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TOP BANANA

TOP BANANA
The Brooklyn Papers / Greg Mango

First impressions can be tricky. Take Banana
Leaf bistro in Bay Ridge. The restaurant’s decor is as nondescript
as anything you’ll find in Chinatown, right down to the bright
lighting and Formica tables. There’s even a fish tank filled
with striped bass that do a lazy shimmy along its bottom. The
music – all instrumental versions of unpopular tunes – would
make Lawrence Welk cringe.



But to dismiss Banana Leaf for its ordinary appearance would
be a grave error in judgment.



Banana Leaf, which opened in September, offers a menu of Malaysian
dishes. With its Indian, Thai and Chinese influences, this cuisine
can be too much of a good thing for a chef with a less refined
sensibility, but the restaurant’s owner and chef is Peter How,
who honed his considerable skills at Jean-Georges and the Mercer
Kitchen in Manhattan.



How’s cooking is vibrant, light and clean, and at other times,
rich and complex. His curries are smoky and the spices distinct;
his pairing of seafood and fruit enhances both partners; even
his delectable desserts, so often an afterthought in Asian restaurants,
are obviously influenced by his stints in Jean-George’s exulted
kitchen. His plating reflects a modernist’s eye for simplicity.



A fine example of How’s visual dexterity is his soft-shell crab
and mango salad. The pinky beige crab is perched over a mound
of mango cubes strewn with slivers of red onion. The dish is
as pretty as a summer dress.



Right now, soft-shell crabs are in their musky, sweet prime.
How’s hefty crab is lightly battered and fried so that each bite
possesses a satisfying crackle of soft shell, delicate meat and
crisp crust. Red onions cut the cinnamony sweetness of the fruit
and bits of cilantro add a note of freshness.



He works the same magic with four plump, pan-seared scallops.
Rare inside the brittle, smoky crust, each scallop is crisscrossed
with a sliver of red pickled ginger. Beneath the fish are mounds
of sprightly chopped orange and lemon. The clean citrus notes
of the fruit paired with the sweet fish and the pile of beet
greens sitting in the center of the dish, dressed in a light,
ginger-enhanced dressing, do an enthusiastic cha-cha on the tongue.



I loved the eggy pancake studded with soft onion, too. Dip a
triangle of the chewy appetizer into the little bowl of curried
chicken sauce. Use the pancake to lift a chunk of the tender
chicken, with its aroma of ginger and cardamom, to your mouth
and smile as your lips begin to glow.



Between courses you’ll need something to refresh your palate.
Give the watermelon juice a try. It’s freshly made, almost frothy.
With a squeeze of lemon, the drink is not at all sweet. Several
of the Asian beers that are offered are better than the (decent)
pinot grigio and merlot for cooling the heat.



Two reasons to order the "Nasi Lemak" are its beautiful
presentation and array of pungent flavors. Actually, make that
three reasons. The third is the price: $4.25. It’s so little
to pay for something that offers so much pleasure. In the center
of a long, white platter is a mound of jasmine rice that has
been cooked in coconut milk delicately seasoned with cloves.
The rice is sticky in a good way, almost like a steamed pudding;
slice it with chopsticks or a fork. Around the rice are small
piles of delicious mixtures. There are a few cubes of tender
chicken that have absorbed a deep curry sauce. Tiny anchovies
are fried with onions and lime until they’re tart and chewy.
Long sticks of cucumber never tasted as fresh. Peanuts add a
bit of salt and pleasant crunch to the works.



One entree that’s a bit of a clunker compared to the others is
the homey lamb shank. The size is obscenely large and the meat,
while tender, was strongly flavored – pluses or minuses depending
on who’s eating the dish. Yu choy, a green vegetable with a spinach-like
taste, added color to the plate, a puddle of curry sauce moistened
the lamb, and a disc of that supernal coconut rice worked as
well with the meat as it did with the chicken.



Near us, a group of Asian diners shared a pan-roasted lobster
flavored with curry leaves. Each diner dipped the lobster meat
into a shrimp sauce with an aroma that had me sighing. Judging
from their murmurs of appreciation, the lobster is worth ordering.



I don’t think I’ve had a dessert in an Asian restaurant in Brooklyn
that didn’t make me think, "So what?" How has two on
his dessert roundup that are as carefully conceived and beautifully
plated as his savory dishes. One you must try is the sesame creme
brulee.



How’s version is served in a deep teacup. This creme is really
a lush, nutty-flavored pudding with a lid of caramelized sugar
so thin you barely notice it until your spoon cracks its surface.
With the creme is an orb of house-made strawberry ice cream that
tastes of freshly picked berries surrounded by caramelized bananas.
The creme could stand on its own, but the ice cream and bananas
add a lot visually and are too good to pass up.



A pleasant panna cotta (a molded custard) with a subtle hint
of lemongrass didn’t have the personality of the creme brulee.
The green tea ice cream that accompanied the custard overpowered
the dessert’s delicacy, but on its own, the ice cream was a winner.




I’ve eaten in enough restaurants that dazzle with their good
looks and disappoint with pedestrian dishes. With Banana Leaf
all the fireworks are on the plate and that’s just fine with
me.

 

Banana Leaf (6814 Fourth Ave. between
68th Street and Bay Ridge Avenue in Bay Ridge) accepts Visa and
MasterCard. Rice and noodle entrees: $4.25-$6.95; standard entrees:
$6.95-$20.95. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner seven days
a week. Delivery is available to surrounding neighborhoods. For
information call (718) 238-5531, (718) 238-5532.