Netizens describe their best version of a banana leaf meal.
WHAT makes a good banana leaf meal? Is it the variety of curries? Value for money? Good service? Cleanliness of the eatery?
As banana leaf meal is August’s street food category for The Star People’s Food Awards, we took this question to social media and asked our readers what constitutes a good meal.
Turns out, there are a host of factors that make your banana leaf meal experience memorable.
Here are some comments we gathered:
“Having an actual banana leaf and not the plastic leaf-shaped plate.”
“Rassam, tairu (yoghurt), chicken/fish/onion curry, fried fish/chicken, mutton/chicken masala, rice, fried bitter gourd, spinach, achar, that small sun-dried chillies flavoured with buttermilk and salt all on a banana leaf. Well, that’s my version at least, even though I don’t have everything at the same time.”
“Each dish has to be cooked with love. Usually, they just cook for the sake of cooking, so not all the dishes are tasty. The must-have for me is fried plantain. Yes, on a real banana leaf.”
“There should be papadam and ginger achar.”
“The curries should be light and flavourful and not taste of just curry powder. I understand that seafood and meat are expensive but some eateries jack up the price of fish unjustly.”
“Bad customer service is a no-no. It is understandable if the restaurant is full but I have experienced such bad service where the wait staff take their own time to clean your table and serve the food when there are only a couple of tables.”
“Real leaf. Nice veggies. Don’t like the overpriced fried meat. Lots of everything especially the cucumber, cabbage, yoghurt and dried chillies.”
“Unlimited refills!”
“A variety of vegetables, curry, dried chillies with really hot Indian rice or brown rice. Also, hot fried chicken and fried fish (fried upon request) and crab curry.”
“A banana leaf that looks and smells fresh.”
“For me, satisfaction is more important than price.”
Voting ends August 31
For the past two weeks, Metro Online Broadcast (MOB) has been receiving nominations for the best banana leaf meal via www.mob.com.my. Visit MOB to see which are the favourite eateries.
Aug 10 was the last day to nominate your favourite banana leaf meal place and to have a chance to win hotel stays and dining vouchers.
After nominations have been made, there are several choices on the board to vouch for other choices by clicking the ‘endorse’ button.
You can make up to three recommendations or endorsements, or combination of, per Facebook account, for each award category. The Top 10 is then decided by the public, via nomination and endorsement.
Public online voting starts on the 15th to midnight of the last day of each month.
How do you vote for your favourite ones? Log on to the awards page using your Facebook account. Click on “Open for Voting” and vote for any three stalls for a particular street food.
Each voter is allowed to cast up to three votes per category per Facebook login. The three votes must be used to endorse three different stalls.
The online voting is live, and scores are automatically tallied, and instantly viewed.
Those who nominate, vote, or successfully share a link, are automatically entered into a race to win the prizes. The details for this exciting awards can be found in the FAQ and About section on The Star People’s Food Awards’ website.
The Star People’s Food Awards is hosted by MOB, The Star’s citizen journalism website, at www.mob.com.my.
The year-long event will see a monthly award being given out to the best Malaysian street food in the Klang Valley.
