2 Cousin Lane
Mansion House
London, EC4R 3TE
Nearest Transport: Cannon Street
020 7283 5206
The Banker serve traditional pub food with a wide range of drinks including beers and spirits. They also have background music, a pool table and TV to watch the main sporting events. Catering for private parties of up to 100 guests is available upon request and seating on the terrace area is provided, weather permitting.
A few words of warning about this review: I'm giving the Banker five stars for what it's good at. Judging it as a geneal purpose pub or restaurant is unfair; it has a very very specific exact target market.
The Banker occupies the space underneath the Cannon Street Station railway tracks. It's big inside, it's got a big extension that hovers *over* the river but *under* the bridge, and it's got a big deck and lots of outside space. Because it's on the river, not the road, it's free of fumes and grit by City standards. Nice.
The Banker closes by 10pm, often earlier. What the heck's the good of that, you say? Simple! The Banker is a LUNCH pub and it's the best one in the City. Food is BIG and it's ENGLISH and stuff is ROASTED. Sometimes TWICE. There's a choice of six or seven things ALL of which come with roast carrots and parsnips -- yes, roast parsnips *on tap* as it were every day. There's enough space to accomodate an impromptu working lunch. It's a happy enough atmosphere for those 'welcome to the team' lunches. It's got enough dark corners and fast enough service for a plain solitary lunch too -- in fact there's a core of regulars who creep in singly at noon to gorge on parsnips, pork belly, and potatoes. And, gentle reader, I am one of them.
Afternoons see the Banker and its deck jammed with afternoon drinkers -- those for whom lunch starts at 1 and continues until the term loses all meaning.
Five stars to the Banker, then, for providing lunch (and only lunch) to City people (and only City people). On weekends and evenings it's not even *open*, so you non-City types need not apply. It's also not strictly speaking the best pub cuisine in the city, although it's far more convenient and versatile than its rivals. But if you feel the urge to consume five pounds of roast venison and mashed potato in between secondary bond derivatives deals (and who doesn't?) then the Banker is your best friend.
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