BananaBro @ Cheras Leisure Mall

This chain of banana leaf rice (BLR) restaurant has been around for many years and is well-known for their all-you-can-eat BLR (and yes, they serve it on real banana leaves...lol).

With over 30 branches all over Klang Valley, I'm sure you won't have much difficulty finding one near you...and we have five near us! ;)  We chose to come to BananaBro @ Cheras Leisure Mall to indulge in a carb-loaded meal one evening.

You start with the all-you-can-eat Craving Set @ RM11.90 (almost everyone will order this) which gives you unlimited servings and refills of all items which include rice, 4 types of curries, 3 types of vegetables, rasam (a lightly tangy and spicy Indian soup) and papadum (a type of Indian crispy cracker).  And yes, it's served on a real banana leaf (none of those banana leaf look-alike crap that's fake!)...lol.

So, after you're seated and have put in your orders, a real banana leaf gets laid in front of you.  To have an awesome BLR experience, rice is at the centre of it all.....it's a must and it's the first thing that's scooped onto your banana leaf.

Next comes the vegetables and there are three types....two that's standard and one that will rotate and change.  The standard ones are the fried snake gourd and cucumber yogurt (or raita).  The third veggie for the day was stir-fried cabbage (with carrot, chillies and curry leaves).  We got this same veggie on our second visit as well.

I enjoy all three veggies but the fried snakegourd is my favourite...thinly fried snake gourd slices dipped in seasoned batter and fried to a crisp texture.  I've eaten this before but had always thought of them to be bitter gourd but turns out I was wrong...and now I've a newfound veggie that I really like.  This snake gourd slices even have a light sweetness to them.  The (diced) cucumber raita is crunchy and refreshing on the palate while the stir-fried cabbage is standard fare.

With the vegetables all in place, it's time for the rice to be flooded with curries...and you have four choices...chicken, fish, dhal and/or crab curry.  Who says you can't have all four....to banjir your rice!  So, don't ask me which curry is better...I wouldn't know after they're all mixed together...lol.  So good with the crisp papadum (which I asked for seconds).

If you're a vegetarian, you can make a meal out of just the craving set alone and be fully satiated and satisfied with as much refills as you want of rice, vegetables, papadum, rasam and curries although you may be limited to only the dhal curry which is meatless.

If the craving set alone is not enough to satisfy your cravings, you can also add-on side dishes like fried tenggiri, fried squid, chicken 65, gobi (cauliflower) 65, mutton varuval, masala prawns, butter chicken and sambal petai.  I picked the Fried Tenggiri (Fried Mackerel) @ RM11.90.

The fish (quite a big piece), flaky and fresh, was well seasoned and fried till crispy perfection.  I would recommend that you have it with a squeeze of lime which made it so much better as fried tenggiri is usually a bit on the dry side.

My son likes to add on Chicken 65 @ RM5.90 to his 1-Pax Single Set @ RM15.90 (for a total RM21.80 inclusive of a drink, lemon tea).  If you're wondering why it's called Chicken 65, apparently that was the year it was first made.

The Chicken 65 are marinated pieces of boneless chicken that's lightly crispy and spicy (with a spice level that even a kid can take).  Vegetarians can go for Gobi 65 which is essentially the same thing but made with cauliflower instead.

The Fried Squid Rings, probably with the same marination as the earlier Chicken 65, was also decent, lightly crispy and not too chewy.

Drinks of Lemon Tea (Cold) and my Teh Tarik Lawa (Cold) @ RM7.90.  Not sure what's the difference with this teh tarik lawa and the usual teh tarik as it tasted the same to me.

There's also the 2-Pax Family Combo @ RM49.90  where you'd get 2 x Craving Set, 1 Chicken 65, 1 Fried Squid Rings and 2 x Lemon Tea.  For bigger families, there's the option of a 4-Pax Family Combo (RM99.90).

My Personal Opinion

I think this BananaBro is probably one of the most economical meals you can have in a comfortable environment based on their basic craving set which cost only RM11.90 (but do note that the same set can cost RM13.90 at some other outlets).  The price difference depends on whether it's a mall outlet or a shoplot according to their FB (I think the rental plays a part since Cheras Leisure Mall is a mall after all...lol).

Either one, it's still a value-for-money meal/deal as you can fill to your heart's (or should I say stomach's) content with unlimited refills of rice, veggies, curries and papadum.  This makes for a great vegetarian meal and for those (like me) who love to eat vegetables more than proteins.

BananaBro

Unit L1-60A Level 1

Cheras Leisure Mall

8 Jalan Manis 2

Taman Segar Cheras

56100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 012-205 4237