I’m back with another London Foodie Adventure. If you have read my review of Tarshish then you know I’m a West/Central London food snob. Living in Chelsea, London I rarely feel the need to travel across London for much and especially not for food. I guess you can call me a lazy foodie because I’m used to walking down the road or having every type of food delivered to my doorstep. When I got invited to a blogger brunch in N15 I was like what? Does that even exist? Is that still London? Ok enough drama, but really N15? After a quick Google, I realized I would have to take 4 tubes and 55minutes later I would get there. So I decided to commit to the idea of a blogger brunch and I had so much fun when I went to Tarshish, I decided to give brunch at The Banc in North London a go! (Disclaimer: N15 wasn’t as bad of a trek that I thought it was going to be)
So once I arrived I was greeted by the friendly and welcoming staff and owner. I hadn’t had breakfast yet and it was already 1 pm by the time I got there so I was super keen to see the menu. When I looked at The Banc’s Instagram before I quickly got the impression that they had amazing home-made burgers, perfectly aged steaks and a Mediterranean twist to everything. Their website told me they use fresh and local produce and meat that are all sourced locally. So I had high expectations for this place. The Banc was actually exactly what the name says, it was once an actual bank, but in 2011 the owners Jan and Fabio converted the place into what is now one amazing steakhouse and shisha lounge.
So as a table full of food bloggers we basically ordered the entire menu, but if it is your first time visiting the staff is super helpful and friendly and will help explain the menu to you if you need help deciding. The menu was vast and has a ton of different types of dishes to choose from. Public service announcement, these plates, and portions are HUGE! Go hungry, your stomach will thank me later. If you are not into steak the menu has a huge array of chicken, burgers, and fish, and of course, it is all halal which attracts an Asian crowd.
When ordering all the starters we were presented with such a beautiful and amazing spread of food, ranging from cheesy garlic bread to chicken wings, to healthier options like hummus. My favorite starter were the prawn skewers. They were grilled to perfection and perfectly juicy. The calamari was also a good choice, but I would have preferred them to be fried a bit more as they weren’t as crispy as I would have liked them to be, but that is also a bit of personal taste.
After stuffing my face with starters we then each ordered our own main dish. This was a hard choice because there were so many options to choose from. I was tempted to get a burger, but I opted for the steak since I was in a steakhouse. I decided to go for the beef fillet steak with an egg on top. I was craving a bit of breakfast so I opted for steak and eggs, plus who doesn’t love a bit of egg porn? Everyone else also mainly went with either a burger or steak for their mains because The Banc does pride themselves on their excellent cuts of beef. When my steak arrived I was amazed that it was perfectly cooked to medium rare perfection. I was in food heaven. I really have no other adjectives to describe how amazing my steak tasted. I don’t eat steak often because I have high standards for how my steak is cooked, but let me tell you this steak beat the cook on my steak I got from the all too well know Flatiron in Soho. I also got the passion fruit mojito, because it was Sunday Funday and what is brunch if there isn’t a cocktail involved? This mojito was amazing, hands down the perfect blend of sweet and sour and a perfect fresh pick me up after that amazing steak.
My steak cost £28 pounds and was the most expensive dish on the menu, but for 250grams of meat plus sides of mac n cheese and green beans, £28 pounds is a bargain. I could have easily paid up to £50 in central London for a dish of equal merit. I didn’t have a burger, but they looked delicious and only cost £10. Which is amazing seeing as you got a tower of food instead of a tiny burger. As food bloggers we of course order every side dish as well. I highly recommend the mac n cheese, it was amazingly cheesy and the sweet potato fries were cooked to perfection!
After all this food, you would think I would stop while I was ahead, but nope, in traditional food blogger style, we ordered every dessert on the menu! I only had a few nibbles of the cheesecake and the chocolate cake, but the real winner were the milkshakes. They were a perfect balance of creamy and chocolatey. My favorite was the Oreo milkshake. I have to admit it fulfilled all my sinful food desired and I had every last sip. After all this food I was definitely nursing a food baby. I didn’t have room to check out their shisha lounge, but they do have a two-story outdoor lounge where you can enjoy and drink and some shisha after your food. I will definitely be back to check out the lounge and I will definitely visit The Banc again, it is worth the travel and money.
Overall, I should stop being a Chelsea brat and venture out of my bubble to try out amazing food all over London.
I hope this blog post has encouraged you to go out in London and check out all the amazing food this city has to offer. If you enjoyed this blog post, I would love if you saved/heart it on Bloglovin’! If you want to get instant updates on my life make sure to follow me on Snapchat (@anikazzz) or check out my Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
The Banc
Tel: 020 8888 8898
261 – 263 West Green Road
London, N15 3BH
info@thebanc.co.uk