Reviewing Banana Leaf: Authentic Asian tropical and fusion flavors in Milpitas, CA.

One of my favorite Asian restaurants is Banana Leaf, which is located in a lively restaurant plaza in Milpitas. They have a wide variety of flavors from Malaysian, Chinese, Indian, and Thai cuisines. If you’re craving some authentic Asian tropical and fusion flavors, or some refreshing cocktails, Banana Leaf is the perfect restaurant with a warm and welcoming ambiance for a group dinner. They have indoor and outdoor seating options, both of which are cozy, high-spirited, and loud.

We ordered the Satay Combo, roti prata, pineapple fried rice with prawns, Malay Sizzling Beef, and Indian mee goreng. We also had their delicious mango juice, which had a super fresh mango flavor that didn’t taste artificial at all! All of their dishes had amazingly authentic, natural, and fresh flavors.

Roti prata is a crispy layered Malay-Indian style pancake paired with a tasty homemade curry sauce. I’ve actually ordered roti prata as an appetizer the past few times that I’ve visited Banana Leaf! The curry sauce is absolutely delicious and creamy, and the roti is quite thin and crispy. The Satay Combo comes with chicken thigh and angus steak skewers, and is also a staple order of mine. The meat is incredibly soft and tender, and there’s a thin, sweet and salty glaze of flavor on the meat that makes it a must try dish.

I genuinely love their pineapple fried rice, which has mix-ins of prawns, cashew nuts, raisins, peas, and carrots. It’s served in a beautiful carved out half-pineapple, and the portions of the rice and prawns were genuinely filling. The rice was more on the mushy side, but it still tasted tropical and appetizing. We tried their popular Malay Sizzling Beef, which arrived at our table still sizzling and hot. The beef was smothered in a delectable sauce with Anaheim chili, sweet onion, and Malay black pepper. The meat was especially tender and well-cooked; however, I wish there was more meat and less sauce. Nonetheless, I savored every last bite!

I tried their Indian mee goreng for the first time, and it was fantastic! It’s a superb noodle dish with prawns, calamari, chicken, organic tofu, eggs, peanuts, bok choy, and bean sprouts. It was bright orange in color and tasted citrusy; the flavor was definitely distinct, but I’m a sucker for noodles! I love that it was packed with so much protein, and the portion was substantial.

For dessert, we ordered the pandan panna cotta. Pandan is a tropical plant with a taste that is said to have a light, grassy vanilla and coconut flavor. There was a lovely tarte, sour fruit jam on top of the panna cotta that balanced the sweetness of the coconut flavor so well; I still can’t stop thinking about it! The panna cotta was super creamy and soft, and it was made so perfectly. You don’t find pandan-flavored panna cotta everywhere, so I highly recommend ordering this. I have also tried their mango sticky rice before, which is spectacular as well.

Banana Leaf is usually busy on the weekends during dinner, so I recommend booking a reservation beforehand. Everything on their menu sounds delicious, and I’m confident in saying that there’s something on it for everyone. Their flavors will blow you away!