Banana Leaf

Tonight, Poodle and Ferret accompanied me to Banana Leaf, a Malaysian place on 10th and Arch and one of my favorite places to eat in Philly. It is unique in that usually, when I find a place I like I will order a small number of things religiously and refuse to try anything new. For some reason I find myself more adventurous at this restaurant. I had the Nasi Lemak (Coconut rice flavored with cloves and screw-pine leaves. Served with chili anchovy, curry chicken and hard boiled eggs) which was pretty tasty and stole some of Ferret's Roti Telur (A traditional indian pancake filled with egg, onion, served with curry chicken with potato dipping sauce) and Satay Tofu (Crispy fried tofu stuffed with cucumber and bean sprouts, served with peanut sauce). Poodle, as always, got the Curry Chicken with Rice, which is delicious, and as always, I envied her dish and vowed to get it next time.

In previous outings, I've gotten their pad thai (part of my desperate search for New York quality pad thai in this god-forsaken hole) but it wasn't up to my exact standards. Had better luck with Chow Kueh Teow (Malaysian famous stir fried flat rice noodles with fresh shrimp, squid, bean sprouts, eggs, soy sauce and chili paste) and various appetizers. To qualify as a favorite restaurant, the place must be a perfect balance of food and price, and Banana Leaf definitely meets this metric.