Kitsilano (map, 3005 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-734-3005), Broadway (map, 820 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-731-6333), and Denman (map, 1096 Denman Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-683-3333).

Banana Leaf’s website explains more about Malaysian Cuisine:

Malaysian fare isn’t about a singular distinctive taste, but about diversity, with a blend of culinary inspiration from India, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Eurasia, and Malaysia’s indigenous population. It combines the best of South East Asia, from India’s roti canai, Singapore’s laksa, to China’s Hainanese chicken rice, creating a menu that is a delight to try.

Visitors have many good things to say about Banana Leaf. Rasputin45 writes on the restaurant review site Dinehere.ca:

Banana Leaf is good for almost any occasion. It’s probably our most reliable favorite, a great place to take out of town guests and go for a regular night out with your family as well. At roughly 12 – 20 dollars an entree, it’s a fantastic value as well, especially in the Kits zone of overpriced fare. Our favorites? roti canai, the rendang beef, the lamb dish, sambal green beans, Tofu in Assam sauce, and sayur Lemak.

Pictured below are some dishes I enjoyed when I visited their Kitsilano location earlier this year. A great appetizer or side dish is the Roti Canai, an Indian-influenced puffy bread served with a wonderful rich curry sauce. Also shown is a Malaysian vegetable curry dish (Sayur Lemak) as well as the Nasi Goreng: fried rice with beef, shrimp, egg, tomato, onion and green beans.

I’m looking forward to visiting Banana Leaf again sometime soon.

Roti Canai bread from Banana Leaf Malaysian restaurant in Kitsilano Vancouver BC Canada.

Sayur Lemak Malaysian Vegetable Curry from Banana Leaf restaurant in Kits Vancouver BC Canada.

Nasi Goreng from Banana Leaf Malaysian restaurant in Vancouver BC Canada - Malaysian fried rice with beef, shrimp, egg, tomato, onion and green beans.

Restaurant interior at Banana Leaf Malaysian Restaurant in Vancouver BC Canada.

The restaurant has won numerous awards for their innovative and unique decor, and more importantly for their food. Their menu, which is full of wonderful mouth-watering photos, makes choosing dishes a snap – even if you’re not so familiar with Malaysian or Thai cuisine. Simply look at the photos in the menu and let your eyes decide what to eat!

On a previous visit (over two years ago) I enjoyed the satay skewers and the Hainanese chicken.

This time we tried the following dishes (all pictured below): Indonesian spring rolls filled with chicken ($2.50 each), some delightfully puffy roti canai bread served with a special sauce ($2.95), the marvellous sambal clams ($13.95), an hot and sour eggplant hot pot with minced pork ($11.95), and the pineapple fried rice with ham and chicken ($12.95).

An interesting drink that we tried was the Coconut Juice served in a real coconut (also pictured below). This was a huge coconut filled with some refreshing and slightly sweet coconut juice, that we could enjoy with a straw.

In addition to Tropika’s Robson Street location, the restaurant also has a couple of other locations: Tropika Cambie Street (map, 2975 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-879-6002), and Tropika at Aberdeen (map, unit 1830, Aberdeen Centre, 4151 Hazelbridge Way, Richmond, BC, Canada, phone: 604-233-7002). More info is on their web site.

Indonesian Spring Rolls from Tropika on Robson Street ($2.50 each)

Roti Canai bread from Tropika on Robson ($2.95)

Sambal Clams ($13.95) from Tropika on Robson

Hot & Sour Eggplant Hot Pot with Minced Pork ($11.95) from Tropika on Robson

Pineapple Fried Rice with Ham and Chicken ($12.95) from Tropika Restaurant on Robson Street.

Coconut Juice served in a fresh real coconut (around $4.00) from Tropika Malaysian and Thai restaurant in Vancouver BC Canada.

ak1951, a reviewer on DineHere.ca (click here to read review) writes:

Being a ‘peranakan’ and foodie, we were pleasantly surprised that the quality of food at this outlet surpassed that one could find in Singapore or Malaysia particularly, the prawn noodles, roti canai and the chilli crab.Therefore, I would strongly recommend anyone who wishes to relish authetic Malaysian food.

Restaurant is small and affords the staff and owner were very friendly and helpful.

The restaurant’s menu is available on their web site. We were a large group (7 people) and luckily the restaurant had room for us. Below are some pictures of the food we ordered. The first dish pictured is the Nasi Jambori ($14.90) which their menu describes as:

A must try! A merriment of three unique flavours! Sampler of chicken curry, beef rendang, prawn sambal on a platter with egg, side salad, pappadum cracker & jambori rice.

Prices are reasonable, with most dishes in the $9 to $12 range.

For a friend on a Gluten Free diet, the restaurant unfortunately only had one choice on the menu that she could eat. I was really satisfied with my Nasi Jambori.

My coworkers and I agree that the flavors of the dishes were excellent and that we’d like to visit Jonker St. Restaurant again!

Nasi Jambori from Jonker Street Malaysian Restaurant - Sampler of chicken curry, beef rendang, prawn sambal on a platter with egg, side salad, pappadum cracker & jambori rice. $14.90

Food from Jonker Street Malaysian Restaurant in downtown Vancouver

Curry from Jonker Street Malaysian Restaurant in Vancouver.

More Malaysian food.

Malaysian food in Vancouver

Even more Malaysian food

Malaysian Curry from Jonker Street Restaurant, Vancouver

This restaurant is well established within the local Asian community and I was one of the few Caucasian diners enjoying the food that night. However, I think the fantastic flavors at Mui Garden would appeal to many people regardless of their ethnic backgrounds.

For example, the Chicken Satays ($8.50, pictured below) were the most juicy, flavorful chicken satays I have yet tried, in my opinion beating out the satays at the more upscale Tropika on Robson. I also tried the Beef Brisket Curry served on chow mein noodles ($9.50, also pictured below), and the combination of spices was really great, making for a really satisfying main course to share with my friend.

fadaryll writes on DineHere.ca (click here for review link):

I’ve eaten in Mui many many times and I always order the beef brisket curry (fish curry is good as well), green beans with minced pork, and anything else that my friends and I feel like at the time. I have never been disappointed with the food. Besides being Chinese, I’ve grown up eating Chinese food and Mui definitely one of the top with its awesome curry among other things.

Video from Mui Garden:

(above) Chicken Satay skewers at Mui Garden restaurant in Richmond ($8.50)

(above) Beef brisket curry on Chow Mein noodles from Mui Garden restaurant ($9.50)

Pictured below are the satays (meat skewer appetizers, $1.20 each), roti canai (Malay bread, $2.95), Hainanese chicken (half chicken, $12.95), pineapple fried rice with ham and chicken ($12.95), and a special drink: coconut juice served in a fresh coconut. We had a large group (9 people) and made reservations a few days in advance. The serving staff and kitchen handled our group flawlessly and we enjoyed the flavors of the dishes very much.

Two other locations of Tropika Restaurant in Vancouver are: Tropika at Cambie (2975 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone 604-879-6002) and Tropika at Aberdeen (Unit 1830, Aberdeen Centre, 4151 Hazelbridge Way, Richmond, BC, Canada, phone 604-233-7002)

Beef, chicken, lamb, and pork satay skewers ($1.20 each)

Roti Canai (Malay Bread, $2.95) – this was really puffy and tasted great with the accompanying sauce.

Hainanese Chicken (Half $12.95)

Pineapple Fried Rice with Ham and Chicken ($12.95)

Coconut Juice – served in a real coconut!