Banana Leaf

Banana leaf is hands down the best Indian take away I know! South Indian cooking is so fragrant and wonderful.
I’m practically salivating just writing this review and despite the fact that I buy from here on a very very frequent basis I have not a photo to show for it such is the rapidness of my devouring!
The décor is pretty dreadful and it’s very run down but none of that matters to me much at all, such is the quality of this aromatic adventure for the palate! The smell inside drives me crazy while waiting!
The staff are really helpful and can cater to a range of dietary requirements– there are loads of vegetarian options.
The wait at busy times is around 20 minutes and this feels like forever when you’re me and desperate for your fix!
The rice is always perfect and the chapatis are delicious — every dish I’ve had is wonderful with the mushroom chettinadu a particular fave. Yum yum yum!

They say that the Chicken Tikka Masala was invented in Glasgow. That’s believable but you certainly won’t get that in here. Banana Leaf is a traditional South Indian restaurant and there is no Korma or Bhoona on offer here.
On my last visit, I had a Chicken Coondapur. It was an absolutely beautiful curry, with underlying notes of coconut. It was a delicate and tender curry and is definitely the best curry I’ve ever had. Curries IN Glasgow can be very inauthentic, but Banana Leaf is the real deal.
The night we went, our order was mixed up slightly, but it was fine. We got our food eventually. The staff are efficient, they give good recommendations. It’s also quite cheap in Banana Leaf too. We got two curries with sides and Poppadoms and two cans of juice for £15. It’s not licensed so you can bring your own booze!
When I say Banana Leaf is the real deal, I really mean it. The restaurant itself looks like something out of a slum side street, but it all adds to the charm of it.

Before we start, it needs to be said: you go here for the quite frankly amazing food.
Definitely not the service (haphazard and sometimes slow but charming), definitely not the décor (it is so ramshackle that from the outside, you might wonder if you’ve arrived at the right place).
But the food — my goodness. Having previously lived in a city with a lot of south Indian restaurants, I was having a bit of a craving for a dosa and couldn’t work out why we still hadn’t visited this place, despite living just a few minutes walk away.
When we arrived, the place was packed, but a young couple told us they were just paying and we could have their table. We waited outside — but for about 15 minutes, while the couple struggled to pay — popping in a couple of times to see them trying to flag down the sole waiter.
Anyway — we eventually got the table — which was handily positioned so that the door hit the back of my chair every time someone came in. It really should have been annoying but it rather added to the charm of the place. Literally you are here to eat. Forget the rest.
You can bring your own booze, so my other half had a couple of beers from the hand off license across the road. I stuck to water and a delicious mango lassi.
The food took a while to come. Well — one starter came in about 10 minutes but the rest arrived all at once about 25 minutes later. Apart from one other starter, which came 15 minutes after that with profuse apologies. This, as i say, isn’t about the service.
In the interests of sticking to the south Asian stuff we had in the past (and because pregnancy had for that day, put me off meat) we had all veggie options. Mysore Masala Dosa (a filled lentil pancake), a veg and coconut curry referred to as ‘mild’ (it was not :), idli steamed dumplings, lentil fried dumplings. Everything was absolutely, lick-​the-​plate-​clean good.
With starters at £3 approx and most mains £5−7, you can eat until you roll out the door for £10 a head. We did. And all the quirks of the place just made us love it more.

This place is casual. A bit of a hole in the wall but not really since they’ve won a couple awards for best curry! Ordering is pretty straight forward. The people there are not necessarily going to smile at you and ask you about your day but they take your order and bring out the food in a reasonable amount of time so no complaints there.
Anyways, they’ve got a great selection of food, which makes it difficult to choose what to order. From chicken to lamb, to fish, beef, or vegetarian options. I got the spicy fried mushrooms, chicken chettinadu, and plain dosa. My food was served fresh hot. The mushroom plate looks small but you don’t really need more because that would be a grease overload. Mushrooms were crispy and juicy with some raw onion slices and sweet chili sauce. The chicken was tender and flavorful. The dosa was nice and thin but I think I’d prefer naan bread next time. I love that their definition of spicy is actually spicy.
I ate at the take-​out side which was fine because it was quieter and there were outlets! (major plus for any travelers out there with dying phones. Also very close to the Kelvingrove museum).

While not a vegetarian restaurant, Banana leaf are very good for vegetarian dishes, and also for vegans. Unlike many other places, they understand what a vegan actually is and will reassure you on dishes that don’t contain butter, ghee or paneer. I think they possibly don’t use butter anyway, as anytime I’ve asked whether a dish contains it or not, they look at me like I’m slightly mad for asking as of course it wouldn’t possibly contain butter. The gents are all very helpful and pleasant, and service is quick.
It’s South Indian cuisine, so a wee bit different from your bog standard kormas and bhoonas. One of my favourite dishes is Cabbage Fogath, which is stir fried cabbage with mustard and coconut. Sounds minging I know, but it is absolutely delicious. It certainly doesn’t taste like cabbage as most people probably think of it. The Dhal Tadka is lovely too — much thinner than we’re probably used to, but the thing to do is scoop it up with one of the breads — paratha is the one I’d normally choose as it’s made with corn rather rather than wheat. Both these dishes are currently priced at only £5 each — and while the portions aren’t huge, they’re probably about the size of portion a human should be eating, rather than stuffing oneself into oblivion, so very good value.
I was recently delighted to discover a Rava Masala Dosa — a mashed potato dosa. My word, it was delicious. And unsurprisingly, rather filling, so at £5.50, a very good deal.

Food is Awesome !!!

I love Banana leaf! Being a south indian, I constantly crave for homemade south indian food. And this is our go-​to place. The staff is friendly, and the food is yummy. Their biryani tastes exactly like what my mom makes. I love idli, medu-​wada and masala dosa with tomato chutney. My family constantly craves idli dosas so we like to visit this place. I would recommend, if you like south indian food — then this place is as authentic as it gets and if you haven’t tried south indian yet then try it first at this place!

My classmates and I went to the Banana Leaf to celebrate our last day of classes. There were about 20 of us and we took up the whole left side of the restaurant. I’m not sure they remembered our reservation until we showed up, but they had no problem accommodating us. The food was delicious and it was a great value. They gave us checks for each table, and the check for my table of seven came to about £55. The fact that you can bring your own bottles certainly helps keep the cost down. We had a great night and I’d happily come back.

Ok, so the service may be slow, the décor tatty, they may on occasion forget what you’ve ordered and food may arrive at different times… but the staff are charming, friendly and frankly the food is delicious… which is exactly why I go!
They have a huge range of interesting South Indian veggie dished. Not the typical run off the mill Indian style café /​take away. Yup, no bog standard Lamb Bhuna in this joint, but plenty of freshly prepared and unique tasting curries.
Although renowned for their veggie food they do have plenty of meat dished to satisfy the carnivores. Many of these curries are cooked with the meat still on the bone, which I find adds more flavour.
A great, cheap and relaxed place to spend a gloomy week day evening.
Thanks Banana Leaf!

I am from Kerala. Thats a wee bit of land in the South West tip of India. I have a Mom who cooks excellent Chicken Curry. And by curry I mean Indian curry. Not the diluted stuff that is sold as «Indian» curry in Glasgow or elsewhere in the UK. Banana leaf’s curries and the special stuff like dosas and puttu are worth a try.
It is as authentic a south indian restaurant as you will find in Glasgow.
I spent a year and a half in Glasgow And would definitely recommend this place as a one time exercise in south Indian food. For me, a south indian, it was a regular haunt. There is no ambience, service is so so. But the food is the most genuine you will find in Glasgow. Don’t order the food home since it gets cold and soggy by time you get it.
Beware of the spice and the meat with bones. Also, its tinyt, so don’t go as a group of more than 3 or 4.

Don’t take a date or a business contact or anyone you’re hoping to impress with a luxury slap up meal. Do go, however, if you’re happy with canteen style décor but with good and inexpensive food. The food is south indian so different to most curry fare, no alcohol at all (for sale or bring your own) and service on the slow side. Wortth a visit though.

Service– very slow. Food — average. Can’t see why people rave about this place.

For authentic Indian food at a good price, you must check this place out. It hasn’t got the most comfortable restaurant, the service isn’t the generic restaurant service you would expect, but it is suprisingly quaint. This place is all about the food, so if you want some tasty Indian food, check it out!

Not sure what the food is like in the restaurant, but the takeaway’s are shocking! We had seen Banana Leaf deliver to our building a few times and decided to give it a try one night, I ordered the Kozhi Korma & my partner the Nellore Chicken Gravy curry, We also had the battered chillies and mixed pakora. When it arrived 50 minutes later the delivery man didnt have any change and all we had was a 20 note, the meal came to 15 pounds and we ended up having to let him keep the change as he said he didnt have anything on him (strange for a takeaway delivery man). My curry was cold and didnt look anything like a korma, sauce was watery and had a film of oil on top. I was expecting chicken breast, but in the sauce were 3 pieces of chicken on the bone, fair enough, but the bones were exposed and sharp, and chicken very fatty and slimy. I took a spoonful of sauce and nearly chipped my back tooth on a chunk of sharp bone, & found several more random pieces of bone through the curry. Overall I wouldnt order from Banana Leaf again, seems like good value as the prices are so reasonable, but i’d rather pay a few pounds more and get proper food.

Afternoon in the Lex + Lumberjack flat…
Lex: Hmmm forgot to do a Waitrose order… nothing in the fridge to cook
Lumberjack: I’m hungry woman!
Lex: Order in?
Lumberjack: Where?
Lex: Jen was raving about Banana Leaf, and all my (Indian) classmates love it
Lumberjack: Ooooh…
Lex goes online… ah… Urbanbite you’re a lifesaver!
*Super human typing speed 90wpm + a few clicks + credit card*
Indian cuisine = some nuts + me = puff the magic Lex (as in puffy lips and rashes galore). This time around, every single item had the «no nuts — allergy» note next to it, even the coke. Nut allergies are really fantastic. NOT!
Accessibility: Word, online baby
Speed: It took about an hour to arrive, although online it said 45 minutes
Spend: Minimum £10 order for deliveries, we spent around £16 for a curry, dosa, pakoras, chipatis, and a couple cokes
Taste: Yumtastic, although my head felt like a faucet was turned on and I couldn’t stop sweating
Touchy tummy: Nowhere in sight. Huzzah!
You see I’m trying to be a supa fab girlfriend and also enjoy all the delights Lumberjack enjoys… even if that means subjecting myself to a cuisine I didn’t grow up with and have to get used to the heat. Ouchie mama!

People have always talked about this place and recommended it time and time again! So I finally gave in and placed my order by phone, and boy, was it good!
As my fellow Unilocalers have mentioned, don’t expect a Chicken Tikka or Korma out of this place. Traditional South Indian cuisine is what’s on offer. Definitely opt for a Dosa, they are bloody marvellous! Oft, my belly is rumbling just at the thought! Filled with succulent lamb it is a serious winner!
The place doesn’t look much from the outside and inside is lit up with strip lighting, but don’t let that put you off, there are plenty of reasons to get your meal from here. Tasty and reasonably priced it gets the two thumbs up

The Banana Leaf is one of the most unique places to buy food from in Glasgow.
You could easily stroll by the dingy exterior without giving it a second glance but next time, stop! Look at the menu. Order. Eat!
Whatever you do, don’t expect to be tucking into a Korma or Lamb Rogan Josh. You’ll find traditional, home style cooking from south India at crazily affordable prices.
Some of you will find the Banana Leaf to be outstanding while others will absoloutely hate it.
Yes, it’s one of those ones.
Vegetarians will find it refreshing to find a menu where where meat-​free is king but for the carnivores out there, you’ll find tasty fresh on the bone lamb and chicken for an equally exotic explosion of flavour.

A truly unique and welcome addition to the tried and tested Curry market in Glasgow. The Banana Leaf is doing something a little bit different form the rest in producing authentic Indian dishes rather than the toned down British versions and is doing it to great effect.
One look at there front window provides further encouragement that a meal in here may be a good idea as the plaudits from the food pages of various magazines and newspaper supplements testify to the greatness of this little gem in the west end.
Be warned though, if you’ve been brought up on your Scottish curry and ain’t really keen on anything a little bit different then this place might not be the place for you, and indeed this seems to be the case if you read there reviews on the Just-​Eat website (bones in the chicken seems to be a common complaint despite it being clearly marked on the menu), this aside however there can be no doubt that this is a cracking place for some inexpensive top notch authentic Indian cuisine.

Probably the most affordable great Indian I’ve ever had. Fact.
Eat in or out — they’ve just had a little restaurant put in next door — but we’ve only ever had it delivered. Unusual Indian take-​away that specialises in Southern Indian food — and it’s pretty good.
My boyfriend and I had the place recommended to us by our friend, and we’ve enjoyed it on lazy evenings ever since. The service is sometimes a little varied — what with us getting fish curry instead of chicken, and their indistinguishable accents, but the food and the price are so good you allow for all of that. Give it a try and see if you’re not endeared!