Like some other reviews here, I had a feeling I was being ripped off by upselling that took advantage of my lack of knowledge over the process. Despite quite a significant minority of the customers looking like tourists or visiting foreign workers, they do not employ English speaking waiters and they don't explain how the meal will be served. I left feeling a bit disappointed that I didn’t get the classic banana leaf rice on my one and only chance to try it during my trip. Imagine a foreign tourist in the UK going to a pub carvery to sample a traditional roast, and somehow getting persuaded into having the pie of the day and fish and chips from the menu (at twice the price). That's how I felt. You could say I should have done more research and been more confident in saying what I wanted, but nowhere could I find 'how' the meal is served, so this is the process:-There’s no menu on the table. Once you're seated, a banana leaf is placed in front of you. Staff circle the restaurant with various dishes, some of which will come with the price of the meal (i.e. won't appear on your bill). If you're asked if you want something, you probably have to pay for it. Otherwise, they just put it on the leaf. The first bit of upselling came before I'd even sat down (Chicken biryani? Sorry? Chicken biryani? Ah OK...). This led to my not getting a choice of white rice (refined or unrefined) which I felt was a big point of the banana leaf rice meal, but instead getting a (quite nice but unnecessary) filling chicken main to go with all the other quite hearty stuff on the leaf. Oh, and this was of course a quite expensive choice.As others have said, as the waiters come round with other choices of dishes, order just one at a time - they keep coming. From the 'fried' plate, I got the fish (dry) and a croquette (nice) and a piece of chicken (ok). The latter was my poor decision, as the biryani had a large piece of chicken. I therefore didn't need any of the bowls of vegetable curry, as they came round 20 minutes into the meal when I was stuffed and nearly done.The taste? It was OK. I bought a mango lassi after reading about the heat level, but nothing on my leaf (included or sold to me separately) could have been described as hot in any way. I couldn't help looking enviously at customers around me, who all had white rice, a couple of sauces and veggie dish sides. The staff? I was greeted warmly in English by the manager at the till - later, staff came round in pairs occasionally, one guy telling his mate a stream of jokes. It might have been absolutely nothing to do with me, but when one guy is standing in front of you adding up your bill and another is telling him a load of jokey comments in a language you don't understand, you can't help feeling they're taking the piss.All in all, taste OK but not spicy, service unhelpful at best (actively trying to fleece you at worst), and the price is more than you think you'd pay, as you've been sold lots of stuff you didn't really want. I came out feeling full but disappointed; with myself for not having researched a bit more (perhaps I could have brought a picture or a list of things I wanted and insisted on that) and with the staff for not trying to give me what I was there for. I’ve been the hapless foreigner in hundreds of places over Asia, and I remember and go back to the restaurants I was helped to have a good meal in – this is not one of those places.
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