Smiling Banana Leaf is a charming little Thai restaurant located in the heart of Highland Park. I ended up calling in for a reservation about an hour and a half before arriving on a Saturday evening, and when we arrived, we were seated right away. Even though the restaurant wasn't entirely full when we came in, my dad and I ended up waiting for about 10 minutes before the waiter came out with water and to get our orders in.
The food was excellent! I ordered the chicken yellow curry noodles with a spicy rating of 3. Firstly, I would like to admit that I am an absolute WUSS when it comes to my spiciness tolerance. So while most normal people would find a 3 on the bland side, I ended up drinking a few glasses of water and having to ask the waiter to fill up our pitcher of water again because of the spiciness. Nevertheless, I found the curry absolutely delicious and ate as much of it as I could!
My only gripe about this place is that since the restaurant is very small, the seating is a little bit crammed and the outer benches where some of the tables are situated are a little uncomfortable. Additionally, since the place is on the smaller side, it can fill up very quickly so I would definitely call ahead to make a reservation.
All in all, I had a wonderful time at Smiling Banana Leaf and would definitely recommend this place to my Thai food-loving friends!