La Banca is a brand new Italian restaurant in the heart of Cotteridge village. It’s home is the old bank (hence the name) opposite the corner of Pershore Road and Watford Road. Opening night was the 30th of June, and loaf was there to soak up the atmosphere…
La Banca has little competition in Cotteridge – the clean but classical decor is a far cry from Greggs or Subway – and provides a buzzing, excited atmosphere whilst loaf awaits it’s dinner guests. The welcoming and obviously experienced manager, belied a noticeably nervous front of house, with the understandable opening night jitters: uncollected cutlery, unpoured wine, bill mistakes, and longer than usual waits for orders etc. The menu is probably a bit too large for a single cuisine restaurant, but with a notable absence of pizzas – perhaps investment in a proper oven will come at a later date. Pasta predominates, but there’s an enticing range of non-pasta ‘secondi’ too – the tuna steak with cold tomato salsa was tempting, but at £13.95 (the most expensive item) loaf couldn’t stretch to it in these credit-crunch times.
The menu is spattered with seasonal treats – chard, peas, mint; but there’s no claim that this is intentional, nor is there any indication of where they are sourced. Nevertheless, the food was good – homemade canneloni was executed well and served in a deliciously fresh salty-sweet tomato sauce, and the tirimasu was smooth and luxurious, if lacking a little of the expected alco-kick. There were appreciative noises coming from round the table and the portion sizes were about right if you’re having more than one course. The wine list is excellent, and extensive, with great descriptions for those as ignorant as loaf!
Overall La Banca serves good, well presented, fairly priced food, in a nice environment, which is an overdue treat for Cotteridge. The owners also run Pangaea in Kings Heath which is also worth checking out for a posh curry. For address details and menu etc, see their website at: www.labanca.co.uk
3/5
The service was slow at this restuarant, we were placed at our seats after five minutes we were asked to move by the waiter who said that he put us in the wrong seats and put by the door which was very noisy and draught was coming in rom the door. We waited nearly half an hour just to have our drinks in which the waiter didnt bring our jug of water and had to ask again for it.
The food came and the potatoes were not even brown, the spinch was like rubber – no surprise that all three out of the four of us had bad stomachs the following day !!!!!!!!!! I would never reccomend going to this restuarant.
Yeah, I gave them some slack for it being opening night, hopefully the service will improve as the staff settle in to the routine. Shame your food wasn’t good, we were pleased with ours: wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough.
my wife, two friends and I ate at la banca on saturday 11th july.
The restaurant boasted a classy yet welcoming interior and was absolutely packed.
Our table was not avaialble on time but a ten minute wait with ice cold peronis and menus in the upstairs function room was not a problem.
Front of house were clearly nervous with the restaurant in its infancy but all staff were friendly and attentative.
The menu was extensive with plenty of meat, fish, pasta and vegetarian options to suit most budgets. The wine list was comprehensive with excellent descriptions, which were complimented by a very knowledgeable yet non-patronising wine waiter!
All dishes were freshlly prepared, of a good size and delicious.
A wonderful night was had and we we all be going back as quickly as possible!
I feel compelled to leave a response as i’m fed up of restaurants being too greedy in trying to turn tables round.
i phoned to book a table at La Banca and was offered 6.30pm or 9pm no other option i feel as a new restaurant they need to build their reputation before they try and get greedy and limit peoples options for eating, the phrase ‘walk before they run’ comes to mind.
Hi Amanda,
I think you might be right, we were given the same choice on opening night, which I thought was a bit ambitious, and probably part of the reason the service was on the slow side.
Tom.
disappointing. Food not great. Out of 12 plates only 2 stood out. Pricey. Service was poor – staff arguing with each other. Cold steaks, wrong orders, over cooked vegetables. The menu was a little limited. La Banca prices would suit city centre dining more so than Cotteridge but it’s food would have to improve drastically. On the plus side the interior is nice, but some of the tables are in bad positions. Our table of 6 were shoehorned next to the kitchens – not good. Toilets are great, though. Men’s is upstairs and takes 5 mins to get back. Overall, 3 out of 10. Won’t go back. Try Ponte Di Legno. Much better. Take your own booze too. La Banca is too pricey and doesn’t deliver.
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We went for a meal here last week. The ambiance, staff and food was exceptional. We will definitely go there again!
8 of us visited La Banca for a Mothers Day meal today, the food was great, even my mom who cooks the best lamb herself was very impressed with the lamb they had served.
Decor is very nice, the staff were very friendly and helpful although a little slow towards the end of the meal (desserts/coffee) but on the whole we had a lovely time. Thanks La Banca staff we will return again soon.
Hi,
I went to la Banca only a couple of weeks ago, the waiter was incredibly rude and made me quite upset by being patronising and impatient, I felt rushed and embarrassed and so quickly chose my meal, I was then mocked openly for my choice. I have never had such shocking service.
I thought the prices were beyond comprehension for the tiny portions they afforded but mostly it was the service and not the food that was the ruin of an otherwise lovely evening.