Pad Thai At Banana Leaf

Banana Leaf in Chinatown is great because it serves Malaysian food, which means there are, like, 200 items on the menu covering a whole handful of Southeast Asian cuisines. It's also right outside the door from the Troc and the Convention Center - not that the rest of Chinatown is that far away.

I've eaten at Banana Leaf a few times (see Thai basil noodle here), but have never had their pad Thai, a favorite Thai noodle carb-fest. I finally put their pad Thai to the test.
Oh, I did scarf this down in minutes flat, but Banana Leaf's pad Thai does not even enter into the list of bests. The noodles were too wet with overly sweet sauce, albeit not the wettest or sweetest sauce I've ever had - that distinction goes to Soybean Asian Grille. The fish sauce was minimal, though, and that's a plus for me.

And what's with the mound of bean sprouts doused with sweet chili sauce? Too sweet, too many bean sprouts.

I randomly check restaurant inspections of restaurants I visit, and I admit that it's unfair that I don't do this with every write-up, but Banana Leaf's sanitation is horrifyingly slack (click map marker). It gives me pause.

Banana Leaf
1009 Arch St., Philadelphia, PA, 19107
215-592-4737