Banana Tree Oxford — Restaurant in Oxford

I had an extremely disappointing and disheartening experience at this restaurant today, one that left me feeling deeply unwelcome and disrespected. Despite the restaurant being busy, the stark difference in the treatment I received compared to other diners was appalling. From the very beginning, I had to wait a considerable amount of time just to get the menu card. To add to this, I had to specifically request the drinks menu, while I noticed other customers were served promptly without needing to ask. This blatant disregard felt like nothing short of racism, as I was clearly singled out as a foreigner. After my meal, I waited an unreasonable amount of time to pay the bill. No one even bothered to acknowledge me until I managed to flag down a staff member who was taking orders at an adjacent table. She curtly asked me to pay via a QR code on the table. To my surprise, I observed the same staff personally bringing a payment machine to other tables for their convenience. Why was I treated differently? When I tried to pay online, the system showed an error. Once again, I had to struggle to get anyone’s attention. Frustrated, I walked to their counter to report the issue, only to be met with more indifference. After another long wait, they finally brought out the payment machine for me. The double standards in service at this so-called well-established restaurant are utterly unacceptable. Their behavior was discriminatory and left me feeling humiliated. It is unimaginable that such treatment would occur in a professional establishment. If Google allowed zero stars, I wouldn’t hesitate to give them that rating. This was one of the most disappointing dining experiences I’ve ever had, and I strongly urge others to think twice before...

Summary: They ignored my allergy, so don’t go if you have any allergies.

My first time at a Banana Tree restaurant featured amazing food, but was overshadowed by the poor service.

I can speak about the staff ignoring us whenever we asked them a question, but what really upset me was their lack of attention to my allergy.

I have a sesame allergy, and when I couldn’t connect to their online menu, I asked a staff member to check with the chef if what I had ordered contained sesame. I didn’t receive a response, and assumed that my food didn’t. But I did start to feel some irritation around my lips, so I can’t say for certain if I was taken seriously.

What was then worse was having ordered desert, I ate a couple spoonfuls of the rice pudding, before noticing that they’d sprinkled sesame seeds onto my pudding. Sure, they did replace it after a lot of trying to get their attention, but it was too little too late.

I’m glad my allergy is only mild, and I could manage my reaction to the food myself.

Training around allergies is beyond necessary for any restaurant, as nobody should feel unsafe eating the food they want. The service quality is one thing, but if safety standards are not improved, I’m not sure a place should be allowed to continue to operate.

Nevertheless, that’s all out of my jurisdiction, so all I can do is strongly advise anyone with allergies to avoid this branch...

Arrived here as a group of 6, service was friendly throughout albeit very slow. First round of cocktails (2-4-1) were a bit bland and watery.

Starters were alright, nothing stood out and it was all just ok. Second round of drinks were ordered as starters removed...arrived after we'd finished eating our mains.

I had the massaman, a personal favourite of mine, and this one was pretty poor. It was the exact same sauce that came with the chicken satay skewers. It lacked any form of veg and was literally two tiny thighs in a watery satay sauce with some peanuts. The rest of the table described the food as "unremarkable".

One of our party was served an incorrect dish (chicken instead of prawn). Took a while for it to be rectified. When we finished the second round of cocktails arrived.

And then came the bill fiasco. It took ages to come and when it did, low and behold, they had charged us for the incorrect chicken dish, as well as the prawn one. We waited and eventually the bill arrived. The host graciously said he'd applied the NHS discount as an apology. A nice gesture, but we already had our NHS cards and Blue Light Cards at the ready ....

All in all, the meal was well below average at best, service was slow and it wasn't even busy.

What a waste of...