The Banana Leaf

The Banana Leaf restaurant is another great dining experience in Provo. Yet, unlike all the rest, it adds a sense of unmatched aromatic authenticity to the local restaurant scene. Each dish is colorful, reasonably priced, and comes from traditional Singaporean and Sri Lankan cuisine.

As the first restaurant in Utah of the Selvaratnam family’s native Sri Lanka, it’s worth the trip just to try one of their famous avocado shakes. The menu also comes with large pictures of each dish, for convenient ordering.

Of course, if you are still stuck on what to order, the nationally iconic dish, Kothu, comes in four different varieties; shrimp, beef, chicken and vegetarian.

The Kothu, a mix of vegetables, melted cheese, and eggs also comes with rice and a curry sauce on the side, with big enough portions that you’ll more than likely need to take some home.

Thankfully, the Banana Leaf has an extensive amount of choices to keep you coming back. But for those on the low side of spice-tolerance, there is a non-spicy mango sauté, so feel free to bring your grandma.

Since adding the new décor, the inside of the Banana Leaf is beautiful. Guests can feel free to adorn their dressy attire for a date or family celebration. I especially liked their fireplace in the front part of the restaurant and felt myself unrushed to enjoy the food and atmosphere.

I was also pleased to find out that they have a delivery service as well as takeaways and catering. Eating there was a great opportunity to try the cuisine for the first time and to support a cultural part of the community. As I came to find out, the family-owned business is something of an America dream about coming to this country to start your own business, so it felt good knowing I’d be coming back for another life-altering avocado shake.

As for the paradigm shift that led me to try to make one at home myself, I came to realize, the shakes are best left to the professionals.