Listed as...
Nearby Places
- Sweet Palace
- Shop
- Scrumptious
- Bakery, Cafe, Restaurant
- Coffee World
- Dessert, Cafe
- Revedore Bistro
- Dessert, Cafe
- Chaurasia Paan
- Pan
Related Searches
Restaurant in Andheri (W)
Rated: Average
based on 9 reviews
Banana Leaf
Subhan Chs, Near Four Bungalows Market, Versova, Andheri (W), Mumbai
26289999, 26709999, 26289090
| Locality | Versova,Andheri (W) |
|---|---|
| Landmark | Near Four Bungalows Market |
| Place Type | Restaurant |
| Food Type | South Indian |
| Price |
Moderate
|
- Additional Information
-
Credit cards accepted
Vegetarian only
Air conditioned
Kid friendly
- Write a Review
-
first reviewed by deapubhi
- User Reviews (9)
Jun 27, 2008
A Big Na Na
Banana Leaf
1 to 8, Shubham Co op housing Society, Next to United Bank of India, Juhu Versova Link Road, Andheri (West), Mumbai - 53. Tel: 26239999/26709999/26289090
Cuisine: In their own words ‘Fine Veg Dining & Coffee House’
Valet Parking: Yes
The ambience;
The restaurant is spread over a spacious area and done up to resemble a stately home of South India with wooden rafters on the ceiling and gleaming pillars, giving it a very old world charm. Really well-done R K Laxman sketches adorn the length of the walls. There is a gorgeous mural of the Madurai temple on one wall with banana leaves and brass oil lamps flanking either side of it. I specially loved the fresh and vibrant green wall (exactly the color of a banana leaf). The tables are placed too close to each other with only a wire mesh separating some. Also, the restaurant was way too noisy! And adding to the cacophony of sound was the classical music blaring in the background.
Staff.
The waiters were a confused lot; the ones serving our table did not understand Hindi nor English nor gestures. And we had to wait awhile till we could get attention. The maitre de was helpful though. He suggested that we were ordering way too much for 3 people and helped us with the order. (That’s a different topic altogether that the dishes suggested by him were awful)
What we ate and drank;
Sweet Lassi (Rs 60) too thick.
Aam Panna( Rs 75) the overwhelming taste of jaljira masala hit us first (even after it was stirred well) it was way too thick for an Aam Panna I suspected ample green food color being used.
Paneer Gassi with Appams (Rs 175) didn’t taste remotely like gassi. I could only taste coarsely ground khus khus, which I am sure is NOT an ingredient used in a gassi. It almost tasted like paneer makhani.
Malabari Curry with Appams (Rs 175) thankfully the curry was delicious. But way too vibrantly red. Artificial food color used once again, I thought.
Appams (Rs 50) were leathery. Not fluffy and light, like appams should ideally be.
Hyderabadi Biryani (Rs 150 ) it was green! Probably didn’t want the color left over from the Aam Panna to go waste! And tasted anything BUT like a biryani, Hyderabadi or otherwise! Just green rice and vegetables tossed together.
The meal rounded off with a South India paan which was delicious.
The reason I mention the use of food color repeatedly is that I am allergic to it, red food color in particular, and I had a flaming allergic attack right after this meal, confirming my suspicions of food color being used liberally.
The meal, the ambience, and the service nothing worked for us. Reservation is a must. And even after you’ve reserved, expect to wait a while for your table. Without a reservation, expect to wait for an hour. And the options, for while you wait, are either standing on the footpath outside the restaurant or under the makeshift canopy in the verandah of the restaurant.
May 23, 2008
Finally... Sophisticated South Indian Food
This is a good take on South Indian food.
The ambiance and design for this place is spectacular, they have really incorporated the feeling of a banana tree in every aspect of the restaurant. It feels upscale and the prices are very moderate.
The only problem with this restaurant is the menu. It is too unfocused as it has very random selections in the menu which makes it extremely difficult to choose from. It took my cousin and me about a half hour to decide what we would like to try, but the end result was good. I would suggest going in a group and ordering different things to share... thats the only was you can decide.
Apr 26, 2008
Keep the bananas
Tried it out within a couple of days of opening, found the sambhar, chutney, service, cowfee....excellent.
Took my dad for his birthday last month & the Banana had started dropping, the rasam was ok; uttapam, bonda could have been better, Sambhar for apna gujarati log.....chatni watery & finally Cowfee was WHITE!!!
Ok replacement was given on the house, but think Suraj (mahesh lunch home) could do much better
Apr 16, 2008
Sophisticated South Indian Fare
well the review title shouldnt make you scratch your head....what i mean is this place is awesome for its south indian fare but is a way too costly combined with some unusual dish names !
we had kanchipuram achari rava masala dosa,butter garlic idli and some type of uttapam.....pretty unusal dishes indeed ! and werent they smackilicious or what ?
in a matter of minutes 5 of us finished all 3 dishes and were hungry for more....
plus the ambience is mind-boggling !!!! spiritual to the core with spiritual instrumental played in the background,essence in the air and a replica of a famous south indian temple carved on the wall.....
now combine that with that type of food is heavenly....the only negative point being the tad higher rates.
highly recommended.
Apr 16, 2008
Commercialised South Indian Fare"
It was the perfect ocassion to visit a South Indian joint..on the Kerala new year festival of Vishu..checked out the place with family..Banana Leaf had a lot of hype attached to it..there is a good amount of word of mouth for the place..
The entrance facade was quite impressive..with more than adequate waiting space..(which is needed on weekends).. the captain was polite and ensured that we got a sofa seat as we were with an infant..
The menu was quite elaborate with an entire page worth of dishes devoted to dosas, uttapas (the tomato sev uttapa is worth a try), idlis each.
We tried the bisse bela bhaat, a south indian speciality, which turned out to be nothing but sticky pulao replete with north indian masalas..being a south indian myself, I dint think the rice dishes did justice to the true south indian palette.
In the drinks department, the aam paana was extremely thick in consistency, the juices were passable.
The thaali (Rs. 200) is the most ordered item here..now I was really confused with the restaurants' positioning when I saw the thaali.. barring the appam and the daal vadaa, all the other items were not quintessentially south indian.. (I think including parathas in the options really does not bode well here.. you want parathas, then go to Urban Tadka!!). There was a korma, a mixed veg..the bowl of rice was good in quantity, (but by that time, one is left with no vegetable / sambhar).
As regards the service, it was prompt and pleasant.The waiters knew their dishes well and were polite.
As for the value for money aspect, i think the place is a tad overpriced. (At the prevailing rates, they should look to increase the quantities of the accompaniments like sambhar and chutney) A meal for two would cost between Rs. 400-600.
Overall, I think the place will get a lot of first timers, however the discerning eater who can distinguish his "paratha from his appam" will definitely not try the place again!