Banca, 30 North Audley Street, London
W1K 6ZF
[AUGUST 2013: NOW CLOSED]
[AUGUST 2013: NOW CLOSED]
04/05/2013
She said: Banca is an upmarket Italian
housed in the former NatWest bank on a corner in Mayfair. We were greeted with
lots of smiles and offered to sit wherever we like on entering which was both
welcoming but had a slight feel of ‘wow we have customers’ to it. He wanted to
sit at a table for four which I thought was inappropriate so opted for a table
for two by the window which allowed me to see the whole dining room but he the
frosted street window behind me…At first glance the menu seemed pricey for what
was on offer but Banca also has more reasonably priced pasta and pizza dishes.
For a chi chi restaurant, when I ordered some fresh juice from a long list of
great options on the drinks menu I was told that only about three of the eight
options were actually available – pretty poor. I decided to skip starters and
ordered the risotto with gorgonzola and courgette flowers at £18. I’m not sure
the blue cheese worked and the two deep fried courgettes sitting on top were an
odd choice but it was fine. I had been planning on dessert but with so many
good patisseries in the neighbourhood and not being blown away by the
experience I decided to give it a miss. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely room,
friendly and prompt service and good range of options on the menu but for the
price, I think there’s just too much competition to make this one worth coming
back to.
He said: the Maitre d’ seemed genuinely
delighted to see us, and gave us a typically-Italian warm and friendly welcome
into an equally typically-Italian stylishly appointed room. Good start, I
thought. Could this become our local Italian, where we rub shoulders with the
Italian glitterati, and eventually house-swap with Monica Bellucci? But the
magic soon slowly fizzled-out. With the menu we were told about various things
that were off that day including, strangely, about half the extensive list of
fresh juices. Minor, you think – but, by lunch time on Saturday, you’d expect a
serious kitchen to have all the holds barred in readiness for the big bun fight
on one of the week’s most valuable nights. Never mind, these things happen
sometimes. The menu had something for everybody, including pizza, and enough
well-described options to cause some soul-searching. I took the plunge on a
lentil salad to start, following up with monkfish and broad beans, sun-dried
tomato etc. The salad was excellent, with enough pomegranate and apple to keep
a generous portion interesting all the way through. But the presentation was a
little unimaginative – here you go, a bowl of lentils. The monkfish made a much
better impression on the plate, vivid green bean puree, deep red tomatoes, and
plump white fish. I was looking forward to diving into my edible Italian flag,
but at the back of my head was also the thought ‘my fish looks lonely on that
big plate, could’ve been a bit more of it for £23’. It was delish, but my first
bite was already lukewarm. In a way this sums up what’s wrong with Banca. The
attention to detail wasn’t there; the appearance says ‘sophisticated’ but it’s
not backed-up by the delivery. This would be OK almost anywhere except Mayfair
where if you’re going to promise and charge like a big boy, then you’ve got to
roll like a big boy. Rents are too high here to get it wrong for long. On the
way out I noticed just one other table occupied, which could explain the
effusive welcome…
No comments:
Post a Comment