Bannock
401 Bay St. | 416-861-6996 | oliverbonacini.com/bannock.aspx
Bannock, part of the Oliver & Bonacini empire (an outpost of which I have reviewed before) is the restaurant and café that has staked out some prime real estate at the corner of Bay and Queen. The name speaks to the restaurant’s theme, which is “Canadian comfort food.” The décor, an upscale coureur de bois, harkens back to days when men were men and The Bay, not Bay Street, was the career of choice for adventurous young lads. Nestled into the flank of the Hudson’s Bay building, this connection to the past is hard to miss. It’s accentuated by long horizontal windows in the rear of the restaurant that look into The Bay itself. While an interesting and evocative design feature, in execution it means that diners are treated to elderly gentlemen trying on bathrobes in the menswear department.
“Canadian comfort food,” as interpreted by Bannock, means poutine, mac and cheese, traditional boiled dinner, maple this and bannock that. The menu selection is good and though it is only one page, there is something here for everybody (including a cryptic category of foods called “meatish”).
The lunch crowd consists largely of Bay Street types grabbing a bite with friends or colleagues. The table to my right has two associates complaining about partners; on my left, two partners complaining about associates. No deals are being done, no lawsuits being settled; clients are being wined and dined elsewhere. Located as it is across from the criminal courts at Old City Hall, some of Bannock’s lunch crowd are telling particularly interesting stories (calm down, M&A folks…your stories are interesting, too…).
On my first visit, I try the prairie grain salad with lentils, sprouted beans and barley ($9). It is fresh and the pickled red onion gives it some zip, while the tahini imparts a nice nutty flavour. On a subsequent visit, however, the grains are underdone and chewy. The Ontario field tomatoes ($12) are colourful and elegant, but with basil salt added to the already-salty capers and feta, the dish is far too salty and will have you gulping liquids all afternoon.
My dining companion has the salt cod donuts with double-smoked bacon, preserved lemon and sweet cucumber pickle ($10). It’s tasty but lacks any real flavour. The really impressive dish is my companion’s roast duck poutine pizza ($16) — a pizza crust upon which is a mound of fries smothered in gravy and topped with cheese curds and shredded duck. When it arrives, there are audible “oohhhs” from the table beside us, another diner shamelessly points and a food paparazzo walks over and asks to take a picture. The pizza is excellent but I suspect even a full day of hewing wood and drawing water wouldn’t burn off the calories in this dish.
On another occasion, my dining companion tries tofurkey scallopini ($14). It is unexceptional, and lacking in presentation. But when I try it later in the week, it is flavourful with a well-balanced sauce. This inconsistency seems to be an ongoing issue at Bannock, and the kitchen would do well to institute some quality control measures.
Bannock stays true to its theme and delivers on comfort food, so I can’t fault them for emphasizing salt and fat, the backbone of comfort foods everywhere. Still, it seems a little much for a lunch crowd more accustomed to trading futures than furs.
Judge Foodie’s verdict
Highs: solid comfort food
Lows: no lunch reservations taken, strangers trying on menswear
Kirsten Thompson is a Toronto-based research lawyer and commercial litigator. Since her call to the bar in 2000, she estimates that her restaurant to courtroom ratio has been approximately 14:1. Thoughts? Comments? Ideas for a review? Email her.
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