Banana Leaf

Foods are so good and service is too good. We tried their duck soup and chicken fried rice and noodles they r very much delicious.

OMG… Peking Duck in NC! And… omg the Peking Duck! Period! The meat is flavourful without being overly greasy, the sauce is rich and dark, and the skin is sooooo crispy. Plus, they serve it on soft folded buns.
This is a place that would make my traditionalist parents proud, and is so tasty even an ABC like me wants to come back. The atmosphere is warm and inviting… this is a sit down place you take your friends to for hours of laughs over good food and good conversation. I have never seen the staff be anything but polite and eager to please.
Really, its worth your time, especially if you’re on a date or out with close friends. P. S. the egg drop soup (with corn) is an favorite starter of mine.

Waiter knew nothing about the menu and answered our questions badly.
Waiters provided no services at all.
Peking duck is so greasy without any meat and only has fatty skin.
We regret so much to choose this restaurant for a new year eve’s dinner.

The food was obviously much better than «fast» Chineese. I had the vegetable low mien and my husband had the Thai Style Vegetable Sam Pai. We also ordered Veggie Spring Rolls. Everything was cooked well and tasted fresh. However, our takeout order took 62 minutes. I will admit that it was on Christmas Day and they were busy, but in my opinion they were just very under staffed. But a simple take out order shouldn’t take over an hour to complete. I don’t know if we’ll be back… it was not out of this world food. Just average. Gets the job done.

You haven’t had GOOD chinese food unless you’ve eaten here! Simply amazing. Honestly best I’ve ever had. Kinda sad because it’s ruined every other place for me. Excited to come back. We traveled an hour to get here and it was worth every minute.

My friends and I went here for dinner because we had heard so many good things about it. I felt like it was comparable to Panda Express. There is nothing truly special or unique about the food.
Honestly, I would rather go to Panda Express. Its cheaper.

Lord have mercy! I may have to revoke my BAF award! I hate to do it!
I was all excited to come back practically a year later but with my mom. Last time I went I ordered the wonton soup and an egg roll to go. And it was too good.
This time I actually dined in and ordered the orange chicken… Okay wait before I get to that.
We’re sat immediately and our drink order is taken. Before I can get the whole drink order out of my mouth the server is like okay got it. I asked for sweet tea and pink lemonade. Why this ninja bring out half unsweet/​half sweet tea. When he comes back I said I actually wanted sweet tea and pink lemonade. He said oh okay Arnold Palmer. My mom was like why didn’t you just ask for that. I told her I’ve been to places where they had no idea what I was talking about.
Smh… This dude comes back with unsweet tea and pink lemonade. Huuuuu… Forget it I’m hungry.
I order the orange chicken and green beans and I get a spring roll with my dish. Before I get to the food.
My mom asked what dressing comes on the salad. He says house dressing. Riiiiight… What does it taste like? I ask is it sweet, sour, salty??? He’s like yea yea it’s that? What? Which ones? Sweet and sour? Salty? Motherlover is it ranch? Does it have a name!!! Forget it my mom asks for soup.
My moms food was aight to her. I liked the flavor (eggplant in garlic sauce). She said it had too many other veggies and not enough eggplant.
MY FOOD!!! Orange chicken was salty as shit. I couldn’t take it. I had 3 pieces and was done. I had to eat steamed rice with it (which he didn’t even ask if I wanted that or fried rice… Which steamed is better. My moms fried rice was steamed rice doused in soy sauce with a sliver of a scrambled egg in it like it was left over from someone else’s dish)
My green beans were good tho. My spring roll was good (hard to mess that up) the salad it came with had some orange stuff in it which tasted like ground up carrots. Soooo no dressing???
Server was short, kept cutting me off and acted like the place was packed. The lunch «crowd» consisted of our table and like 2 other tables with 2 – 3 people.
Yea perhaps my last review was premature? Probably not going to go back. Left a sour taste in my mouth. Or hot and sour? Or salty?

We haven’t eaten here in about a year, and it was good to see the food and service are still great.
We started with complimentary Duck soup: a small bowl of brothy, savory goodness.
Then an appetizer of the KOREAN SPICY WINGS. These are fried and covered with a thick, spicy, mildly-​sweet sauce served with a side of pickled vegetables.
For the main course, we had the SINGAPORE MEI FUN with shrimp and chicken, BASIL DUCK with mixed vegetables, and the HOT AND SPICY DICED CHICKEN with horn peppers. All were excellent.
We finished with a complimentary desert of diced Papaya in coconut milk with tapioca.
Can’t wait to go back again… How I have missed this place.

This is a review of the banquet-​style dinner at Banana Leaf. After a long and thorough search for a Chinese restaurant with a nice interior capable of holding 40 – 50 people for a rehearsal dinner in Durham, we expanded our search and reserved the banquet room of Banana Leaf. Banana Leaf has it all — a large open clean, newish interior, and good traditional Cantonese food. Drinks were included in the meal (Coke and Sunny-D…odd variety but it was fine). Portion sizes were plentiful and we had leftovers for days.
Their banquet menu includes: duck soup, chicken lettuce wrap, Peking duck, Hong Kong style lobster, steamed fish, Korean short ribs, Szechuan Water-​boiled fish fillets, roasted pork, mushroom and bok choy, though you can negotiate with the restaurant owner for specific menu changes.
The «Water-​boiled Szechuan fish» is a Szechuan specialty and the soup was just a little too spicy for me and I don’t usually care for numbing peppercorns, but I like the tender fish fillets.
Korean short ribs — these were a little too chewy and tough.
My favorite dishes were:
–Peking duck which came with the usual steamed buns, green onions, and hoisin sauce topping the crispy duck skin and sliced duck meat.
–shiitake mushrooms and bok choy
–steamed whole fish. Fresh and didn’t taste too fishy
–the dessert was my all-​time favorite – chilled sweet papaya soup! I might have drank 3 bowls of this dessert…
All in all — Banana Leaf is a great place for authentic Cantonese food!

1^st visit here. Wanted to try something other than our usually Chinese place. The atmosphere was open and airy with the typical Asian décor. We ordered the egg rolls and crab Rangoon to start. Egg roll was just Ok. Not much flavor or pork. Ingredients were a little too chunky. crab Rangoon was tasty. My kids ordered the sesame chicken and I had the sesame beef and my husband had the chicken cashew. The kids loved their dish and this is a big deal because they are VERY picky about their sesame chicken as it is their standard dish and determines whether we go back to a place with them or out for date night by ourselves. I enjoyed my dish although I thought it was a little on the salty side. Adding pineapple would have added a nice zing to the dish. Since the boys like it we will definitely go back. Only drawback is that it’s on the other side of Cary so we won’t be doing takeout.

We came to banana leaf hoping to find a great Chinese restaurant in our neighborhood, and we surely did not find it here. :(
The beef in the beef and broccoli dish tasted weird. Like it had a strange texture to it that made me hesitant to eat it. The seafood pan fried noodles had a stinky fishy smell to it that got even worse when we took it home. Like it smelled so bad that we had to throw it in the garbage to protect our noses. The mapo tofu was ok but it didn’t have any meat in it like in the picture.
Our server was very nice but I’m not gonna pay almost $ 50 again just for the service.
If you are looking for a good Chinese restaurant in Cary, I advise you to stay away from Banana Leaf.
Very disappointed.

Finally some real Chinese Cuisine. Service was awesome, never a dry cup and things were delicious. This is a family style Chinese restaurant. There are some Thai dishes, but we ordered Chinese ones.
For my soup I had the egg drop soup. It was nice and thick. Came out hot and was rather soothing. Our table also had the chicken dumplings with Thai sauce. The dumplings were crispy and the sauce was sweet.
For entrees the table shared Kung Pao Chicken, The Beef Soup, Chicken pan fried noodles, and pea shoots. Rice comes with your meal. Everything was awesome. I cannot eat beef so that was the only dish I didn’t try. My mother and my boyfriend liked it though. This was probably the best Kung Pao chicken I have ever eaten. It was nice and spicy. The Pan friend noodles were decadent. This restaurant gives you large portions. There was enough for everyone to take some home.
The coconut milk was very very good. There were bits of mango and there were tapioca pearls in it. It was a chilled dessert. If you have never had it, I highly recommend it.
The ambiance of Banana Leaf was nice and quiet. There are tables for large groups. The chairs were comfortable. This is a classy Chinese and Asian cuisine establishment. On a personal note, this is not a good place for smaller children. They did have crayons, but I watched the waitress search for them. Older children should be fine.

Great Food. I had the Kung Pao Chicken as my entrée and the Steamed Dumplings to start. The dumplings were ok but I really enjoyed the Kung Pao.
Chicken and vegetables were very fresh. Nice flavor with a little heat. Service was great.

Yum!
Thanks to the Unilocalers I have found yet another satisfying Asian restaurant. I go to S mart all the time. How did I miss this place, I thought to myself. Then I remembered the past few Asian places that were there were terrible so I must have blocked it out of my mind.
It’s so pretty inside and so so so clean. My waitress was a lovely young Asian girl who kept calling me sweetie. She was polite and knowledgeable but unless you are an elderly Southern woman, you don’t get to call me sweetie. That’s a huge turn off. I also did not like the chatter between the workers. They were quite loud. I know I came at 5pm on a Wednesday and was the only patron there but it’s important to treat that customer as if she’s important rather than acting like she’s not there. They lost a star for that.
Other than that, supper was perfection. The chef was nice enough to fix a single portion of the Hong Kong wonton soup for me. Lucky me — I got to taste the best wonton soup ever. I plan to order the large and take it home and eat just that one day. It’s THAT good. PERFECT wontons, delicate broth, plenty of garlic and fresh green onions.
I got a lucky Buddha beer. It was good and I took home the pretty green Buddha shaped bottle.
After much delibration, I ordered the XO scallop and shrimp. The chef cooks in HONG KONG style and the white sauce was recommended but I am not a fan so I decide to go for this dish instead. The sauce was light and thin with a ton of thinly sliced scallops that I first mistook for water chestnuts. But there were water chestnuts too. Not many shrimp but there was enough and they were truly jumbo, sweet and perfectly cooked. The vegetables were an interesting mix. There was okra. I usually only like my okra pickled or fried so they are not slimy. They were slimy in this dish but strangely enough I did not mind. It was a natural thickener for the sauce instead of the usual cornstarch. There was yellow squash. I don’t like those. But in this dish he barely cooked them and only used the firm neck of the squash so I liked it. There was sugar snap peas — yum. The sauce had dried baby shrimp and what tasted like bits of pork belly mixed into it. It was spicy but not overly so. It was a great balance of flavors that you rarely find in restaurants with this price range. I ate EVERY bite. I then scooped some of the sauce into the rest of my rice and ate that too. I did not care for the lettuce scattered around my dish but maybe that was just for looks? I ignored it. After my huge meal they offered me a complimentary bowl of coconut milk with papaya and tapioca pearls. I usually don’t do dessert with Asian food but accepted it. It was fine. Nothing to get excited about.
I will be returning to the restaurant again with friends and family. I will probably do carryout often when I’m shopping at S mart and not wanting Korean food. I highly recommend this restaurant. Happy Eating!

Picked up some beef chow fun here and it was very good. Their prices are reasonable because you really do get alot of food.
Parking is easy because its a strip mall but keep in mind that its next to the korean supermarket. Its really hard to find it on GPS alone so keep that in mind when looking for it.
Ill definitely be back when looking for a good Chinese/​Cantonese option in the area. Definitely want to try the peking duck in sweet bun side order next time.

What an amazing lunch we enjoyed here today. We chose the Set Meal which is centered around Peking Duck, and also includes Jumbo Salted Prawns, Baby Bok Choy, House Soup, White Rice, and a small desert (today was Sweet Coconut Milk and diced Papaya). The cost was $ 60, and it is enough food for 3 or 4 to share.
The Peking Duck was very tasty, perfectly cooked and beautifully plated, along with all the necessary condiments — julienned Scallions and Cucumber, shredded Carrot, freshly prepared Hoisin Sauce, fresh steamed Chinese Buns, and plenty of crispy brown duck skin, which absolutely makes this dish. The buns were steamed just right, making a perfect delivery system for all the goodies. The Hoisin Sauce was the best I’ve tasted in the North Carolina area, with a nice, chunky texture adding to the enjoyment.
The Jumbo Prawns also were excellent, cooked in the shell with the head on, enhancing the overall flavor. The Bok Choy was nicely braised, and very tender, great taste and texture. The dessert was nice as well, cool and light at the end of a full meal. The owner and our waitress, Crystal, were delightful, adding much to the great experience.
Cannot wait for our next visit, as there is much to try here.

Great place to try some authentic Chinese food. We had a party of 15 and everyone came out stuffed. Out of 15, 6 were young children (younger than 7) and 9 adults.
The downside of this place is the price. We ordered a dinner for 8 along with a few extra dishes: vegetable lo mein, veggie fried rice, egg drop soup. Everyone ordered water except a beer and a glass of wine.
The total was $ 275 including tip and tax.
The food was great however.
The service on the other hand was mediocre. The food came out all at once, which was kind of odd given that they all didn’t for the table.

I’ve had a few visits here, but will have a difficult time enumerating the dishes, as I’m always in a group that takes charge of ordering their favorite authenticities.
The Peking duck (not so easy to come by locally) had yummy crispy seasoned skin, but was on the small side. The walnut shrimp — I’m somewhat ashamed to say — was one of my favorite things, but is probably not one of the most truly Cantonese items. We had various fishes which were served flakey with savory sauce. I think I tend to favor Szechuan cuisine because it’s very rich (oily, spicy, super-​flavored). As opposed to Cantonese cuisine which is tamer and more subtle.
Still, I’ve enjoyed my meals here. And the friendly staff and complimentary dessert/​palate-​cleansers only add to the experience.

I came here for Lunar New Year celebration lunch hosted by State’s Taiwanese Student Association. The meal was pre-​ordered by TSA including sweet and sour soup, Peking duck, lobster, short ribs with XO sauce, grouper with sweet and sour sauce, braised pork, salute veggies, coconut tapioca to finish the meal.
Everything was good (also very oily). Some dish was on the spicier side, but it was so good I didn’t want to stop eating. I came mostly for the Peking duck as that is one of my favorite dish. It was excellent. Though I preferred the flat flour wrap over the buns they provide here, it was great nonetheless. The skin was crispy and the duck was juicy. The flavor of the short ribs were great but the meat was a bit tough. The ones I got was hard to bite off a small piece. I ended up having to shove the whole thing in my mouth and chew with my mouth full… The coconut taro tapioca dessert was a perfect way to end the meal. It was light with just the right amount of sweetness. Everyone at my table enjoyed the meal.
I thought what we had to pay was a bit expensive. Each person had to pay around $ 18 for lunch and we had 10 people per table. From looking at their regular menu, I think the price is pretty standard.
They were very efficient in bringing out the food (We had 5 tables of 10 total). They were also very accommodating since we did various activities/​group competitions throughout our meal.
Overall, it was a good experience and I would come back on my own.

What can i say that hasn’t already been said?
I’ve been here three times in the past week and every single item I’ve picked up has been delicious. It should suffice it to say that when I want Chinese I’m coming here. Round trip from my house is just under an hour and I’ve done it twice — that is how good this place is. Just thinking about it makes me want to brave the snow and ice to get some more.
Apps–
Crab Rangoon — My wife’s go to when it comes to Americanized Chinese Food apps and BL doesn’t disappoint. 8 fried pockets with a good amount of filling and what tastes like a homemade banana sauce.
Hot and Sour Soup — The only thing that I have had that didn’t blow me away. I’m pretty articular when it comes to my H&S soup.
Tom Yum Soup — This isn’t just chicken spiced chicken, shrimp and mushroom soup there’s quite a bit more veggies and some sea cucumber in here as well. Good all around flavor.
Pork Egg rolls: Light crispy open ended rolls. It’s almost phyllo dough-​esque with how delicate they are.
Proteins —
Hot and Spicy Diced Chicken — INsane portion size with a ton of chicken all covered in sliced horn peppers. This will torch you in a good way.
Fried Jumbo Shrimp in Walnuts — Delicate flavor to help enhance the sweetness of the shrimp. A definite winner here.
Sesame Chicken — Not your mall offering of over breaded deep fried chicken here. These are lightly dredged, with a significant depth of flavor to make this a great option.
Chicken Chow Fun (Dry) — One of the only things that doesn’t reheat well. Eat this immediately and feel your taste buds explode.
Veggies:
Sauteed pea shoots — Many on here have voiced their approval of these. Don’t skip out on these delicious bites.
Chinese Brocolli — similar sauce to the pea shoots, just a slightly different vegetable flavor.