Banana Tree Maida Vale — Restaurant in London

I remember coming to this branch regularly from 15+years ago, when it was called Street Hawker. This was the first branch, then the brand changed to Banana Tree. I've eaten at Queensway Banana Tree, which was nice, but they went downhill also with regards to really bad service and mediocre food. Yesterday's lunch experience started off really badly. I was waiting outside Banana Tree Maida Vale for 15minutes for it to open at Midday. I was the very first customer! I explained that one of my friends is coming with her son, who is currently going through cancer treatment, and that we may need space for 2 buggies, as my friend is coming with her 5month old baby also. The manager said one buggy will have to be left by the door. Not a highchair in sight and no offer of one either. Of course my friend kept her 5month old baby in her buggy for half of the time we sat down! My friend arrived with her son around 12.10pm. I ordered a fresh juice around 12.15pm. I waited 10minutes for this and got given somebody else's drink. My fresh juice was average. A bit too much passionfruit, but one of the only 3 palletable items for my WHOLE table. My other friend then entered with her 5month old baby. My friend, watching her son who is going through cancer treatment, had to leave his side to walk to the entrance and open the door for our friend! By this point i was already annoyed with the manager. She is clearly on another planet! My friend then ordered a orange, carrot and ginger juice. This came speedily, but the manager just decided to add passionfruit. My friend has allergies! The manager said she hoped my friend would drink the juice and if she didn't like it, that she would change the juice! What the hell?! We then ordered our food at 12.30. I was the first person to have my order taken, which was a starter of chicken laksa soup and a main of crispy chicken w/mango and lime sauce and rice. My friend ordered crispy chicken and rice for her son and a starter of veg gyozas and chicken noodle salad for herself. My other friend also ordered veg gyozas as a starter and chicken pad thai for her main. The starters and my friends sons food took 30minutes to arrive at our table. My starter then took a further 5minutes to arrive at our table! TERRIBLE SERVICE! The ONLY palletable item was my starter of chicken laksa soup. The veg gyozas were BURNT from the inside out, all of the chicken didn't even look like chicken inside. STRINGY, GREASY AND NOT COOKED PROPERLY. IT TASTED SOFT, LIKE THE TEXTURE OF A WASHING UP SPONGE! The grilled chicken with my friends chicken noodle salad was OVERCOOKED. Looked and tasted BURNT! My friends chicken pad thai was GREASY AND FLAVOURLESS! My crispy chicken with mango and lime sauce was VILE! GREASY, STRINGY LOOKING AND JUST TASTED LIKE LIME AND SUGAR! My rice was HALF COOKED AND HALF UNDERCOOKED. Overall a MUSHY texture when i put a tiny spoonful in my mouth! All of the crackers were like CARDBOARD! I wish i made a video so you could all hear the sound when my friends snapped their crackers in half! A really terrible experience. The manager didn't charge us a penny for anything and rightly so! We wasted almost 2hours in the place. The service and food was absolutely HORRENDOUS! I seriously DO NOT RECOMMEND anybody visit Banana...

I came here skeptical because of all the bad reviews but the foods quality and taste blew it out the water .Even though there was a mistake from staff and they brought my starter after i finished my main 😂 . I didnt mind , both starter and main was delicious , seriously delicious . I went for lunch so there was a big discount . £14 for starter plus main . All in all , id go again , i am going again next week actually . Might be a little pricey but its nice . Ive been to much bigger brands and paid way more and the food is no were near as good . I left here happy and satisfied. Well worth it . 💯 recommend it . Love the foods taste and hats of to the creativity and presentation. 👏 everything is حلال . Enjoy 😊

01/08/22 Went back because the food was good but unfortunately the service was a let down slightly , my starters and main were brought at the same time so i had to rush through my starter so my main doesn’t get cold . Saying that the food still was great but unfortunately for me let down buy the service again . Foods great just a shame service isnt . Id still recommend because the food is good 👏

Ive returned like 5-6 times , love the place . Service and all the extra stuff aside , their food is fantastic , mocktails were very nice also 👏. Ive become a...

I had a good experience. The restaurant is really small and very cramped. Strange layout. Also chilly. Nice Pan Asian menu. There is an adequate choice of options for those that follow a vegan or vegetarian diet. Having said this, the menu was not as extensive as you see on their website or at bigger branches. Service was good. Staff were pleasant and friendly. I had the Malaysian prawn kari with coconut milk. Basically, tiger prawns gently cooked with aubergine, tofu and bamboo shoots in a traditional Malaysian blended coconut based curry sauce. All curries come with with jasmine rice, house salad and a few prawn crackers. Delicious. Well presented, piping hot and so tasty and comforting on a chilly evening. Some reviewers have commented on portion size but I thought it was very generous and satisfying. There were a lot of prawns as well in the kari. The kari was full of flavour and really tasty. The salad had a nice dressing on. Not too pricey. Food comes out quickly after ordering. If it wasn't for the cramped restaurant, having to eat with my jacket on as it was freezing and cleanliness (floors needed a sweep), would have given this a 5 rating. I would...