the bank bar & brasserie

nice place for a drink but that's about it.
the food is very average and i've been there a few times for lunch and never had a good meal.
the lunch special is a good price but the menu is overall overpriced for the average quality of food.
staff are friendly and the decor is nice.

loved the food and service. amazing steak meals and wine thanks staff were attentive and warm. really recommend especially if your from out of town like us.

awesome place to come great food great service they gave child felts and colouring page to keep busy although she had fun making mum and dad pick up lots excellent food so delicious fast service a++++ thank you

great service by the waitress staff! lovely warm atmosphere and prices are affordable.

have been there several times with a large group of friends. one was a 21st birthday, and the service was fantastic!

went there last month with some more friends for dinner and the meals were not only delicious but again the staff were friendly and the environment great.

only con was that we had to wait a while for the meals even though it was clocking on 8 pm, not very busy, and it was only tuesday night.

however, the meals made up for it! the angus sirloin, mussels and chicken caesar salad is a 5/5.

will be going back there again. highly recommend.

excellent service, staff very friendly and efficient. excellent food, great entrees and main yum
great atmosphere and seating, great dinner meals.
cheers for a great dining experience.

that's all i need to say about this place, will be going back again.

a great time to celebrate my husband’s birthday last month. great atmosphere, tasty food, wonderful service with the staff members! can’t wait to come back.

my husband and i love dining there.
the food is so absolutely divine every time, the customer service is really great and the music and atmosphere is so classy and relaxing.
aaa+++ every time!

the 12 dollar menu is a great deal. the pasta was from the 12 dollar menu and it would probably cost 20 or so in normal places. the cheese tasted of high quality, and the pasta was not too creamy.
the calamari rings were crunchy but tender and not over fried. the wasabi mayo complimented it well, though the mayonnaise could have been changed to japanese kewpie for a better taste.
finally, we ordered the chicken waffles. i thought the selection of sauces complimented the dish well. the bacon was perfectly fried and not overly crispy or salty. the waffles were very soft. however, there wasn't too much chicken and it was tenders instead of a fillet.

we had the twice cooked ribs and the southerner pizza, curly fries. we love the sauce of ribs, it’s like smoked honey sauce and it’s better than lone star.

the restaurant is where a bank used to be, with the bnz sign still visible on the building. we stopped by for dinner and it was quite empty so we had a choice of seats. we ended up on the bar side of the place so the tables were higher and we were seated on stools. the place did look quite nice and comfortable. they had a decent selection of items on the menu and i ended up trying the roast vegetable ravioli. the portions were decent and the flavours were nice. there were nice chunks of roast vegetables within the creamy, tomato sauce. i also tried the arancini and thought that the coating had the texture of raw, crispy rice. it did taste nice though.
it is a nice place for dinner or for drinks. it was fairly quiet which i enjoyed so we could have a conversation.

the ambience was amazing and staff were very friendly. portion sizes were good and would definitely recommend! we got the ravioli and margarita pizza which were both enjoyable :)

the lamb shank was massive and was the star of the night. the pork belly was slightly underwhelming and overcooked but still probably the best of the lawrenson group places so far.
definitely coming back for the lamb shank

not a bad spot to go out for lunch! enjoyed the last time i dined in and felt welcomed with the friendly staff. steak was good here and will definitely go back again!

this rating is unfortunate but it's true.

the fact that i have no pictures is a key indication of how disappointed we were.

in short, this was our anniversary i had recommended this restaurant as it was one i use to frequent 10 years ago during high school, and given the ratings i believed the quality must still be the same. i was wrong.

below are our orders and reactions:
food:
1. chicken strips, they came out over cooked and dry. for the price there was only five. 1/5 stars.
2. garlic bread, they were pieces of brioche with garlic butter spread on top. 1/5 stars
3. ribs rack, dry, overcooked and chewy...highly disappointing. what was worse was it was the beginning of the service, very few people there so no excuses. and they we thought maybe they served us the old ones from lunch, so then we waited a bit and a group of high schoolers (10+ people) order, a couple got ribs and also complained that there's were dry, overcooked and chewy. 0/5 stars.
4. steak meal, id never tasted 'meat glue' before, but after researching that's exactly what it felt/tasted like. the texture didnt melt in the mouth it disintegrated. it felt like it was made for those with no teeth. not real meat = 0/5 stars.

drinks:
1. 2x chugs of corona: unfortunately, best thing we'd tasted and were not big drinkers.

2.2x chugs of pepsi: flat and disappointing.

service:
1. very pleasant and regular, they travel in pairs and are highly attentive. very pleased. 2.5/5 as they said they'd follow up our food complaint but nothing happened.

overall: highly disappointing, would love to return but highly unlikely.

yours sincerely, hamiltonianthroughandthrough.

the waitress i had was extremely welcoming and polite and she had a lot of patience with us. we ordered their salads. the caesar salad was okay, but the chicken was extremely dry which made it chewy. i did love the dressing and the egg they put on it.

overall good experience especially if you are from out of town..