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Our
Story

The best place to get together

Founded over 30 years ago in a small restaurant in Maida Vale and born out of our Malaysian-born founder's passion for South-East Asian food, we’ve been bringing exotic Pan-Asian street food flavours to the UK for over 30 years now!

Inspired by his Mother’s cooking whilst growing up in Malaysia, many of our recipes remain the same today. That includes William's Mother’s very own satay sauce recipe which, poured over our chicken or vegan satay sticks, is still one of our most popular dishes today.

In that time we’ve grown to 20 beautiful restaurants across the UK, bringing the mouth-watering flavours of South-East Asia to people's plates with the same delicious recipes and values that made us such a hit all those years ago.

Our in-house chefs hand pick the best dishes from Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia to feature on our menu, from soups and salads to wok-tossed noodles, stir fries and curries, as well as South-East Asian inspired desserts and cocktails.

Behind the scenes we are constantly developing plant-based meat alternatives and testing out our recipes so that you’ll love them just as much as the originals. We can all do our bit to consume less meat to help the planet, and we’re proud to say more than 40% of our menu is vegan!

Head to your local Banana Tree for an explosion of Pan-Asian flavour.

Our History

It all started in a small café called Street Hawker in Maida Vale. Not much has changed at Banana Tree - apart from the name! Our original recipes are still served today. Have you tried our ‘secret’ Home made chilli sauce?

Orangutan Appeal UK

We’re so proud to have been supporting Orangutan Appeal UK for over 10 years. We donate 25p from every Blackened Monks Noodles sold to Orangutan Appeal UK to help rehabilitate orphan orangutans. So far, with our customers help, we’ve raised over £70,000 - thank you.

Our vegan menu

We’re proud to have led the way on vegan options, with our menu being over 40% vegan. Whether you’re fully vegan, a flexitarian, or just just giving it a go, we know that variety and choice is important. We never compromise on flavour, and our in-house chefs are constantly working on fresh and innovative vegan options.