rev:text
| - After visiting Nicky's Thai Kitchen, I was expecting even more from the Smiling Banana Leaf, as per the reviews--but I was a little let down.
I'm not sure if my ordering was off, but I found a theme in sauces and dressings that were just too sweet.
We started with the spring roll, steamed dumplings and the calamari. The spring roll was quite good, steamed dumplings were very light and well seasoned and the calamari was good, but a bit overcooked. It was a little too chewy because of it, but it wasn't a bit greasy and the coating was perfect. However, the dipping sauce was extremely sweet and almost like jam. I preferred the dumpling dipping sauce for it.
The glass noodle salad was heavily, heavily dressed with a dressing that would have benefitted from healthy does of acid and much less sweetness. However, the meat in the salad was generous and the shrimp in the salad was well cooked. The vegetables, specifically the onions, were rather huge pieces, while there seemed to be an under representation in the "greens" department. Honestly, by the time I finished my salad I couldn't really taste a whole lot because it was just SO sweet.
The pad thai, at a 7 level hotness, wasn't very hot. And again, it was pretty sweet. There weren't very many bean sprouts and the meat chunks were huge. The curried noodles, at a hotness of 5, had a delicious sauce, but the noodles were pretty overcooked.
It could be, we caught the restaurant on a off day, as it was a holiday weekend. It could be, I just ordered badly, as the neighboring diners food looked delicious. The ambiance is quite adorable and the service is good. I would give it another shot before declaring it a no-go zone.
|