The Bank Bar & Bistro

Visited Bank Bar for brunch on a Saturday. A good place for kids due to the playroom but the food was rather underwhelming. Service pretty good. This place seems more suitable for drinks during happy hour.

I have visited this place quite a few times over the last couple of years but always for drinks after work and never, previously, had any food. It is hard to rate a restaurant on beer alone alone — if it is cold and cold and comes quick it’s a 5, isn’t it? — so now that I have actually eaten here I can give it a go.
I met a friend for lunch her last week. We were quickly attended to and seated at the table. I asked for a «very large glass of soda water with ice» and, that’s exactly what I got — Hurray! more often than not they bring me a small bottle of (barely) sparkling. My friend (lets call hïm «Dave» — it’s sounds weird to keep saying «my friend») had a beer; he seemed to enjoy it.
I ordered a sashimi salad and Dave had a spicy chicken burger. My salad was good but a little boring. The sashimi part was the US Midwestern variety: salmon and tuna. Salad was fresh and wasabi dressing good. Dave’s burger was, according to him, «good and spicy». He needed another beer.
The service was great. I would not mind eating here again if in the neighborhood and hungry but I would not go out of my way. Very good place for a beer after work on a Friday, though.

Nice place for a drink in the CBD area but FIVE is still a better option.
Menu is expensive and portions are small. Only go there for the beer during happy hour.

Average and overpriced much the same as the other business lunch/​happy hour spots in the area. Fish and chips were decently prepared, but presentation was quite plain for the $ 25 price tag.
Good selection of brown liquor, but I didn’t even want to see the price list if the menu was indicative of liquor prices.
Ultimately, the only reason to be back is the convenience (close to work) or if someone else were paying.

Looking for a family friend place for a nice weekend brunch, this is one ‘off-​the-​beaten’ track place to go.
Last weekend, my friends and I decide to organise a mini lunch & playdate session for our little one and we stumbled upon this restaurant review in a blog while looking for a place to go.
hmm… to me… the Bank Bar & Bistro has been around for a while but it never came across to me as a family friendly place. I always had the impression that it’s a drinking hole.
I had my doubts before heading there for lunch and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. The restaurant transform to a family friendly restaurants on the weekends since its usually the sleepy days of the busy shenton way. Most of the tables were filled with customers with kids.
On weekend, they serve the weekend roast. pretty yummy (just a tad salty) and reasonably priced at $ 25. It served with a dessert of the day :) And best of all, with every weekend roast or ala carte entrees, kids get to eat for free.
The kids get their own special service here too! The children menu doubles up as a colouring paper. Also, they converted one of the ‘rooms’ to a playroom filled with many different toys for the children to enjoy. I had a quick chat with one of the waitress and she told me they change the toys once a month so that the returning (little) customers wont be bored of the toys. Nice touch there!

Totally underwhelmed by the food. I asked that they make the cobb salad veg by leaving out the chicken, which they did without fuss or confusion, but the dressing was watery and the whole thing was undersalted. No salt/​pepper in sight on the table. I bet the rest of the overpriced menu is similarly mediocre.
My friend noted that they only offered Maggie tomato sauce, not Heinz ketchup, for her sandwich and fries, which was of concern to her.
The venue, however, is nice, lots of space and a high ceiling inside, plus tables outside. I was there for a very enjoyable pub trivia, which I can recommend.

I go to the Bank Bar quite frequently for these monthly Tuesday quiz nights and I’m very often surprised by the new ways they come up with pulling the wool over the customer’s eyes on «happy hour specials» and the way they overfry their food.
When I ordered a 2-​for-​1 gin and tonic, I asked that they just bring me 2, so that I can give the other one to my friend (who hadn’t yet arrived). They come over with only 1 drink and I think «OK, no problem since they can serve the drink when he arrives”– and I ask for the second drink after my friend shows up. Lo and behold, they somehow were under the mistaken impression that I had asked for a double shot of gin in both drinks and charged me for two drinks, despite the special. (And let me also point out that I always get the Asian red flush when I drink, and I doubt there was more than 1 shot of liquor in our drinks).
I’ve had the fish & chips, various tapas (e.g. the calamari, chorizo, etc.) and most recently tried the health sandwich and I’m always disappointed. The fish & chips and tapas always have too much oil in them and if they were fried, they’re always done to a point of being overly crisp. And the health sandwich was just tasteless and empty– with waaaayyyyy too many fries to be considered «healthy»
Furthermore, the wait staff (in addition to trying to sneak in additional charges) never give you what you need (e.g. additional napkins, salt, etc.).
Big thumbs down to the place. From now on, I’ll eat at Lau Pa Sat before going to quiz night at the Bank Bar…

Came here for a company lunch! Service was a little slow (well, our food was slow — I guess refilling of our waters was pretty fast!)
Coworkers mostly had pastas (which range around $ 17.90-$ 21.90) — seafood aglio olio (which seemed pretty gd!) and funghi (mushroom cream-​based) and spicy chorizo.
The special set for the day seemed to be a pretty good deal! $ 29 for salmon/​scallop salad, mushroom spaghetti or baked halibut, and dessert/​coffee or tea. But I felt it would be too much food for me, so just asked for the halibut separately. Not sure how much it cost in the end though.
Anyway, the fish was rather salty on the outside — I think the chef was a little over-​enthusiastic with the salting. Flaked well though! The red pepper sauce that it came with tasted kind of tomatoey, maybe I’m not particularly good at telling the difference! Other components of the dish:
1. Butternut squash wasn’t as sweet as it could’ve been, maybe a function of it not really being the season? Not sure.
2. Leeks were a nice addition with a different texture.
3. Mango corn salsa was a good foil! with some alfafa sprouts on top
Fairly generous portion of food (although my coworkers said they had a TON of pasta the previous time they came, sometime in May 2012 or so, but this time they managed to finish their pasta without much problems).

If your idea of Prince Charming is an ex-​pat wanker banker, you’ll find The Bank Bar to be fertile hunting grounds. Then again, be prepared to pay $ 12 for a bottle of beer and to all but take out a loan for a top shelf cocktail.
Still on a fine evening, with the gentle winter breeze blowing by, it’s hard to not relax while sitting outside nursing an order of the delicious truffle fries. Service is attentive and easygoing.
PARTING THOUGHT: what the heck, maybe you can write it off your night at The Bank as CapEx…

An all– day dining and bar concept, catered towards the business crowd, The Bank Bar & Bistro serves a large array of American diner grub, along with many other light bites on top of their extensive selection of alcoholic beverages
With a favourable and relaxing ambience, the restaurant is an ideal choice to unwind after a hectic day at work. Already gaining popularity amongst the cubicle rats of Shenton way, the restaurant gets packed after 6pm and even getting a seat outdoors takes some time. We went there for some post dinner drinks and decided to order up the New Yorker to share while we had drinks. Boasting a gratifying hearty tomato base and creamy mozzarella, the New Yorker pizza was surprisingly delicious; even more so with its decent servings of Salami, Pepperoni and Italian Spicy Sausages slapped on the top made it memorable for me.
A good spot with plenty of charm, the Bank Bar & Bistro definitely gets a thumbs up from me.