Banana Tree

Banana Tree now has a half-dozen venues across town, with communal and smaller tables in attractive settings made fashionable with stripped brick and semi-industrial design features. ‘Indochinese’ street food is the backbone of the extremely varied menu, though Thai and Thai-influenced dishes dominate. Keep an eye out for the great-value set meals and lunch specials. The cooking, though good, lacked finesse. A beef, chilli, ginger and basil stir-fry needed a punch of the advertised chilli, and any basil flavour was almost imperceptible. Chicken laksa had decent depth of flavour, yet was a little watery. With a busy restaurant and one large group to accommodate, staff seemed to be under the cosh – our mains were slow to appear, and one dish arrived tepid – but normal service had resumed with our Vietnamese iced coffee.