Banana Leaf - Greenbelt 3

Alan surprised me by suggesting we eat at a Malaysian restaurant this weekend. It's been 1 month since my last Malaysian meal, so i said, "Let's go!"

The restaurant was in Greenbelt(another Mall) which was a beautifully landscaped shopping paradise. I'd like have spent more time there, but with only 3 hr windows between Tyler's meal, we focused on matters at hand.

The restaurant was a clean looking restaurant with simple designs. I dove into the menu at first chance and started on my complicated meals comprimising plans. You can only eat so much in one sitting. Darn it! Alan, with his predictable selections, was done in 3 seconds, while i was still pulling my hair trying to figure out how i can eat everything i was craving, 10 minutes later.

Anyways, here's what we had and my reviews.

Alan : Chicken Satay

The chicken satay was suprising tasty and tender though i have a strong suspicion that they fried the skewers to cut down on cooking time and maybe finished it on some fire to give it the charred look. The peanut sauce was little too sweet. But over all, passable.

Mine : Penang Char Kway Teow

This dish failed it's look and smell test from the start as it didn't have the charred look and smell that Penag Char Kway Teow must have. However, the taste was actually not too bad except for the slightly sweet taste which i think from the cook adding sugar to the dish.. what the heck??!

Mine : Sambal Kangkong

This typical Malaysian dish was probably the best dish they had that night as the kangkong was tender and the sambal of good flavor. But if you want to be picky, you'd say it lacked belacan. But again, it didn't say belacan in the name, did it??

Mine : Hainanese Chicken Rice

If HCR tasted like what they served, it wouldn't be famous in Malaysia! :) I'm not saying it was horrible, but HCR is a comfort food of certain standards. The chicken has to be tender and juicy and rice fragrant and for me it has to be a chicken leg. I asked for a chicken leg and the waitress said, if you want a specific part, we'll have to charge you extra. So, i ask her what part does it normally have? And she said, "I don't know". I was like "HUH????" Anyways, my chicken came both in leg and breast(yuck!) meat and no, i didn't get charged extra!

Alan : Prawn Toast

Alan never fails to order this dish if it was on any menu(except when i make it!!). But the people at the restaurant must never expect anyone to order it as it took the longest and ended up looking like this. They probably said, "Prawn toast?? That was a joke dish!! Now, how do we make this thing??!" Alan seemed to think it was not bad even though he too was laughing at how it looked. But i didn't think it taste good at all.

Alan : Roti Canai

Roti Canai, even the most pickiest eater would love it. However, this restaurant managed to butcher it. BAD! The Roti Canai was dry and tasteless and what kind of Malaysian restaurant serves roti canai with no curry sauce?? You have to pay extra for curry sauce.. shame on you!

Anyways, so, my take is, as a restaurant, most of the food except Roti Canai, was quite tasty and passable. But as a Malaysian restaurant, it wouldn't be a place I'd immediately think of for delicious Malaysian food.