Banana Leaf Thai Cuisine

My favorite restaurant in Woodstock. It gets very busy and they are also doing take-out so yes, sometimes it's a bit of a wait. It's worth it!!

Well I see a great deal of rambling among the...

Well I see a great deal of rambling among the culinary ignorant of Woodstock, surprise, surprise. It really is a shame that whenever someone has a bad experience at a restaurant they rush to their computer to write a negative review, and whenever someone enjoys their meal, typically nothing is heard. Well I think as someone who has dined at many fine dining places in Toronto, and having attended culinary school, I am going to give Banana Leaf my fair and honest opinion. The service is absolutely wonderful, for what you expect. The girl that I usually see at the front of house seems very charming and nice, and probably does a much better job then most local chain restaurants -which is exactly what you should expect. The atmosphere is like a breathe of fresh air for Woodstock, its slightly understated, clean, crisp and new. The fun little food facts on the chalkboard adds a nice touch, and is a good way to educate the public on Thai food. This brings me on to the next point. I think the chef in the back, is holding back a bit on the spice and flavour. Thai food is about balancing heat, acidity, sweetness, savory, etc. That said, I dont think that they do this because they are unskilled, I think they do it to accommodate the majority of Woodstock's palates. The hardest thing to do is to please everyone, so by trying to your not giving the true tasters quite what they need, and your giving everyone else exactly what they can handle. The only complaint I would have about the food is the inconsistencies, and believe me, those are minor. I must admit my favourite Asian restaurant was Jed Lau's Mosaics by the train station until it closed a few years back (which is a crying shame, that Woodstock cant support anyone slightly out of the way.) I am slightly bias because the previous tenant of Banana Leaf's was a charming older Italian man who ran Italian Chef Express, which was some unbelievably amazing cooking, and I will dearly miss him. I hope that Woodstock is ready for Banana Leaf, and continue to support them, I know I will.

I have to laugh. I noticed a review on this site...

I have to laugh. I noticed a review on this site from people who were sitting across the aisle and down a few tables from us on the same night as we were there. I know it was them because everyone in the restaurant heard this guy complaining about the service and the fact that their food went to the wrong table. This review was from " insulted" . I hope that the staff and the owners of Banana Leaf will not take this review to heart or feel bad. This "ladies' husband " was so obnoxious my wife and I felt very bad for the abuse you had to take. Yes a mistake was made and corrected. But no matter what you did this guy would not have been happy. Some people are just like that. After they left the rest of us in the restaurant commented on their bad behaviour and you told us you felt bad that you had made a mistake. You also told us you discounted their bill. Did you notice they didn't mention that in their review? It was our first time there that night and we had to wait 15 minutes to get a table, but we didn't mind because it was busy and we didn't know that you took reservations. You should think about putting that into the phone book. The food and service was great. Yes we had to wait, but that is to be expected when a restaurant is busy. I did not think our wait was unreasonable and couldn't believe that guys' attitude. I know that you couldn't ask them to leave but this idiot even made your other customers uncomfortable especially the ones at the table who got the food they had ordered. I don't know what they ordered but I thought it was funny that they said your food was bad when the people who got it thought it was so good that they said they would just keep it. It must have tasted pretty bad. How funny. Just so you know our food was really good and we were told about this place from our friends that just rave about your food. I thought our waitress was really nice and took the time to help us pick out our food. She seemed very experienced. I am not a waitress but a business owner and deal with people all the time and what I know for a fact is no matter how hard you try you can not please someone who does not want to be pleased. It was obvious to us as we sat there that this guy was that type. Next time we will make a reservation, but we will definitely be back.

Definately beats all the chinese food here in...

Definately beats all the chinese food here in Woodstock. The food was fantastic. I found it a little pricey compared to a Thai place I am used to in St. Catharines. Thank-you for FINALLY opening a great place to eat!

If any of you are considering going to the new...

If any of you are considering going to the new Thai Cuisine restaurant in Woodstock let me tell you about our experience there last night. My husband and I went with a couple of friends to try it out. When we first got there there were about 12 people at 5 different tables of which about half of them had been served. After about 10 minutes the waitress finally took our drink and appetizer order. Meanwhile 4 people came in and were seated at the table next to us and two more seated across from us. After about 15 minutes our drinks and appetizers were served. After about 30 minutes the people who came in after us were served their food. We found this strange but o.k. Maybe our meal was a little more comlicated. Then the people across from us were served. (starting to get annoyed). Then the waitress came to the people next to us and we heard her tell them that they had made a mistake and had served them our food. It was these peoples first time at a Thai restaurant and they obviously didn’t know what they had ordered. She did not bother to come to our table and tell us. When I finally got the attention of one of them I asked to see the manager. The manager never showed up. A bit later my husband went to the register where the waitress was and asked what the problem was. She told him there had been a mistake but our food was on the way. Good thing the one who got my seafood meal didn't have allergies! They then brought one meal and two plates of rice to the table. It was another 10 minutes before everyone else’s meals were served. The waitress then took away the cold rice (which wasn’t the kind that we had ordered). My husband then spotted what we figured to be the manager at the register so he approached her and politely voiced his dissatisfaction with the place. Her response was “sorry about that” and that was it. he bit his tongue and went back to my table. By now none of the staff would come near our table or even look our way. As my husband was going back to the register to get our bill the manager saw him coming and turned and scurried to the kitchen like a little mouse (or big rat). To top it off the food was mediocre at best. I have been in restaurants with bad service but this one by far tops them all. I can say with all confidence that I have never been so poorly treated in a restaurant. The waitresses ( yes, 2 of them) didn’t come to our table to see if we needed anything, if our meal was finally okay or if our drinks needed refilling. They acted like we had done something wrong. When I approached the waitress who gave away our meals and asked her why she didn’t come to our table and explain the situation, her answer was “I told him” pointing at my husband. (She told him only when he went up and inquired.) I asked if she was aware that she had a whole table of people. By now, she wouldn't even look at me or answer. I asked her why she bothered to apologize to the table that received our food but not to us. No answer. No apology. No offer to make it right with us. I whole heartedly recommend that you avoid this restaurant like the plague and tell all your friends how bad it is. And the food, when it finally arrived, as basic at best. The cashew chicken looks and tastes just like the lemongrass chicken and the sweet and sour chicken. Don't go!