Category Archives: Malaysian

Banana Leaf, Glasgow City Centre, Glasgow

by

We recently went to dinner at Banana Leaf on the basis of Michelle at ananyah.com’s post - there’s nothing I love more than reading an exciting review for a restaurant that makes you go there the very next day (literally!).

There was some confusion in our twitter banter – there is more than one restaurant in Glasgow called Banana Leaf. This is the Cambridge Street one which is Chinese/Malaysian.

I was pretty excited to see what it was like as it seems to be gaining cult status similar to Asia Style. The restaurant itself is very casual so don’t go expecting fine dining. The menu is absolutely huge, and I was glad I did some reading of other reviews (such as Alfred’s from alfredfoodography) so I had narrowed down my options before I got there.

Beef satay skewers with satay sauce £4.90, and roti canai served with curry sauce £2.70

We spent a fair while looking at the menu and deliberating just how much food to order. I was keen to order everything – hence our dilemma. Finally we settled on the above two as starters and they were both finger-licking delicious.

Stir fried kai lan vegetable with slices beef £8.00, stir fried king prawn with ginger juice and Chinese cooking wine £11.90, coconut rice £2.00

We decided to get 2.5 mains (to share the kai lan with beef) – just the right amount of food for us two (we are big eaters after all!). I loved the prawns as they were large and juicy. The flavour of the ginger and cooking wine was just right. The coconut rice seemed really indulgent and rich – but in a good way. I’m guessing it’s made with coconut milk or cream which set my spidey senses off (can they go off in a good way?). I really loved the kai lan vegetable – I would have been happy to have this without beef actually as I like the veg just on its own.  Graeme’s pork was delicious – that really sweet flavouring you get from honey glazed barbeque which is way too sweet for me to eat a whole dish, but nice for sample.  The accompanying noodles were great as well, not stuck together like you get with some takeaway noodles, and tasty without overpowering the rest of the meal.

Dinner at Banana Leaf was quick, efficient, friendly and delicious. I would definitely pop back for a casual dinner before going to a gig (we were off to see Bloc Party at the Garage – their first gig in 4 years – so all up an amazing night!).

Have you been to Banana Leaf, and if so, what other dishes would you recommend?

Banana Leaf on Urbanspoon

Opium, Glasgow City Centre

by

We decided to visit Opium in Glasgow the other week to have a quick dinner before we visited the List‘s launch party for the 2012/13 Eating and Drinking Guide.  It had been on our “to visit” list for sometime, and it was a tweet from a visiting Edinburgh personal trainer (@tracygriffen) who described it as delicious and fresh that really got me moving to finally visit!

We were welcomed and seated at a great table right at the window. I’d already decided to go for dim sum (or yum cha as it’s called in Australia, I’m not sure why) because eating lots of plates of small things is my preferred way to eat! Most other tables in the restaurant seemed to be going for the pre-theatre menu – 2 courses for £14.80.

Prawn crackers with sweet chilli sauce

 While we were deciding we nibbled on some prawn crackers. With help from the waiter, we decided to go for 5 dishes – he was honest and said that 6 dishes between 2 people might be too much. I think that’s the first time any one has told me to order less rather than more! His honesty was greatly appreciated.

Crispy Duck Roll: aromatic duck, celery, carrot, chilli & hoi sin sauce £5.60

Hopefully this pictures give you an idea of the food – it’s SO fresh and colourful and I was really impressed by the presentation. Mostly though, I was impressed by the taste. Everything we ate was really lovely and there was nothing I wouldn’t order again.

Chilli Salt & Pepper Squid: seasoned squid in a crispy coating of sichuan salt, chilli, shallot & pepper £5.85

This dish was so spicy, but really light and fresh at the same time. A perfect amount of squid to share between two people.

Crab Meat & Chive Dumplings: crab meat, king prawns & chinese chives £4.50

I cannot resist a dumpling – another one of my all time favourite foods. These dumplings are a world apart from the ones we make at home (something to aspire to!) and were steamed to perfection.

Sticky Rice with Chicken in Lotus Leaf: sticky rice parcel with chicken, pork, mixed mushrooms & bamboo shoots steamed in a fragrant lotus leaf £4.25

I ordered this thinking it would be like San Choy Bow (from Googling, it seems that San Choy Bow is the Australianised version of a Chinese dish) but it wasn’t. I really enjoyed this though – the filling was underneath the sticky rice and was really delicious.

Shanghai Siew Lung Bun: mini pork bun with garlic & red vinegar dipping sauce £4.25

These were the highlight. I’ve never had a better pork bun in my life! I’ve never actually even really liked pork buns, I’ve always found them too sweet. The filling in these, combined with the sweet bun and vinegar was all perfectly balanced. I would happily return to Opium just to eat pork buns.

When it came time to leave, the waiter came over to check we’d eaten enough and whether we though 5 dim sum were a good amount. Our bill ended up being around £30 for the 5 plates, plus a couple of drinks each which I thought was reasonable. They have the loveliest staff here, I was really delighted to meet such welcoming and warm people.

I love that feeling of leaving a restaurant and thinking about the meal for days afterwards – that’s how you know you’ve found a winner. I’m still thinking about the pork buns.

Opium on Urbanspoon

Asia Style, Glasgow City Centre, Glasgow

by

I first heard about Asia Style from Jia Pui Oh! who told me it was his favourite restaurant in Glasgow. This was some time ago and we’ve only just managed to go for dinner. Because of its location (just off the motorway in Charing Cross) it’s not ideally placed for a meal out, but it was still packed when we were there on Saturday night.

If you’ve ever read a review of Asia Style, you’ll always see a comment on the décor. Being from Melbourne I’m used to drab restaurants with outdated decorations and yet amazing food, so I was quite pleased to see it was as kitsch as I expected. The menu is long and jammed packed with different options. I think the best bet is to get recommendations from people who have been as ordering poorly could leave you feeling deflated (as I did!).

For our starter we shared Malaysian pancakes and soft shell crab. Both these dishes were great and I would get them when we go again – the pancakes were that really nice chewy texture and the soft shell crab was spicy, fiery and delicious.

Malaysian Pancakes 

Soft shell crab 

The mains are where I was a bit disappointed. I chose quickly and went for a dish called something like 3 kinds of roast. Literally, I got a plate of meat. Some of the cuts had small shards of bone and this put me off right away. Some of the meat (particularly the roast pork) was delicious and I really liked it, but I ended up swapping with my husband. 

3 kinds of roast
Ginger duck with noodles
This was really delicious but I’m personally not used to meat served on the bone so I struggled with this. 
Overall, while we really liked our starters, we definitely didn’t choose the wisest for our mains and are planning to go back for another shot. 
Have you been to the infamous Asia Style, and if so, what would you recommend?  

Asia Style on Urbanspoon