wine bank on view

people still aren't getting their heads around this place, its a wine bar. it's all about the wine, the food is there as an accompaniment to the wine. that being said, the new sesame crusted seared tuna with wasabi nato is awesome! great light dish to go with wine.


-----10 may, 2011-----

great place, great wine, great atmosphere. this place is a godsend for bendigo. it's a very well run wine bar in the european mould in a superbly restored old bank building. it has an exhaustive wine list, all the local regions are extremely well represented (bendigo, macedon ranges, heathcote) and the rest of australia is covered in depth. in addition there is a comprehensive range of international wines and a superb selection of champagnes.

inside is nice and cosy with open fires in the winter and there are al fresco options front and rear for the warmer months.

food is there to compliment the wine, nice, simple but with flair. don't expect a full on three course meal, but you will have a pleasant time grazing with a glass or three.

4 of us dined at the winebank saturday night and after how rude the young waitress was with her roll of the eyes and some sarcasm when first seated and ordering our drinks and meal, i wasn't expecting much more from the wine bank but was quite pleased(after the long wait) of how nice the meal was, i will one day go back to the winebank (maybe once some staff have left) for another great meal and drinks. well done to the chefs and kitchen staff. maybe a think for the owners when it comes to how the business comes across with their wait staff

venue: large turn of last century bank building with open fire for toasty warm cosy dining in wintery weather. impressive architecture. easy accessible on street parking. staff welcoming, attentive & not too pushy. there is a very impressive, varied & large selection of local & imported wines. we became wine club members as we were impressed with the staff's knowledge of the local wines & the discounts of course.
menu unchanged for a while but remains good. duck pat'e is excellent however requesting extra bread, which has decreased in amount over time, incures a cost.
mains average sizes, no need to order sides but they are available. steak sanga teder generous & sustaining. chicken curry tasty. wine @ table $10 a bottle dearer than when purchased for yake away, but remains reasonably priced.
good venue, good value, good service,
good food & wine. 6 1/2 -7 out of 10.

i really like the atmosphere here and food is great. but i booked for mother's day 4 weeks in advance, called back 2 weeks later saying it was going to be $50 a head for a 2 course meal for lunch ! i found this cheeky and disappointing.

wank bank on view. have been telling my friend from melbourne that this is a must go to whenever in town. unfortunately i was so wrong.
i've been working hospitality for almost 10 years now and never once have i ever spoken to a customer the way the waitress spoke to us, and if i ever saw any of my staff treat anybody the way she spoke and judged us, then they would get a warning on the spot. we were disgusted with the service and treatment from the staff that we walked out and will never go back again. all because we had a young baby in a stroller who was asleep. inappropriate place to take a child you may say, however my friend was dying to go there and won't be back up for a while so i agreed.
to not get any help with the door for starters from this waitress who was standing there watching us, (clearly we were struggling to get in the big doors but she just watched), to coming in and standing waiting to be seated for about 5 minutes with staff just walking straight by us, assuming it was sit yourself so going and sitting at a table with the stroller out of the way completely for almost 15 minutes without even being acknowledged still by anybody, then changing to a couch seat that became free and completely out of everybodys way (baby was still asleep) to moving over there to finally having previous said waitress acknowledge us but with an "excuse me but is there anything i can help you with?" in a condescending tone of voice like what are you doing in here?. i responded with yeah we would like some drinks please and maybe some food. with a roll of her eyes she brought the menu over and said 30 minute wait on food. i said yeah thats fine thank you and then with another rude question "will you actually be drinking anything?" and we said well yes we did say that we were going to have some drinks please. she bought the wine list over and just left it on the table and walked off.
we felt like were inconveniencing them by being in there so we promptly left and will never go back again. the only shining light for them was the young waiter who saw us coming on our way out and helped us with the door and with a big smile too.
i'm sorry that i ever raved about the place to my friends, i'm sorry i came in that day and struck a rude waitress, i'm sorry that i am a young mother who couldn't leave her son at home with her partner to be able to have a drink or coffee with a friend, i'm sorry that i had to put up with judgement by your staff member, i'm sorry that i felt compelled enough to write a bad review on here, but i am not sorry that you will never have my patronage or that of my friends and family after this day.

great breakfast of scrambled eggs love the ambience too. it was like eating inside a bank with an officer (in this case- a waiter) watching you eat behind the counter. such incredible height of ceiling, the bank was surprisingly tiny. will be back someday.

wonderful night. we had dinner on a wednesday night and the staff were fantastic! beautiful experience, fantastic food , so many wines too choose from- highly recommend, cant wait to go back again

rude staff! booked and then they 'lost' our booking and put us upstairs- freezing, no one else there and no atmosphere :-(

i’ve had a number of meals at this venue. fabulous food, a little flair and largely flawless service. in particular michael. the waiter everyone wishes they could have.
friendly. proactive. anticipating your needs. and a marvel when selecting your dessert.
amazing how one person can make all the difference.

still reliable. in a city with very limited dinning options and overshaddowed by smaller towns such as kyneton and castlemaine the wine bank is at times variable but still manages to deliver. the meals and tappas are great, the wine choice extensive. puts the antiquated whirrakee around the corner to shame.

krusty the cowboy reviewer says: reward the good, punish the bad.
verdict: good... 4 cowboy hats!

slow service for 6 people (sat lunch time booking, 40 mins for 3 shared starter plates) but good food & wine, would go there again as a smaller party (ie 2 or 3 people) and hopefully choose a quieter time, the few seats inside the bar, which is like a wine cellar with bottles stacked up nice and high) was dark, warm and cosy looking)

not so good.... took mum and dad here for mother's day, we weren't super impressed, my parents arrived first and were not greeted or seated until 5 minutes later when they went to the bar to ask, we sat down and drinks were fast to come out, but we probably waited 30-40 minutes to even have them take our order, the steak in my steak sandwhich tasted fatty and cheap... and they were only serving the traditional menu, when we had booked thinking we'd share some tapas and platters. :(

fantastic service & atmosphere. food was delicious and reasonably priced. thankyou for such an enjoyable night. will definitely eat here again.

i was originally asked by the server to sit outside as they claimed the inside tables were unavailable. i assumed they were reserved and went outside. i was the only person sitting outside and service was slow. after a while it got quite cold, so i asked a different server if i could get a table inside. there were apparently two empty tables inside, so i'm not sure why i was told to sit outside initially. i did not see the first server for the entire night afterwards, and the second server was excellent.

the food took a long time to arrive, about 30-45minutes. i ordered a steak, and that was cooked nicely and paired well with the wine. however, it was served with some roast potatoes, and not potato gratin as noted in the menu. at that point however, i was pretty hungry so i ate what i was given. the green beans were too chewy.

i ordered pistachio cheesecake for dessert (note that the dessert options are not on the menu, but the server was really attentive and gave me the options). it was served with berry sauce and cream. i asked for no cream but the server was really nice and substituted ice cream for me. berry sauce and ice cream was great. the cheesecake wasn't too my liking. i like the contrast between the silkiness of the cake and the chopped nuts, however the cake was not rich or sweet enough for me. the base was also bland.

tldr; i'd have dinner somewhere else and just come here for the wine only.

a very unpleasant experience. we turned up on a cold night having booked many weeks ahead to be told we were sitting outside in a marquee. we had travelled up from melbourne for the weekend. we were then seated in a very draughty tent; table was unadorned, no menu or cutlery. after perusing the menu for a few minutes we were then told that because of another large booking we would have to wait over an hour for our meals.
no apology, no explanation!
so disappointed after having been recommended the restaurant by several people
very difficult trying to find somewhere else to eat on a saturday at very late notice
ended up eating pizza
won’t be recommending this place to anyone, quite the contrary
shame on you! worst service i’ve had in many years