Banana Bay, Rowland Heights

Banana Bay
18230 Colima Road
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
Phone: (626) 839-5511
Type: Thai food

Hours: Sun-Thurs 11am-1am

Fri-Sat 11am-2am

Happy Hour: 10pm - close
many drink specials

Map





What can I say about this place? Oh, it's just the place I go to at least once a week! Banana Bay has been around for a few years. It used to be an Asian buffet called Paradise Buffet (for those who haven't been here in the area for a bit). It's located on the corner of Fullerton and Colima in the Yes Plaza.

This review is way overdue because I've been going here for years. Banana Bay is under new ownership, and it's even better than before. I know the new owners of this place, so you may think this is a biased review, but I've liked this place before they owned it. Before, the service could get really, really bad. I once had to wait for my food for about an hour! If you look at some of the old reviews about this place, they'll all say the service was slow. The new owners knew that was probably the biggest complaint about the place, and they've done a lot to fix the problem. Main thing was getting more staff out on the floor. At their busiest times now, I never had to wait for my food for more than 10 minutes. And it gets really busy here. If you're really hungry you should go during the lunch or late night hours so you'll get your food right away.

While you're waiting for your food, on most nights there's a live band playing good music. Even when there's no band, the music they play has vastly improved. I remember going there a few years ago, and I'd always hear that Nora Jones song playing every single time. It's a nice song, but c'mon. Play something else. Now, there's a wide selection of good, classy R&B jams. There's also TVs where sports are usually playing.

The main reason why people come here is the food and its prices. I'll put a menu up when I get a chance so you can see for yourself why people keep coming back. The prices average about 6-7 dollars for a meal. Not only are the prices cheap, but the food is bomb. The pad see ew is bomb for sure. I always order the crab fried rice. Almost everything I ordered is good here. As of this writing, I'm usually ordering the King Noodle. Bomb! Trust.

Crab Fried Rice (eat it with the fish sauce)


Crispy Trout Fillet (gotta try it at least once)


Shrimp cake


Catfish w/ Chili Sauce


Another reason why I love this place is that they're open past midnight 7 days a week. I wish they were open til like 4am, but that's being greedy on my part.

That's all I got for now. If this review doesn't make you wanna try it, maybe knowing they were nominated as one of AOL Citysearch's best might do the trick.

Zagat rating just a fee away?

So my friends and I went to some Thai place called Palms Thai. If you've been there, you're familiar with the singing Elvis' they got on stage every now and then. We drove all the way here just to eat cuz it was my friend's birthday. He picked it, so I got high expectations cuz he usually knows the spot. Before we walk in, we see the Zagat Rated badge. I was like, "Oh yeah. We're grubbin tonite!" After all was said and done, it wasn't that great. You'll probably think I'm biased, but I'd way rather save gas and eat better food near my house at Banana Bay. If you're in town for other stuff, then by all means.

But here's what I'm getting at. My homie's spot (Banana Bay) isn't Zagat Rated. Our whole party thought B-Bay was better (we're just being nice Jim. just kidding!). Truthfully. I asked my friend how you get a Zagat rating. He said you just pay some fee and that's pretty much it. Now I know that's probably not all there is to it, but if that place was Zagat rated, I know other places that could put that badge on their windows.

On a side note, I was talking to my boss about the BBB (Better Business Bureau). I asked him how you get that certification, and he pretty much said you gotta fork over a few bucks and you're cool.

So if anybody knows. Is this true? All you need to get that credential and possibly more people coming to your restaurant is money? Somebody fill me in.

Caribbean Gardens

Caribbean Gardens
2007 Foothill Blvd
La Verne, CA
(909) 593-7824
Type: Caribbean/Guyanese



As of this writing, I found out that Caribbean Gardens is no longer with us-- at least in its original La Verne location. I looked it up on Google, and they might have possibly moved to Pomona. I'll give them a call and get to the bottom of this as soon as I can. Til then, this will be just a short eulogy....

Caribbean Gardens and I were friends. We weren't close friends like me and Banana Bay, Hole Mole, or even Maxim Cafe. But we had a special relationship. I'd go there on somewhat special occasions and if I had some money to spend. I'd go all the way to La Verne just to eat there and come right back after. I found out the hard way that this place was gone. I drove all the way over there with a friend and when we pulled up in the parking lot, the name was different. My first initial thought was, "Oh. They changed their name?" But I very quickly realized that the chances of them changing their name to a Chinese restaurant-sounding place and keeping their original menu in tact was just wishful thinking.

The flag of Guyana


Really quickly, I'll try to shoot off about the food, although I don't think I can keep my composure re-living all the memories here.

This place serves Guyanese food. (Guyana is located in northern South America) What's Guyanese food? I haven't had much Caribbean food, but the name of this place pretty much says what it is. I mean they got plantains, jerk chicken--which I know is also eaten in Jamaica. They have some veggie dishes, fish dishes, and different meat dishes. I think this place has some Indian (from India) influences with their daal (lentil soup) and other things. They also have roti which is a type of flat bread from India as well. It's kind of like Cuban and Peruvian food too. Durr... they're both in the Caribbeans.

The prices here aren't that cheap but I personally didn't mind paying up once in awhile. If I could, I would've eaten there about every 2 weeks. Maybe if their menu had more selections, I would've liked to go every week. But alas.

Here's their fried fish meal ($15) nice and salty


Roti and vegetable curry with more plantains $9.25


more people should've known about this place


Why did they close down? WHY??!!!! WHHHHHYYYYYYY!!!!!?????? I don't know how many people were exposed to this place. It was a small spot in a shopping plaza. It was never packed when I came to eat here. Is it me? Do I have bad taste? I don't think so. My friends and girlfriend thought it was cool. Maybe they were being nice to me cuz they knew how happy I was to eat here. Could it be that nobody should ever listen to my recommendations and this food blog is just a waste of everybody's time? Yes. Likely. But I still refuse to believe that this place shut down cuz of less than par food.

Caribbean Gardens... wherever you are. You'll be missed. Come back to me, please. *sob* *sob* *sob*

Galanga - West Hollywood

Galanga
7440 Santa Monica Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90046
(323) 851-4355
Type: Thai / fusion
Map



It's been so long since I've been to this spot that I had to cheat a little and look on Yelp to get some ideas on what to talk about. Yeah I took notes, but as many of you know, they suck!



Whenever I go to LA or Hollywood or just somewhere out of my area, I'll usually do a little research on Chowhound to find some recommended eateries. I don't really remember why we went to Hollywood this time around, but I didn't do any reconnaissance ahead of time. Instead, we just drove around knowing we would find a spot. I mean it's LA/Hollywood. There's something around every corner and hip thrift store. I guess we were being picky cuz we passed on a bunch of stuff. After maybe a half hour of driving, we finally see this little spot with an interesting name. Aight. That's it.



Galanga Thai Fusion was the place. It's a small place near Fatburger with an equally small parking lot. We got there just after lunch so I'm assuming the drones had to get back to work at the hive. Luckily I wasn't them at the moment. From what I remember there were no booths. There's a patio dining area in the back if you want to enjoy your Thai burrito outside.

Speaking of which, I personally love fusions of any kind. All I remember from this place was the Thai/Mexican fusion in the form of the tofu burrito. We added shrimp to it. I don't remember what the cost was but my notes tell me it was sweet but good. I kind of remember that personally.

tofu burrito and a salad and a square plate. fusion at its best.


To go back a little, we ordered the crab roll appetizer ($6.95). Now that was really good. I don't know if that's considered fusion with the egg roll wrapper and stuff. Nonetheless, it was bomb. Usually my only complaints when something is good is 1) it costs too much 2) they don't give you enough. My complaint was mainly about #2, but seven dollars for an appetizer is treading around #1. But then again, it is called an appetizer and not a meal. Still. I'm cheap and I eat a lot.





I ordered the Spicy Crispy Basil Fish ($8.95). I think it might have been a lunch special. I got mine with white rice. I'm personally tired of brown rice because we used to cook it at my house all the time and I've associated it with dry.... just dry. The fish was good as well. Was it spicy? I think a little. Was it crispy? I believe so. If not I would've complained in my notes of knowledge.





Good. Fresh. Pretty light. That's Galanga for me. The cost is actually ok. If you've been around, it's obviously not the cheapest. The portions ain't huge like at Banana Bay or some other spots, but add an order of an appetizer and you're good. I definitely wouldn't mind coming back here if I'm in the area. Of course, I would like to try other things first, but you won't see me throwing a fit if we had to go here. Especially if somebody paid for me! Thank you kindly.

Happy Hour - Banana Bay

Everyday: 10pm - close

-2 for 1 on select cocktails (20%off on all other drinks)
-$2.00 Thai and Domestic Beer
-$2.50 imported beer
-$2.00 off all wine

Recession All-Stars

Besides the news, I've been hearing a few stories from people I personally know who have been affected by the so-called recession. I don't know how to fix it, so all I can do is try to come up with a list of restaurants (besides the usual fast food joints) that might help you save a little more. Skip that, just don't eat out! ......Never!!!!

The list is not gonna be too organized or even complete. Here's just a few categorized by cuisine:

Chinese:
Maxim (Rowland Heights)
Chopchop Grill (Walnut)
Coffee Break (Walnut)
JJ's Cafe (Monterey Park)
Happy Wok (Rowland Heights)

Mexican:
Hole Mole (Long Beach, Whittier)
Alberto's
Molca Salsa (La Habra, Fullerton)
Senor Baja

Pizza:
3.99 Pizza Co. (West Covina)

Thai:
Banana Bay (Rowland Heights)

Vietnamese:
Pho Express (Walnut)
Lee's Sandwiches
Nha Hang $1.99 (Garden Grove)


This list will be added to as much as I can (or feel like). Don't hesitate to add your own recommendations. Oh. Don't forget about Happy Hours. Those may just be the best times to eat.