed plenty of time, is unacceptable. I noticed a very similar experience reported on TripAdvisor just five days earlier, so this is clearly not an isolated issue. We won't be returning as we can't trust the...