Image: Banana Leaves Rice
Last Updated: September 2021
Current Status: Open for dine-in, take-out and delivery. The multi-story restaurant is humming seven days a week, with lunch during weekdays.
Overview: The little spot up from the corner of Florida and Connecticut, serves reliable and varied food dishes from multiple cuisines. Sushi, Pad Thai, steamed veggies are all available, but the anchor cuisine appears to be Malaysian. The dish that shares a name with the restaurant is rice wrapped in a banana leaf served with shrimp on one side and potato curry chicken on the other and a fried egg for good measure. The website claims dishes from “Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, China, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia and elsewhere in the Asia.” That may seem absurd, but they have been at it for years and one can presume that somewhere in the delivery radius there is a person keeping each of the items on the menu. There are several beers from Asia on the list, along with some standard wine options. This a solid neighborhood spot, serving the community for years. We think it is worth a try if you are in the area (or that delivery radius).
Summary:
Cuisine: Pan-Asian
Neighborhood: Dupont
Address: 2020 Florida Ave NW, Washington DC
Website: http://mybananaleaves.com/
Reservations: Opentable
Other Critics/Voices:
Washington Post: Tom’s short plug in 2012 (after they closed for a fire and came back). He apparently gave it two stars in the 2007, but we can’t find it online (It is quoted on the back of their menu). But did find some positive references in online chats.
Washingtonian: No coverage
Borderstan: Alejandra Owens in the now defunct blog praised it despite its flaws. She also had her own blog. Amanda McClements (yes that Amanda!) on her blog tracked the openings in 2007 that included Banana Leaves, Central and Proof! Remember when starting a blog was a thing? We apparently started when it was over, so we just keep plugging along.