Banana Tree Portsmouth — Restaurant in Portsmouth

Food: yummy but nothing too special.

Service: needs improvement. See full review for details.

Atmosphere: beautifully decorated with music that complimented the theme. Somewhat disappointing and awkward due to the interactions amongst staff members.

Having never been to a Banana Tree, we thought we'd give it a go for an early dinner. The whole experience was unsatisfactory. And trust me when I say I generally give hospitality staff the benefit of the doubt and am not one to grumble. Upon reflection, I find myself annoyed that I didn't raise these concerns to the duty manager.

When we arrived, we were waiting at the door for several minutes of a restaurant with only two other tables of diners. The waiter kindly apologised for us having to wait (which we genuinely didn't mind, we could see he was busy), for him to follow up his apology with the comment 'my manager has gone walk about'. After being seated, we were served drinks very promptly and noticed that 3 other members of staff then arrived, including the manager.

Eventually a different waiter came over to take our order, writing it down on his notepad, and was actively looking at what I was pointing to in the menu and repeating it back to me. We ordered one starter and two mains: the banana tree curry with tofu and a steak pad thai with no coriander.

Our starter of sweetcorn fritters to share arrived very promptly, served by a different waitress, with some grubby side plates that we discreetly gave a wipe down ourselves! Other than that, the starter was very tasty.

The starters were cleared and not long after our main arrived. The waitress placed these down in front of us, neglecting to ask if we needed anything else before zooming off to continue a chat with her colleagues at the bar. Unfortunately we both noticed that despite having asked for tofu, I was served chicken, and the other main dish was smothered in coriander. We signalled toward to staff, all huddled at the bar, and could see them prompting the waitress to come over to us. We specified our issues, and before apologising she said 'who took your order? Was it the boy?'....

Our plates were taken back to the kitchen, she then returned to actually apologise, saying it would be another couple of minutes. I told her not to rush (I'd rather it be right than quick!)

Our mains were served again, this time correctly. Again, we were not asked if we needed anything else. The food was yummy and fairly portioned with a neat presentation, although my curry seemed to be served with plain rice rather than jasmine rice as detailed in the menu. I was admittedly embarrassed to complain further and was hungry so cracked on with my slight disappointment there.

Although more diners had arrived, it remained fairly quiet while we were there. Our glasses were left dry and no one checked in on us while we ate our mains.

It took a while for our plates to then be collected. We felt somewhat neglected and that staff were avoiding us wherever possible. They seemed to look in our direction and whip their heads away from us. They even attended to the table behind us, without the thought to take the opportunity to check-in.

Overall, their behavior as a team seemed very fragmented and childish. Although I am pleased to say that a discount was added without us having to ask.

I like to think they were perhaps having a bad day, but something certainly needs addressing in terms of basic service skills, team work, and general...

My partner and I visited the establishment right before watching the screening of Despicable Me 4 nearby. With all the other restaurants full, we decided to try this Thai restaurant. It was a busy time due to graduation ceremonies finishing at the university.

Upon entering the restaurant, we were immediately directed to a table close to the stairs and right next to a balcony area. This spot was unpleasant, as we were literally seated next to people's feet and food on the floor while eating, which worsened our experience. We asked to move, but were told no, without any consideration for the poor seating arrangement we were given.

My partner spoke to another staff member, who dismissed her concerns, so we had to speak to the man at the entrance, who had seated us. We asked again to move to a free table, but were denied, even though the table remained unoccupied for at least 15 minutes.

When we ordered, a group of students from the graduations came in after us and received their food first. This was quite disrespectful, as we arrived and ordered before them, yet were stuck with a poor seat and slower service.

The drinks were disappointing; they seemed to come straight from the tap and were overpriced. My partner ordered "peach iced tea" as listed on the menu, but was told they only had lemon iced tea, which wasn’t even on the menu. The drink tasted watered down and poorly presented, especially considering the price and the restaurant's atmosphere. The bartender was just following the manager’s rules, so we don't blame him.

For starters, we ordered a side of "5 spiced fries," and a plate of "fried calamari" and "chicken dumplings."

First, the fries were like McDonald's oven-cooked chips with little to no seasoning and a small portion. Secondly, the calamari were overcooked and rubbery, far from the crispy and fresh calamari we expected. The only redeeming quality was the dip, which seemed like it might have been pre-packaged.

Thirdly, the chicken dumplings were good, but the portion was small, and they were drenched in soy sauce at the bottom of the dish. No consideration on presentation or the how much as customers we would want with the dumplings.

For our mains, we ordered two "Singaporean noodles with chicken." The portion size was small, with a lot of vegetables but very little chicken. The dish lacked flavor and left us still hungry, so I had to get a milkshake afterward just to feel satiated from somewhere else.

The restaurant's environment was okay, but our seats were terrible. If you ever visit, avoid the two seats right in front of the stairs as you enter the establishment. The cutlery was clean, but I had to move it away from the side of the balcony floor and people's feet, and wipe it down just to be safe.

Additionally, there was a £4 service charge, which seemed unreasonable given the lack of consideration and the poor service we received. This experience spoiled our mood for the movie and the evening itself.

I would not recommend...

Went during the 50% opening week so this review is based on if our experience was paid at full price. Bill was £38 would have been around just over £60+ if it was full price. We ordered a Singha Beer, 2 for 1 Mocktail which was a “Coconut Colada” (more towards the pineapple side than coconut). Prawn crackers and Fried Calamari for Starters. Beef Rendang which I had heard a lot of good reviews about and a Prawn Pad Thai. The beef rendang was quite spicy so warning for those who order that. Portion sizes and flavour were good, did not leave feeling hungry. Unfortunately for who I dined with they were a pescatarian and did not want any meat apart from fish, when ordering a prawn Pad Thai they found a piece of chicken in their food. They did not want to make a fuss so did not alert the staff and I ate the piece of chicken. Where we were sat had a shelf/bannister part which was also the floor area to the raised seating area above us, there was a lot of remaining food passed into this area - this made the atmosphere less pleasant being around scraps of food. There was a service charge added to the bill (this is optional). Most of the inside has remained the same since the previous establishment of Cafe Rouge, changes are more artificial green plants, lighting and fairly lights to improve the atmosphere - due to the changes being more decor than structural it makes it feel like a pop-up restaurant. The food and staff are lovely but hesitant to return again if we were to pay full price. Hopefully things like cleanliness will be improved upon as well as eye to detail about dietary...