Ka-ching
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BanQ — It’s good… very good.
Located in the remodeled lobby of the old Penny Savings Bank on Washington Street, BanQ has generated quite a bit of chatter since opening in mid-February. With an eclectic mix of Southeast Asian, Indian and French influence, BanQ offers the menu musings of New Delhi chef du jour Ranveer Brar. I had heard some very positive things about BanQ… so I meandered over for a Girl’s Night Out on Saturday.
We (“M” and I) started our evening at The Beehive, a past favorite of mine — for a few cocktails in order to get ‘warmed up’ (pun intended). We arrived around 7pm and went directly to the bar downstairs… where “M” started with a Bee-Lini ($10.50) — a Champagne cocktail made with fresh apricot nectar and I decided to start the evening with something a little stronger, a Beehive Julep ($10) — a refreshing blend of rum, Liquor Creole and lime (though my glass had lime, lemon and orange… muddled with mint).
The drinks went down smoothly and we were quickly ordering our second round. I stuck with the Julep, but “M” ventured off and got The Rasputin ($10) — a wintery concoction of hard apple cider, calvados and cinnamon syrup. She preferred the Bee-lini, but had no problems finishing the drink off.
Before we knew it, it was 8:20 and we were rushing out the door for our cold walk down to BanQ. We arrived about 5 minutes later and were seated immediately. If you have done any reading of the Boston news rags lately (the Improper, Stuff at Night, the Phoenix, Digg, Boston.com, etc.) you know that the architectural Piece de Resistance at BanQ is the layer after layer of curved birchwood pieces that adorn the ceiling, giving the space a funky cave-like atmosphere. While beautifully designed eye candy, my only complaint is that these delicious layers create a little acoustic problem. BanQ’s dining room is quite noisy. Fine for fun evenings out with groups of friends, but maybe a bit overwhelming if you are looking for a romantic and quiet date night. I honestly loved the place though.
The menu at BanQ is divided into three sections: Asian Amuse, Appetizers and Main Courses. We opted for sharing three Amuse and ordering separate dinners. We started with the Coho Salmon ($4.50) on a sugar cane stick with watercress and cherry tomato vinaigrette, the Shortribs ($5) braised with cumin and lemongrass with a Japanese yam fondant and the Baby Beets ($4.50), cured in mirin and served with Chevre and a wasabi, mitsukan reduction.
We also ordered a bottle of wine, the Cold Hills Sauvignon Blanc (from New Zealand) for $29.
“M” doesn’t eat seafood and I don’t eat red meat, so we each savored our a little amuse ourselves and then shared the beets.
The Coho salmon was unbelievably good. The salmon was ridiculously tender, delicious and had an amazing sauce (which, sounds underrated on the menu) — I would have licked the plate clean if I could have. “M” indicated that the short ribs were also amazing. The beets and chevre were very good… but nothing overly inventive or special. The beets were tasty, the chevre was fresh, but I couldn’t detect the wasabi undertones. Overall it was good… just not memorable.
The wine was very nice. A typical and dependable New Zealand Sauvignon blanc, with fresh herbal flavors and an acidic finish.
For dinner, I went with the Grilled Cod ($26), dusted with morels, Pommery banana flower relish, lotus root Provencal and a green tea miso beurre blanc. I really enjoyed my meal…. it was delicious — with the cod being a delicate balance of flaky white fish fused with traditional Asian flavors. “M” got the Roasted Chicken ($21). Unfortunately, I do not remember the details of this meal and it is not listed on their website’s menu. “M” thought the meal was good, but the chicken was dry, bordering on tough. She could barely cut through it with the knife provided.
We finished our meal with desert. I got the Creme Brulee ($9), served in 2 separate cups, with a delicate sugar crust and a side of fresh mango sorbet. “M” went with the Chocolate Torte ($10), a soft-centered chocolate cake, served with a side of ice cream. Both were very good, pretty traditional, but nothing overly special. Don’t get me wrong… I ate (and enjoyed) the entire thing, but if I’m comparing these to the creations of other innovative chefs, they were just okay.
Overall, a very good experience, nice atmosphere, tasty food and moderate to good service. I would go back, but I wasn’t as gung ho as I’d hoped. I think BanQ will be around for a while, but I also think the need to step it up a bit to join the ranks of the big Boston food players.
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banq just sucks. big plates with small portions and way too noisy for the prices. there are much better places in the soouth end to go for the money. I found the staff unprofessional and certainly sort of low class
Again, it’s always my friend “Anonymous” who leaves the negative comments. Get some balls people! Stand by your opinions for crying out loud.
Anyway, Banq IS very noisy, I’ll give you that. That comes with the design of the ceiling, which I DID enjoy looking at. So I guess there has to be a little give and take.
I actually thought the price point was pretty fair. My friend and I had a bottle of wine, 4 small plates, 2 dinner entrees and 2 desserts between us… and it only came to $115.00 (including tax)! I actually think that’s quite affordable. My friend’s roasted chicken was only $21, and it was a large portion… so I’m not sure what happened the night you went.
Thanks for your take on this place… next time try to be a little more specific.
Hey I actually wasn’t impressed the first time and gave it another chance. The staff lacked professionalism and class. there are ways to say things and a way not to. Both times the crowd that it drew was not what you’d expect from a supposedly high end restaurant…loud and rowdy people. To be specific about the portions, I ordered an appetizer with beets, that produced 1 single beet. I think they need to correct it. As far as the visual effect of the ceiling, I’d prefer them invest in comfortable furniture.
As far as annonymous goes.We are all annonymous here and the comment about “balls” is probably what I would expect from the people that frequent BanQ.
enough said?
OUCH! Well, now that you’ve made me feel like a loser… I can assure you I’m not one!
I appreciate you taking the time to provide more details on your dining experience. My guess on the ‘crowd’ situation is due to its newness and the press this place gets. It’s been getting very good reviews… and people are always looking for a new place to try.
I too had the beet dish… but I guess my expectations were lower than yours. I expected a tapas-sized plate, which it was. I agree it was a little on the small side, but good none the less.
I honestly don’t remember how comfortable or uncomfortable the furniture was…
On a final note, if you read my post again, you see that I too didn’t think the service was amazing, nor did I sing the praises of this place. I thought it was good… that’s it.
PS – I’m sorry if you got annoyed w/ my anonymouse comment… it’s just a huge pet peeve of mine and your original comment was on the cryptic side.
I’m still not convinced about your character and I guess you read different reviews. If you read your review, you found it VERY good and the service good, both a step up from what you are saying now. You may want to read more reviews now that it is open longer. I wouldn’t consider 2 stars out of 4 stars in the Boston Pheonix a VERY good review. I’ve read worse reviews than that also. you may want to lose your pet peeve OR just print your name and address on here since you think everyone on here knows exactly who Tammy is.
Look Anonymous,
I don’t know what you want from me. The “reviews” I got were from friends who went there — and the DID love it… and the few written reviews I read WERE good. I don’t think I saw The Phoenix one.
One quote from my post “Overall it was good… just not memorable.” regarding the goat cheese salad. And regarding the chicken dish my friend got: “… “M” thought the meal was good, but the chicken was dry, bordering on tough. She could barely cut through it with the knife provided.”
I liked my salmon and my cod… what am I supposed to do, lie and say I hated it??? It was delicious.
If you don’t like my style or my “character”, then stop reading my blog. I do this for fun… not to argue with people. I tried to be as diplomatic as possible in my last response to you… obviously you have a difficult time doing the same.
Your true colors now show through. I won’t read your blog, respond etc. I guess the rude “balls” comment annoyed me and I didn’t think people made comment like that “for fun”, but I guess they do. have a reat day
http://www.boston.com/ae/restaurants/gallery/dining_out/