New Neighbor

After over a year of Banana Leaf in Solana’s Dining & Bar Street existing solely as signs that read “Coming Soon,” it finally opened its doors last week. All-Star Sports Bar & Grill finally has a neighbor!

When All-Star first signed its lease to begin construction a little over a year ago, Solana was a promising new destination, with a Californian style open-air complex with a shopping mall plus Dining & Bar street. Big names including Zara, Nike, Coldstone, Cro Bar, and even a Banyan Tree Hotel was meant to open just beside All-Star & Bling, (which would have been clutch for us to share their abundant supply of taxis for our guests as well).

While All-Star & Bling both opened according to schedule right before the Olympics, all of our neighbors continued to postpone and some actually back out of their leases completely (Banyan Tree).  And the result: Solana suffered the “ghost-town” syndrome throughout Winter 2008 while the Village in Sanlitun quickly made a name for itself and became the new hub for all shoppers and diners.

Fortunately for Solana, spring brought along sunshine aplenty together with more and more pedestrians and consumers, making Solana a better known destination.  Located right along a lake with gorgeous views of Chaoyang Park, Solana was sure to pick up in terms of traffic and word-of-mouth.

For the first time, All-Star now has a new neighbor and the entire All-Star family was anxious to welcome Banana Leaf to our hood. The owners arranged a grand dinner party, a night that quickly turned into a drink off of whiskey and vodka. Banana Leaf was also kind enough to send over some dancing, singing, “man-loving” entertainment.  A warm welcome and an appropriate initiation of Banana Leaf into the Solana neighborhood.

With this week also marking both All-Star & Bling’s 1-year birthday, it’s crazy that it’s already been a year. As one of the original spaces to open on Solana’s Bar & Food street,  it’s been interesting to see the area of Solana develop, fill up vacant spaces and slowly but surely climbing up to its full potential.

Overall Evaluation:

Banana Leaf (Solana): Brand, spanking new, just opened. But a well-known chain serving up Thai cuisine and a whole lot of live entertainment. Lovely interior, two stories with big private rooms and and lounge bar by the entrance.  Reasonably priced, so I’d recommend going in a big group who can appreciate some “man-love”.

Best Part:

• It’s located right beside All-Star Sports Bar & Grill
• Low Prices
• Amusing, animated entertainment

Comments:

• This outlet in Solana  is much nicer than others as it just opened. There is much better Thai food elsewhere (Lantung Thai Bar & Bistro, Very Siam, Purple Haze) and I’d only go to Banana Leaf if you were looking for an entertaining dining experience for a big group.  Otherwise, it’s just cheesy, mediocre food and service.

Another recently opened Solana addition:

Invito:  3 stories for 3 venues – Basement is cocktail lounge, 1st floor is a casual cafe serving fresh sandwiches with homemade bread, 2nd floor is a high-end fine-dining restaurant with a great terrace overlooking the lake.

I went for lunch with a friend and had a great sandwich for about RMB 50 and my friend just ordered two scoops of ice cream together with a ginger ale.  Total bill: RMB 160.  Yup, her ice cream and ginger ale were more than double the cost of my sandwich.

Best Part:

• It’s located is set right in front of a lake, offering a great patio and an upstairs terrace to oversee the great view.
• Nice selection of fresh sandwiches, breads, and desserts
• Impressive wine selection with machines that preserve wines after opening, allowing all bottles to be served by the glass
• Food is excellent, along with presentation

Comments:

• I will be interested to follow Invito’s development. Already a lot of word-of-mouth talking about Invito being a great restaurant with great food. Just remember you’ll be paying a very pretty penny for your meal…even if it is just ice cream and ginger ale.