Banners

beccywiseman

9th June 2009

0 found this helpful

The food is amazing in Banners. It really is a great little place... The downsides are that it is little though and the whole buggy situation can be a touch stressful... Oh and the food is soooo good and the servings so generous it's not great when you're trying to be healthy :-/

thamshere

Banners is Love 21st October 2008

3 found this helpful

I used to love Banners on the Hill but had not made it to the original before. I was a little disappointed in the breakfast but came away with a good feeling about the place. It's basically the same as Banners on the Hill was. Same sort of Americana drifter decor, same layout. A couple of unusual beers. Lots of shiny things and odds and ends.

Breakfast was a bit of a failure though. Just not what I remember from Banners on the Hill. No waffles, no pancakes. No crispy bacon. They had the yogushakes which were much as I remember (good, though not the joy I had seen through my rose-tinted glasses).

The full-english my friend ordered (2pm is far too late in the day for a fry-up in my opinion) was an improvement on the average greasy-spoon but certainly not the fry-up-mecca I had been hoping for. The sausages were looking slightly overcooked and possibly a little on the cheap side. Average bangers. Bacon. No hash browns. No black pudding. Lots of beans. The big field mushroom was still there which was heartening.

My food more than made up for that disappointment though. It was bloody good, I'll say that. Huge, too. I went for salt-fish and... um, something I can't remember the name of. I had no idea what it was at the time. Looked a bit like scrambled egg-yolk but tasted rather different (of what I cannot say) and the texture was melt-in-the-mouth. It was all mixed up with rice in a caribbean kedgeree-like dish that made me wonder why I'd ever bothered with smoked fish - it's got to salted all the way. Really very, very tasty.

So, all in all I'd say that Banners is still fantastic. They might not be getting the breakfasts quite on the nail, but the atmosphere is wonderful and the rest of the food is great. They still give you jelly-belly beans with the bill too :)

Book ahead!

bellaphon at 22/10/08

Have you tried ...pick more daisies?

hollowlegs at 22/10/08

Sounds like saltfish and ackee (Jamaica's national fruit, apparently).

thamshere at 22/10/08

Ackee, that's it. Had no idea it was a fruit even!

thamshere at 22/10/08

bellaphon: I've not, but I shall do soon. I've been told it's rather good.

curlynewf at 22/10/08

I love Banners, too. The food never blows me away or anything but it's a feel-good spot for sure. Did you see the table dedicated to Bob Dylan? Cute.

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french_girl

folksy foody fun 21st July 2008

0 found this helpful

always great if you need a huge portion of food. Great for brunch but gets very crowded.

SanelaB

Buzzy local with great food 26th July 2006

2 found this helpful

This is one of the few restaurants that have been in Crouch End for over 20 years. I had great burgers here and breakfast. The portions are huge, burgers are made of real meat (nothing processed there), very juicy and well cooked. It’s always busy and it’s best to book in advance. The staff is great and very knowledgeable about food and wine. Once we wend in without booking and it was full. We were disappointed and left. The waiter run after us to tell us that someone was just leaving and we can have a table. That was really sweet!