Smoked Salmon
The other weekend we went to Bank in Birmingham for a celebration meal for my father-in-law’s 70th birthday. We were a party of nine people including one 6-year-old. Between us we sampled quite a range off the menu, but I’ll mostly talk about what I tried myself.
Oysters
I started with the smoked salmon which is always a favourite of mine. It was a high quality smoked salmon with a subtly complementary honey, mustard and dill dressing. The Oysters that some of the party had looked fantastic as did the Beef Carpaccio that my husband tried.
Lobster
Both my husband and I had the Native Lobster. We both had a really stand out Lobster Thermidor, some years ago, at The Marcliffe Hotel in Aberdeen and I think we were hoping that this dish would measure up to it. Sadly it didn’t, we were both underwhelmed. The portion seemed a bit stingy for the price and the dish failed to make the best of the natural flavours of its main ingredient. We may have been a bit unlucky as other dishes round the table seemed to meet with approval.
My son at 6 is quite the little gourmet and he loves visiting restaurants. Fish and chips is a favourite of his and he was very happy to find it on the menu. Incidentally, there isn’t a printed children’s menu, but the waiting staff can tell you what is available. He liked it very much and enjoyed his generous portion of fish. I think though there could have been a few more chips on the plate. We didn’t get offered any children’s entertainment like activity sheets or coloured pencils, so make sure you bring something with you if you have children in your party.
Brownie
For dessert I had a Warm Chocolate Brownie. The brownie was ultra rich with a dense, chocolatey flavour and a generous amount of nuts running through. It was a very satisfying dessert and finished the meal on a high for me.
We found the service to be good, but relaxed. Possibly a touch too relaxed at times as it was a little while before we were taken to our table. We didn’t feel rushed or pressured though and the meal went very smoothly indeed. It’s nice that Bank have some larger, round tables which were perfect for our gathering. Bank has a lovely location in Brindley Place, just on the edge of the canal so there are good views from the main dining room and the outdoor terrace (with comfy seats).