Speaking of good food....

I highly recommend the food at the Banana Leaf Restaurant in Milipitas. Their claim to local fame is that they serve "Authentic Malaysian Food". I wasn't sure what Malaysian food included, but I figured that it fell into the same family as Thai, Vietnamese, and Filipino food. Rice, of course, noodle dishes, and meat dishes with sauces of varying flavors.

I was excited to try something new. They start you off with a plate of Roti Canai or Prata which is a "crispy, multi-layer Malay-Indian style pancake served with bean curry sauce" for the entire table. I like to think of it as a Malaysian crepe. It's delicious. I think that I could eat just that and be totally satisfied. But of course I had to order a main dish.

I chose the Rendang Beef because it's described as beef with Malay curry sauce. I love curry. Especially Japanese curry -- that's the way my mom prepares it. It was splendiforous. I made that word up. It was that good. My sister had the Mango Chicken which was also very tasty. I don't think there's anything not good, although I haven't tried everything. The cuisine definitely reminded me of a fusion of Thai food and Filipino food. The curries and heavier sauces and the various accoutrements.

Since it was our first time trying Malaysian food, we also had to try the desserts. I had the Malay Pisang Crepe and I saw the Ice Kacang which totally resembled Filipino halo-halo. I suppose Filipinos do descend from the Malay people in part. Well, more scrumptiouness ensued. The Malay Pisang Crepe was a piece of Roti Canai/Prata filled with bananas and topped with whipped cream. Pretty much a Malaysian crepe. Can't go wrong with that.

I'm not much of a foodie, but I definitely give this place some thumbs up. The only drawback I saw was that it was super crowded, and turns out it always is. They do take reservations, however, for parties of 5 or more. I think the fire marshal might be a little nervous at the way they pack people in.

Go Banana Leaf!