Bananatree Avis 

Visited on a Friday evening. This chain prepares it's sauces and meals centrally we were told by a staff member. Staff tried their hardest but admitted to being restricted with customer experience.

One of our guests - a coeliac - so gluten free had just two options for starters - edamame beans or salad. Opted for edamame beans to be informed by an embarrassed member of staff our guest would get a bowl of plain beans as they make it gluten free by removing the flavouring!!! Our guest opted for the Asian salad instead to be informed by the SAME staff member "it's out of stock". Asked if their chef could prepare something else, maybe using something from their main course options but smaller as an appetiser. We were informed this is not allowed at Banana Tree. They would get fired apparently?!?! And their chefs reheat food as opposed to cooking things. Really disappointing. Paid for our drinks (where Banana Tree tried to charge us service in top of already inflated drink prices!) didn't stay to eat and went to another restaurant (which is an independent restaurant that has a chef that prepares it's food on site and is excellent).

Wondered why Banana Tree was so quiet for a Friday evening - now we know! It's not very good!

Wouldn't return
Wouldn't recommend

iam very very angry as i order a food today and lunch was for £5 and now £ 7 you are make us sooo angry by doing this never , ever order agin and i tell everyone same ..

Our family of 5 have eaten at bananatree Stevenage a number of times. The food it always good and the service has been as you would expect in this sort of chain restaurant. Not knocking it, the service has always been fine.

The reason I knocked one star off for is that the bill when paying using your phone on their payment portal while sat in the restaurant now includes a service charge as standard. If you want to change or remove the service charge you have to request the change from a member of staff. I would always leave a 12-15% tip, so I had no issue with the included service charge, but luckily I saw it as the net step is you are prompted to leave an additional TIP with default values of 10%, 15% and 20% (that may not be the exact numbers) So, anyone who did not check and the bill and spot the added service charge may be fooled into leaving and additional tip. Also, another grip about paying via their portal is they do not show the cost of the line items - makes you wonder if some other trickery is perhaps going on??

Banana Tree: Covent Garden. We ate 5pm Thursday 15th May. Was greeted well by the welcoming staff at the front (none of this review refers to this woman she was perfect), and met one of our parties gluten free needs well. All well until seated and drinks ordered. Once the drinks arrived one was a bottle of Beer, for which we then asked for a glass for, and also a jug/bottle of water and 4 glasses. Neither arrived, then they came to take the order. Once placed, we then asked again mentioning about the glass and the water. A server came back with a glass but with no water or glasses for it. And the glass we got was warm straight out of the glass washing machine. We left it at that as it was clear we weren't getting the water, and by that time it was clear it would cause an issue asking for a "not warm" glass. When the order was placed we again made it clear one of the meals was gluten free (they were pre informed when we booked the table, and the lovely greeter made a point of knowing this when we arrived and were seated) you would think this was noted down as very important information, moments later, the greeter (lovely woman) ran out to us to ask which meal was gluten free, as she knew one was supposed to be and wasn't noted down by the server which could have been far from a good outcome. Food arrived which was ok, 1 of our party enjoyed their meal, 1 was ok, and 2 were poor in flavour and texture but was an edible meal none the less. Throughout the meal we had a server constantly walking to and from to check if we had finished to take the plates. As each one of us finished they rushed to the table asking and taking the pates. One of the party was a slower eater, and while they were continuing the server continuously came looking over our shoulders and round corners to see if we had yet finished eating which was very annoying. We were all pretty much underwhelmed at this point with the food and the service. Once receiving the bill we discussed the service charge among ourselves, and how we would have been happy to pay it had we received a standard ok service to which we felt we hadn't, but how we felt embarrassed to ask not to pay it. On the receipt it specifically says, "if for whatever reason you wish to remove the service charge, please ask and it will be done NO QUESTIONS ASKED"... one of us drew up the courage to ask for it to be removed and at the point of asking, no questions were asked, and it was removed, we promptly left as we were unimpressed, and as we did so, a different server ran out the door chasing down the last person in our party shouting " you haven't paid service charge you need to pay it" to which we replied no we don't and walked off swiftly. Had we have had on par standard service alongside the poor food, we would have paid the service charge, had they not ran out the door chasing us for it, i wouldn't be leaving a negative review. I will be, and would recommend, avoiding banana tree restaurants in future. VERY disappointing.

Absolutely disgusting service.
We went to the Covent gardens banana tree before the theatre.
We were greeted by a lovely lady on the door who acknowledged my note that I am a coeliac.
After sitting down, the waitress came and took our order.
We then had the last on the door come and ask which dish I ordered to be gluten free. The waitress hadn't noted that down even though I specifically said for it to be so.
Our drinks arrived and my father in law got a bottle of lager. He asked the waitress if he could have a glass for it and that we would like water for the table. This was not offered to us.
The waitress said yes and Wales away.
After a good few minutes, and the fact there were hardly any customers in and the waitress hadn't come back, he then asked another staff member the same question and that he had already asked. She apologized and then quickly returned with water and a standard warm glass for his lager.
We ignored these issues at first.
Our food arrived and quite honestly we were disappointed with the quality and blandness of the dishes.
3 of us finished our food and swiftly our plates were taken from us, whilst the 4th was still eating. Absolutely rude as can be to do so.
Then she kept walking back and checking and starring from a distance making my mother in law feel very uncomfortable eating.
As soon as she finished the waitress grabbed the plate, at which point I sternly asked for the bill. There was no way we were staying for a drink or desert.
When the bill arrived I asked to pay on card, however I don't want to pay the 'optional' service charge.
On the bill it says if you don't want to pay, let the staff know and no questions will be asked.
So the waitress accepted my request and I paid minus the service charge.
Feeling disappointed we were not going to let this ruin our evening so quickly left.
As leaving we had a staff member run across the restaurant pointing at me. I assumed we had left something behind so I stopped and walked back in.
She then said you have money left to pay on your bill that you didn't pay. I then very angrily told her it's an optional service charge. And I am NOT paying it.
I was so incredibly annoyed and the lack of professionalism that that evening I wrote an email to them explaining the above. Saying before I go ahead and leave feedback I want to know how you will deal with this situation.
Nearly a week and no reply at all.
Absolutely disgusting. I can take that the food might not be to our liking however the disgraceful mature staff cannot be forgiven. I should have refused to pay full stop and spoken to the manager however I didn't want to make a scene at the time and deeply regret it.
Do not eat here. It's absolutely vile to be treated so bad!

Visited 19/2/2025 around 12.30. Had set lunch menu. Chicken dumplings and chicken in mango and lime sauce. Dumplings overpowered by spicy sauce it came with so could not taste them. Main was dry, hardly any sauce, rice was hard and dry. Had to ask for soy sauce to be able to swallow it. Dirty cutlery in pot. Asked for bill, ready with card to pay and she walked off. Waited 10 minutes for her to come back with card machine which she didn't. I went up to waitress station to pay. Asked for service charge to be removed. Only then she said "is there a problem". I said yes, main was dry and not good" she said " when I asked you you said it was ok" I said "yes, you asked me during starter". Waitress did not check during our main meal. Disappointed. No return.

I wanted to try banana tree in Stevenage, as it was new to our area. I had arranged to meet a friend , but arrived first. The waitress came over and asked if I had any allergies, I said yes I had an allergy with chilli. She the said " well that's not on our 12 point allergies list" to which I replied "well sorry but it is on mine" to she replied "well most of our dishes contain chilli" and I felt like I was being told off.
I am also vegan so no meat or dairy, and I asked if the dish I had chosen could be veganised and was told yes.
When the food arrived I was pretty disappointed with the size, as both meals were pretty small. Now do you remember I said I was vegan? They also served real prawn crackers and a Creamy salad dressing. Obviously not the waitresses fault, but staff need to be definitely trained in allergies and dietary differences.
Also I would just like to mention whoever thought it was a great idea to fix a bright light 12 inches from your face, needs a head wobble. I don't expect to wear sunglasses throughout a meal but they would have helped as we squinted throughout. The food as mentioned before was small, and the £16.00 price tag was way too much. The food was standard fare and not worth writing home about. I was still hungry when I left..Not impressed, it's a one and done for me.

SERVICE EXTREMELY SLOW
Although customer service was excellent; everybody in the restaurant waited for their food for an excessively long time and the level of frustration increased intermittently and many.
The staff did their best under the circumstances to cater for everyone's needs; but they were over run with orders and it was not fair on the staff on a otherwise unblemished night of excellent food and customer service because it was evident that they were extremely short of staff.
I have an extremely large network of clients and friends inclusive of work colleagues and I am very hesitant advocating this restaurant if the service is slow. Management need to review there operational strategies or they will loose customers and need to employ more staff to support their excellent group of staff who go the extra mile, sad that the brand are letting these enthusiastic and passionate team MEMBERS down. I was going to book 50 guests for a group meal, but I need some type of encouragement that the service will be provided by a fully staffed team. Please phone me management with all due respect. BIPIN MALHAN 07988814944

I've been visiting Banana Tree Clapham for over 15 years take away and eat in. DJ and M (the lovely slim lady the deputy or manager) along with all the staff have been outstanding throughout this time. The food, the drinks is always great, the service and the atmosphere. Always served with a smile.

(Henley on Thames) - Cold congealed food. Mentioned to waiter who took it back and returned in less than a minute with it still cold . It had simply been taken to the kitchen and returned as was. Terrible. Will certainly not return .

Bottomless Brunch:
James and his team looked after us at the bullring branch.

Really good food and we're checked on regularly to ensure we always had alcohol in hand!!!

Absolutely disgraceful poor service! My date highly recommended this place but very disappointing. kept repeating ourselves to order, the chicken wings were cold 1st time around. The Worst of all he took cash to pay they refused saying the safe was broken but no signs to say card only, then had the cheek to say I should pay by card on his behalf embarrassing my date. Absolutely shambolic behaviour

MELISSA, how dare you go behind my back and report to my employers about what i am doing regarding my personal life! Ruined my livelyhood.

Re: Order 5917 via Deliveroo
The noodles were like rubber stuck together. The presentation left a lot to be desired, and the whole thing looked like an inedible mess.
Complained to Deliveroo who refused to do anything. Complained to Banatree and was promised a refund but this was a lie.

After eating in Thailand it self then going to the banana tree restaurant I was not impressed with the quality of it the food I am sade to say that I make a better green curry than I was served the chicken was repressed chicken and only a small amount.
Lots of coleslaw type salad in the bowl and round the bowl which has no bearing on the curry a small amount of rice I found it very expensive for what you got I would not go back again after my experience

We booked a table for a last holiday get together with two other families before the school starts next week in Banana Tree in Haywards Heath and we had a great time. Cocktails were refreshing, meals were tasty, portions plentiful and the kids enjoyed their drawing activities and sharing different dishes. We were served by Erik and Alison and they were just lovely, very attentive to both adults and children. This wasn’t our first time here and definitely not the last!

We visited banana tree in Hampstead, the service by Krishna was excellent quickly took our order, asked if we needed anything during the course of the meal and more drinks. Was helpful and friendly. Recommend this branch, good food, good drinks and service. Thank you

We recently went to banana tree bullring the food come on time , my food was off I straight away complained it , which they said we can change the stale food from your plate u can eat the rest i said thats fine because i was really hungry and the food is very horrible now compared to three months ago very disappointed .

We went to the Soho branch:

The food was good, however the staff were not, they tried to rip us off with drinks we ordered that never arrived, then argued with us when we questioned it. They also added a £30 service charge which we didn’t pay!!! 2 for 1 cocktails on a Saturday night are always to good to be true!!!! Their cocktails were out of a can!!! We paid £12 for 2 cans of cocktails!! RIP OFF!! We’ll never go back and will not recommend!

Recently opened at Gunwharf Quays we thought we would give it a try for our anniversary lunch. A mouthwatering menu, it took us ages to decide, eventually going for Vietnamese Spring Rolls & Vegan Gyoza starters. So lovely we wanted something to sup up the left over dip when our plates were clean!
For mains we both went for curry: Beef Rendang and Thai Red Seafood Curry. The beef was wonderful, so tender, no grizzle. My fish curry was just as lovely, the sauce flavours disguising the fish taste (I told my husband he could have eaten it - he dislikes fish) I ate more of the rice than I normally would just not to waste the sauce.
Staff were lovely, a buzzy busy place considering it’s a Thursday. Will definitely return!