Been twice to this place. It is located in the busy streets of Soho, very convenient if you really yearn for Thai food after all the shopping from Oxford Street. The starters are really good and for main course we ordered Green Chicken curry and green prawn curry, which tasted heavenly given the fact that we were really starving. Great ambience. All in all loved the place. Will visit again.
Banana tree ke noddles ek dum shaandaar or swaad se bhare huye hai. mujhe yaha ke noddles hi sabse ache lage.
aap yaha apne dosto or pariwar ke saath aa sakte ho
Banana tree wardour street, Soho, London me stith ek Bahut badhya restaurant hai. Yaha ka Khaana Bahut laajawaab hai. Yaha mai date pr gya tha. Sb Bahut bdhya raja.
Tried the chicken dumplings, the seafood stew and the Thai curry... all to die for!
Great Ambience and extremely central inspite of which it wasn’t touristy at all
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I’ve had the Tastecard a little while now, but never got around to using it. The restaurants featured on the program are largely chain-based. Or not very good ones. So this is my first experience with that in hand. BananaTree is located in the heart of Soho making it an ideal spot to catch up with a friend from the office. The deal meant buy-one-get-one-free so we had a lot of food for not a lot. A good start.
Our order consisted of the chicken wings, money bags along with our mains of the beef rendang curry and the pad thai. The fried wings are very good. Messy, sticky and lots of sauce. They offer a recipe for their tantalising wings on their website. It all looks well and good and I get excited up to a point. Then I realise, and decide it’s too many ingredients and too much work. It is one of the most popular appetisers at Banana Tree, and easy to understand why.
The rendang was just above average, the meat tasted a bit dry and there wasn’t enough curry for my liking. The beef is quite chunky, and of good quality so its got that going for it. Banana Tree feels like yet another whitewashed Asian-inspired food restaurant in London. Others that come to mind: East Street and Dim T. Dishes across Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam all meld into one being rather than having each of its own elements celebrated. The first store opened a staggering twenty one years ago and now its eight stores it may have traded that authenticity with domination.
The venue at Banana Tree has a nice, vibrant atmosphere and this is only completed by the size of the crowd. It’s plenty busy and a popular haunt for some of the other corporate dwellers from the looks of it. I didn’t find the find innovative but it was tasty.
This Asian fusion restaurant in Soho attracted me by its wide range of choices of dishes. We ordered the Mekong crispy prawns which were delicious, good quality, great seasoning. Though I wished it had some restaurant made sauce other than sweet chilli. For the mains I ordered the legendary rendang (chicken) combo which is a huge portion I was struggling to finish. The curry is tasty, coconut based, but i felt too coconuty after sometime. The combo offers rice, fried corn balls and salad which was a good balance. We also tried the blackened chilli pork (combo option) which I preferred better than the curry. Overall, slightly overpriced for the food, average service and ambiance. Nothing to say I would go back again.
My favourite drinking place in all of London. The buy one get one free offer is so gooooooood that I end up drinking so much. Great drinks and good service makes it so fun to visit this place.
Banana Tree Soho is one of seven branches in London specialising in Indochinese cuisine, serving a variety of dishes from Thailand, Vietnamese, Malaysia and Singapore. This gives the menu a good twist and offers a great variety for the customer – suits me perfectly as I love that type of cuisine. I visited on a Monday and it was fully packed with a nice atmosphere. I opted for the double cooked crispy pork and the prawn crackers to start. Moving on to mains we had the duck curry and the seafood combo. The curry was fantastic with plenty of meat and vegetables – could just do with slightly more sauce, as that is the best bit....
We got here on lazy Saturday afternoon and were really hungry. Design is ok, however a little bit messy.
I can't imagine a visit in any thai restaurant and not ordering green curry, so of course this was my choice during dinner in Banana Tree. We ordered and after short waiting the dishes appeared on our table.
Curry was really good! It contained a lot of fresh and crispy vegetables (including baby corns, carrot and broccoli) and the chicken was great - very juicy and soft. Size of the serving is just enough to feel full. Greencurry alone was perfectly spicy and aromatic.
The only thing I'd change is to add more curry itself - I prefer it when curry is more liquid. I finished the curry sauce and still had some rice and vegetables to eat.
Anyway - it was a really tasty visit!
Banana Tree is a small chain of restaurants serving food from Indochina: Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian and Singapore. The first Banana Tree opened in 1991 in Maida Vale, London, with the aim of serving quick healthy food from the Indochina area. They serve fresh and fragrant salads, slow-cooked curries and stews and barbecued foods. They also specialise in Oriental cocktails and raw fruit and vegetable drinks. They have a separate vegetarian menu with an excellent range for non-meat eaters.
The place is good and food is excellent,the service is good too,the menu has variety of indochinese food to offer
The place is locate at busier place in London and nearer to Oxford street
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Hands down, my favorite place in London. The atmosphere and the food keep me coming back constantly. It also helps that all there restaurants are indeed halal.
To date I've been to the Soho and Bayswater branches.
My favorite dish on their menu is their Laska which is a rich coconut broth with vegetables, noodles and meat/tofu. The serving size is very big and it is not the most graceful dish to eat but it's so worth it. I've also tried their Beef Pad Thai which was equally good. I love the little instructions that come with the plate.
I also appreciate the 2 for 1 deal on drinks because in my opinion, the serving size for the drinks is way too small for the actual price so paying half price seems more reasonable to me. Additionally, I have gone during lunch hours to the restaurant and have ordered from their lunch menu and in many restaurants, usually the lunch meal serving size is much smaller than the normal one but in Banana Tree you get your large serving size which I greatly appreciate.
Their desserts are also amazing. I have tried the Fried Banana Fritters. I have never been the one to like fried bananas but this restaurant knows how to do them right. Paired with the ice cream, it is perfect. I have also tried the Chocolate Fondant with Coconut Ice Cream and Passion Fruit. Honestly the passion fruit makes the dish. The fondant is very heavy and the tart fruit cuts perfectly through it when paired with the ice cream. It is a genius combination.
The Soho restaurant, I noted, was quite small so during rush hour it can get very packed and noisy so I prefer the Bayswater one which can also cater to larger groups.
Overall, TRY THIS PLACE. You won't regret it.
Great unique restaurant find in the theatre district. Impressive variety of Asian fusion menu items, with fresh ingredients and a bold mix of spices. Enjoys the legendary rendang. The staff were keen to please and offered plenty of advice on menu items. Extra points for buy one, get one free cocktails, with a fresh array of fruity options. Will return for a dependable high quality pre theatre dining experience.
It's The Veggie Option
+3.5
Banana Tree offers Indochinese food, with a brilliant array of veggie and vegan options which are clearly labelled on the menu. I found myself truly spoiled for choice; as well as a number of specifically vegan or veggie options, many of their noodle dishes can be ordered with tofu, massively expanding the veggie choice.
It was not a warm welcoming / hosting at the gate, I found my table on my own. I did order Banana Tree house combo as a starter and Banana Tree Laksa ( combo ) as main course but both came together. I drank Tiger which is Singapore beer. The taste of Banana Tree Laksa Combo was nice. It was soupy noodle inc chicken, prawns and extra prawns instead of meat balls( Cus I didn't choose to eat pog this night ) the waiter boy was so good in hosting and service, I paid 20£ inc %10 service cost for 3 stuff. Should check other dishes next time!
I personally prefer the Watford branch more but since that branch is no more - the Soho one is the next closest to me! Went here a few times during the summer break and loved the pho and the spring roll things we ordered. Definitely will come back another day!
Friendly staff. Good food. Big portions. Vegan an gluten free options available. Very noisy atmosphere. Soho is a nice place to be in at night.
The foodification of soho, London.
This quirky restaurant has good food and an awesome ambience. It's situated in the heart of soho, right on the street.
The food is value for money and includes this sense of the area around it. It's quirky and up tempo. I think I loved the food so much because of where I was. This restaurant is a good overall experience.
Enjoy your self.
The service was very inlike other london restaurants where i got used to be treayed badly. But the waitresses was so kind and they were happy to answer my endless questions. My friemda gotoctails and they thought it was tasty it looked nice as well. I hace got soupy noodles in coconut brouth it was spicy and well made. Although it looked big i thought portions was rather small. So if you are ezpectong to be full after a.main course i would say get sone apitizera first. The resyaurant is ok i would go there for lunch or dinner fairly worth the money afterall it is in central london. It os not the nest of iys kind bir lleaaent one...
Overall, a really nice lunch, I'd definitely go back for another lunch date next time I fancy Pan Asian, especially for that satay sauce! There were also a lot of vegetarian options, almost every dish has a tofu or mock duck option.
The Travelling Tikki
+3.5
Delicious rendang curry and dumplings at Banana Tree on Wardour Street, Soho.
Banana Tree Soho is part of a a chain of Casual Dining Asian restaurants around London and this newest outpost in Soho has just opened on Wardour Street. This chain is run by William, an ex architect turned restauranter, and his lovely wife Anne. In the last 20 years, they have steadily turned this chain into a very popular Asian restaurant with high ratings on sites like Urbanspoon. The new Banana Tree Soho has an industrial decor, with exposed ducting and bare brick walls, studded with a few Asian accents including the large Asian Hat shaped pendant lamps which were custom made for the space. Seating is either on the raised communal benches or tables around the dining space. Noise
Come here if you need a spicy blast of Thai heat but want to play on the safe side. I'm sure I'll be back, it's a sufficiently above average offering in an everyman kind of way and sometimes frankly, only a Thai can satisfy.
Describing itself as an 'Indochina Kitchen', Banana Tree's idiosyncratically laid-out menu takes diners on a culinary tour of that region from Vietnam in the east, inland to Thailand and south to Malaysia and Singapore.
And it was really good. The food was lovely and the place had personality.
If you were to ask me what Indochinese cuisine was, I would have been absolutely clueless. However, having been to Banana Tree I can rightfully say I do know what it is and it is brilliant! I had wanted to try Banana Tree for a while now and after passing it countless times, it was about time I actually went. My friend and I wondered into Soho during lunchtime to see what was on offer. The staff were very attentive and the food was great! I was not expect such huge portions either! It was utterly fabulous. I will definitely be going back again, it is perfect for the pocket when you're strapped for cash without having to compromise quality. A winner for me!
First visit to this Indochinese restaurant at soho. And ended up wondering how we had missed this earlier. The dimsums were to die for, but what took the cake was the Vietnamese spring rolls which came with an instruction card about how to have them. The redang curry is one of their specialities. The green curry is great for all kinds of pallets. Jasmine rice with most mains. They also have an express lunch menu.
Second review after my fifth visit :
must add to the list of starters - Kajang Satay sticks.
Mains - seafood Kari sentan melayu (prawns and tilapia fish fillets gently cooked with aubergine and tofu in a traditional Malaysian blended red curry sauce) , Amok fish soufflé (Cambodian speciality - coconut based soufflé steamed to perfection with lemongrass and Thai basil ) and Banana tree spiced noodles. I am still reeling from the gastronomic delight
Not too much to say. It's v nice, and you will struggle to have a crap meal. Pan Asian curries & dishes you might not be familiar with - all of which are tasty as. In particular the beef in the Rendang (or other dishes) is a beaut, and it's worth getting a combo meal for decent sides.
A solid member of the guaranteed good-meal-out-wherever-you-go area that is Soho.
Decent enough...
We went to Banana Tree in Soho for lunch during the week and decided to enjoy the lunch special (if you took a main meal from the lunch menu, you get a starter for £2.45). I had the chicken laksa as a starter and a pad thai with tofu for my main, accompanied with the mix fruit with a twist. The food was pretty good, and arrived quickly.
The staff were friendly but were not very good at clearing up empty plates and glasses. When our main arrived, we still had our starter plates and juice glasses on the table, which made it rather crowded.
All in all it was an alright experience, although I have had better Asian elsewhere.
Very good
I had a very good Roasted duck breast.
A nice mixture of locals and tourists and a friendly, efficient staff.
I mostly pointed at what looked good to me, got a couple of cocktails, and settled up a fair and affordable check. I went with some friends and we all ordered two courses at least. All was really good and we took the leftover away
I recommend this for fans of Asian cuisine. There are a lot of dishes that you can pick and all sound really nice.
There are a lot of tables available but it’s always busy. Probably because of the great food they make.
I will definitely go again.
This is a little treasure I found when looking for a place to eat during lunch in Soho. I had heard good things about banana tree before from other friends, so it was nice to see something familiar - especially since I was starving. Since it was a happy hour, we were treated to 2 for 1 mocktails which tasted amazing! The food was also very nicely prepared with great flavour (and it's halal - bonus!). I was pleased with the portion size for how much I was paying.
Absolutely brilliant place, quite an underrated place to say the least- definitely deserves more praise. Great place to go for birthdays having been on two occasions. The staff are more than welcoming. As a central London chain it can get busy which sounds unappealing, but it only really seems to add to the buzzy good-feel atmosphere, especially in the evenings. The food comes in decent sized portions to match it's decent prices. Honestly, would recommend it as a place to go with for group outings.
Have been a fan of this restaurant . I don't live in London but whenever I am around Soho somehow I do reach banana tree.
I love their deco, the menu is quite elaborate and service is good too. The food is somewhat Asian fusion.
Always like their ginger stir fry, they also have a good mix of Asian fusion cocktails and mocktails.
A great quick bite place and alsways buzzing for a lonely traveller or a group of friends..
I went with a friend for lunch, the place was empty! at 2pm. I ordered the Chilli, Ginger Stir fry with Beef with the combo patter. I like the favours and the way the food comes on the plate, always looks like a lot. It was tasty and fresh and the extras from the combo patter adds more to the meal. Staff had smiles and explained the menu and also turned the music down for us!
I had the taste card which means 2 for 1, amazing value, £11 pp with softdrink
Service - 4
Food - 4
Atmosphere - 3.5
Value - 4
Last Visit - 24/04/13
After a series of bar-hopping at Soho we reached Banana Tree, without any reservation. The place was bustling but there were one or two tables free, which we were asked to occupy. The place was bit too noisy for our taste.
Before I went here, I didn't even know that this is a chain-restaurant, it just didn't seem like one (mainly for the presentation and prices I guess) We ordered pad thai, and chicken in mango sauce. Both of them were quite tasty, I am not sure about the authenticity, but then I don't care. What matters to me is that the food was good. I ordered the pudding with the coconut ice-cream which was absolutely delicious and recommended.
Service was a bit slow. We had to try hard to get the attention of the waiters.
As someone who claims to know South East Asian food pretty well, I can testify that SOME dishes are pretty authentic. I find that recently there has been an increase in South East asian cuisine taste as of late, and if you are looking for somewhere to try out this terrific blend of tastes then you look no further. Start of with a Laksa and if you want to feel sleepy after, try some Phad Thai. My friends recommend the Roasted Duck breast.
Again a chain, and not a boring one at that. One of the few good Malay - Indonesian chains in London. The menu is quite a nice departure from the Thai / Chinese restaurants (thousands of these are in London anyway)
I liked the stir fry section here, all the dishes here were yummy! Also my wife is pure vegetarian, thankfully this place has the ability to satisfy those veggie taste buds.
Nothing exceptional overall, but good value for money as they accept taste card. Also though I am not sure, they always have some price offers going on.
South East Asian cuisine seems to be all the rage in London but when I visited the Soho branch of Banana Tree on a Saturday evening, I found the place empty. A sharp contrast to the nearby, packed pan-Asian and other restaurants. I wondered why.
An industrial setting (again something which seems to have a fan following) with factory pipes and an overhead pulley made me wish that food on the long communal tables be served by the pulley. Unfortunately, that was not to be but the servers were efficient and all smiles.
When the food arrived, I could not comprehend how on earth the restaurant wasn't packed. Every single dish was fantastic. The Kau chi dumplings, the chicken and shitake money bags, the Nem Noung Coriander Meatballs as appetizers and Crispy Chicken with Mango & Sweet lime sauce for the main couldn't have been any better.
If you're on a pan-Asian cuisine sampling spree across London, do not miss this.
Banana Tree is a really good restaurant, just opposite another great restaurant, Wahaca. Good things come in pairs i guess. Banana tree boasts a really nice atmosphere and is nicely decorated. The theme is jungle, fusion, asian. The service when i went was very kind and patient which i really appreciated. The food was not sublime. I ordered an Ayam Kunyit Chicken curry which i must say was to die for. The pieces of chicken had been marinated for a while and had alot of taste compared to many of the indian curries you have around. Banana trees food is really delicious and very generous portions are served. The prices are to be fair decent and unsurprising for the area. I really recommend this thai/fusion place for anyone walking around Soho.
Enjoy!
I went there for a birthday's dinner with friends and it deserves respect for its quality food, competent staff and sophisticated interior design. There was a wide variety of dishes considering the amount of people at our table and I did not hear one complaint about the quality. Situated at the heart of Soho and thus always busy, make sure you go early to put your name on the waiting list or book in advance. It is a great stop prior to going out in Soho.
There is no better way to describe the food here than how the restaurant does it - 'Indochina kitchen'. You'll find most South East Asian cuisine on its menu - Thai, Malay, Cambodian, Vietnamese. The ambiance is uniquely modern and has not pretense about it - they clearly want you to focus your attention on the food. Pick any starters and you won't be disappointed, the starters arrive quickly and vanished equally fast. For main course don't forget to try the Char grilled chicken jawa - the chicken pieces are worth their price in gold :) ...If you have a sweet tooth then Coconut stuffed Green Thai pancakes come highly recommended.
It's rare to make a mention of a restaurant's fresh juices in a review - try them and you would be in for a surprise!
The place is quite busy on weekends to be prepared for a waiting time of 10-15mins. All in all, a must visit restaurant for all Pan Asian food lovers.
Good food,chilled out ambience. Has a good variety of dishes.
It is very rare to find a restaurant with such a menu consists of so many authentic South East Asian options. We had Thai, Indonesian and Malaysian dishes. The foods were very delicious. Staff were very friendly. Service was quick. It could be very busy during meal hours but didn't take us long to get a table. Should be fine if you are not a big group. They are also doing 2-for-1 promotion for all cocktails and mocktails, all day long!
Friendly enough greeting, clean with good music and comprehensive gluten free menu differentiating coeliac and gluten intolerant guests. 2-4-1 cocktails, mostly enthusiastic servers, reasonably priced but weirdly inauthentic food with buckets of rice. Never had a Vietnamese egg roll that tiny, with that flavour profile or sweet dipping ‘sauce’ and one lonely mint leaf. My seafood Laksa was OK, green curry was green and Rendang was punchy and spicy as it should be. But we came for the location, bookability and turnaround before seeing a show. It delivered. Shame their loyalty system was ‘broken’ so they couldn’t give us what was marketed in the toilets, as one of these has just opened near us and it’s deffo good enough to scratch a SE Asian itch.
I ordered the Beef Rendang. Absolutely delicious! Delightful flavours, warm and welcoming ambience within the restaurant and the efficient and excellent customer service was a bonus. Thank you Silvan for having us. Server with a smile :)
I made a mistake on my reservation but the staff working today were very kind and were able to serve our large group (of 9 people) during lunch. They informed us that service may be slow as there were only two of them at the time but there were no problems at all. As for the food, I’m not a fan of bean sprouts at all, but for their pad Thai, I can always make an exception.
Prawn Laksa noodle soup was quite disappointing. It doesn't have deep taste, so blend. However, chicken satay and Banana tree noodle were good.
If you’re looking for a quick tasty food in a chilled environment this is the place. Super warm and welcoming, music great, service even better. Food nearly got a 10/10 though the katsu sauce lacked a little depth. Fritters were dope af.
Would honestly recommend! Also the cocktails were extremely scrumptious! Really affordable.
Bravo 👏
Alex was great today serving us. Was very attentive, made great recommendations and was very polite and helpful. We went in with a baby and she was also paying attention to us. Great food. Quick to be serviced and good quantities. Value for money.
Great food and fast service! Everything we had was delicious. Our servers Karin and Juan were amazing and helped us navigate some food sensibilities we had. (Peanut and shrimp which is hard with Asian food) The green curry is amazing
Good food, at normal prices. Service was in general good, but it seemed a bit overwhelmed at some point, when the restaurant was full. The ambience was nice, being a bit too noisy at some point. In general I would recommend it and I would go again.
The first server who welcomed us in was very nice - allowed us to seat wherever and there was 2 hours before they closed. We ordered some food Chicken Katsu and Vegan Miso Noodles and to our surprise everything had great flavor, and even a sprinkle of freshness to it, whether it was simple aromatics or some herbs like chives, or spices. Can tell everything is made to order and not frozen. I liked all the food they had here just felt rushed to leave and was declined dessert for last call even though we still had plenty of time before they closed.
It's a nice restaurant with great food. They have friendly staff as well. All I comment is that during the weekend it might be very busy and won't be able to sit longer than reserved; however, we stayed a couple of more minutes but nobody asked us to leave...I highly recommend this tasty restaurant:)
In a convenient location for a post-show dinner, portions are big and overall good value for money. I had the prawns as a starter and they were very good; the fish from my main was a bit too dry but overall a convenient choice if you are looking for a late dinner!
Super sweet service, speedy food arrival, lovely atmosphere and decor and vibes, and the food was absolutely amazing, everything tasted perfect, zero complaints. Cocktails are also super great and happy hour is all day! Definitely perfect if you’re vegan too or just avoiding meat now and then, will be back soon. Thank you!!!
Tasty food and buzzy atmosphere. Plenty of creative veggie and vegan options in the mains and sides. Would be great to have more vegan desserts!
Giovanna Oseguera Tapia
+5
Truthfully, I didn’t expect much from a pan-Asian spot, but was pleasantly surprised!
I got the pad Thai (which although not amazing - needed a bit more tamarind-was one of the better ones I’ve had in England). The nasi goreng rice however, was the star of the show! I’d order a full main of that next time (only got it as a aside). The vegan gyoza were also nice.
They brought out a really tasty homemade chilli sauce which took dishes to the next level!
Food came out quick & the servers were friendly!
Our family had a lovely dinner. The food was delicious,with good portions. We especially were very lucky with the waitress: Rayane was very friendly, helpful with our allergies and spirited.
Highly recommend the restaurant.
Delphine
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