BANANA LEAF REMAINS STEADFAST BY BANKING ON ITS STRENGTH

When Banana Leaf opened its doors to the public in 2001 they were the first to offer South East Asian cuisine and to this day they are the only restaurant that offers Malaysian, Singaporean, Indian, Vietnamese and Thai dish under one roof. Their unfair advantage, authentic South East Asian food whose main ingredients are sourced from their country of origin and prepared by Asian chefs day in and day out.

Other restaurants will just hire local chefs to prepare a menu and standardized it but Banana Leaf wants to stay true to the South East Asian tradition thus they made an investment with their expat chefs.  This makes every visit to Banana Leaf a unique dining experience.

Through the years other restaurants had sprung up offering fusion Asian cuisine but Banana Leaf has remained undaunted in its strength.  They have curved a niche in the market and is now the leading chain for South East Asian cuisine.  Their efforts did not go unnoticed because they have been consistently awarded as one of the best restaurants in the Metro since 2004 by The Philippine Tatler (an esteemed magazine publication).

It is a common sight to see Asian expats at Banana Leaf, alongside business people and travelers.  They have been the restaurants advocate in promoting their brand to others who are less adventurous gastronomically speaking..  They have also been one of the reasons that that the business kept afloat despite the numerous economic crisis that has beset our count.  In fact Banana Leaf. was blessed with 6 outlets “Banana Leaf” and “Banana Leaf Asian Cafe" and has diversified its business into catering and delivery.

According to James Aguilar Banana Leaf General Manager, the company’s goal of serving authentic south east Asian flavor through sourcing of ingredients from the appropriate home countries, strategic locations on different malls, together with competitiveness with pricing is their recipe in their business.  Banana Leaf adopted serving sizes and offers both serve to-share portions and single serving dishes, the average tab per person is PHP250.  Banana Leaf Asian Cafe now offers set meals and rice toppings to better cater for individuals especially during lunch time.

Today Banana Leaf has renovated most of its branches, their restaurants are very open and warm with murals depicting Asian culture. The objective is to widen their market and allow more Filipinos to open their taste buds to the wonders of South East Asian dishes. Making South East Asian cuisine a viable choice alongside its Chinese and Japanese counterparts. 

The people behind Banana Leaf is even more optimistic now with the new government, hopefully the changes promised will really be felt by the people for a better buying power which  in turn will benefit businesses.