The Banana Leaf - Croydon — Restaurant in London

I’ve recently moved to the UK and missed Indian food, particularly South Indian, and so I was really happy with my visit to Banana Leaf. The food is delicious and the flavours are authentic; the spice levels were a little toned down, which suits me honestly, but if you want more spicy food, let them know when you’re ordering.

We tried the poppadum (papad) with dips, the chicken 65, aubergine curry, parathas (malabar parotta), and the dosa. The dips were excellent but the star was absolutely the mango dip, with had a gentle sweetness with tart notes, and a runny consistency that helped when spreading it on the papad. The chicken 65 was good, not too spicy, and we’ll cooked. The aubergine curry was excellent, with a good mix of spice flavours, not too much heat, and nice tartness from the tamarind paste, though we also squeezed some lemon onto the curry for extra flavour. The parottas were crisp and flaky with the layers nicely separated, and the dosa was crispy but still fluffy, and came with coconut and tomato chutneys, and a very authentic Tamilian style sambar, where the dal flavours come through more clearly than in the Udipi style.

We went in on for lunch on Monday so we were the only ones there, and the owner chatted with us for a bit. He told us how he moved to London from Chennai, India, and set up the restaurant almost 30 years ago, and the fact that they’re still doing this and making such tasty food makes me feel that they have real passion for cooking, and I’m really glad that Banana Leaf is in my neighbourhood, because I’m going to be eating their food a lot. Banana Leaf doesn’t do it’s own deliveries, but they’re listed on Deliveroo, so I’ll be trying...

I went on a normal Friday evening meal at this place since it was near my house. What happened once we went there was a shock. The waiter was not willing to give a table which we wanted even though the restaurant had only 5-6 tables with people out of around 20 tables. Mind you it was a 2 person table only and not a huge one. They were neither reserved as such. The waiter then said you can only sit till other people come....and get the hell out of there otherwise. When I objected he started swearing - wow a dumb guy I thought. I started to walk off and then this guy starts to threaten me with consequences since I asked him to stop using foul language especially in front of my wife. The manager was even worse, started insisting it cannot be that the waiter had misbehaved. Further even when I said that I had been threatened with consequences she wanted to get the waiter to confront face to face - what did she want a fist fight?

Am sure no one would want to go through an experience anywhere leave out at a restaurant. There are loads of better places in croydon, with better south indian food. If you feel like a waiter and his staff to misbehave do make a visit and see...

The inital feel of the restaurant was slightly outdated but we held our reservations until we viewed the menu. There was such variety in the menu that it was hard to choose which dishes to try. With a balanced blend of northern and southern Indian dishes, there really is choice for everyone. The starters were delicious! Served hot and promptly, they satisfied our decision to stay and eat. The mains where equally flavoursome and were thoroughly enjoyed. During the course of the meal, the service was fantastic and highly attentive! He made the party feel warm and welcomed and catered to all our needs, genuinely a lovely team! As a whole, apart from the outdated decor, the dining experience was fantastic! 4 stars definitely deserved!

Edit: after eating at the restaurant, every member of the party endured stomach issues and was ill the days following our visit. Be weary when visiting. Rating changed from 4 to 1.

Edit #2: party refers to a group of people who attended. We were a group of four. Hope that clears...