To borrow one that is oft used, maybe a bit too much, this one is a nice find which is simply waiting out to be discovered by all sorts of willing diners. Word has been out for a few years about it, and praises all round are being said about the Bank Cafe in Lismore. Let's put it in a briefer sense of the words to begin with; you can expect the level of quality in food, coffee, and customer service that has become expected in the major cities.
One weekend, I was going down interstate to stay with my elder sister for some child-minding, and also that I hadn't seen the lot in a while. Going down on the Saturday, and staying until Monday morning. On the Sunday, somewhere in the middle part of morning, she, her daughter, her husband and I were going out to a breakfast place in which they had heard some good stuff about. Therefore, after a coffee at home the morning after arriving, it was off to here - and I went with an empty stomach, which was a wise choice in hindsight. The meals here are quite generous in the portion sizes, but that is for naught without them being great quality, tasty and well-balanced out. While I don't pretend to be well-versed in the layout of Lismore, it is with a good amount of confidence that I say they have a well and true winner on their hands - just how busy they were that day says enough on that front.
Using their old, historical landmarks in an effective way, as per the name of this place, it is situated within a pre-WWII bank building, completely made of limestone and everything. It has the old-style roominess to it, and the high ceilings and everything. They have kept quite a few of the old-school touches, including the old wooden carved board - unadulterated - giving the directions to where departments are. That is the touched I liked the most, as it kept the charm alive. Lots of posters around the perimeter of the wall in French - that was a quirky addition, something is definitely not around most other places. As well as that, lots of posters for performing and touring artists were strewn around the place. It is a mix of the old and new, with the exact same kind of decorations - if that makes any sense.
Service here is pretty good. At the time, they were quite busy so it is forgivable if they were doing just the basic stuff with taking orders, clearing plates and all that. Nearly every table was filled up, and more people were coming in so it was all about maintaining homeostasis in the cafe. For what it was worth, the waitstaff were still friendly and made the whole ordering process efficient.
Their menu more or less follows the basic formula. It starts off with an all-day breakfast - which is a range of the favourites, sometimes with a bit of a deviation from the norm, a lunch menu which consists of various salads, burgers and sandwiches, then there is the drinks menu. Of course there is the usual suspects of tea and coffee, along with the chai drinks, and hot chocolates. For something more on the cold side, there are several smoothies which are available in different sorts of milk when possible. As well as that, they also offer milkshakes, iced drinks, sodas, fruit juices, and iced teas.
Even more so with their coffees, the range is generous. As expected, and they also say it themselves, there is the usual range to be expected with the espresso-based drinks. Some other choices are bullet proof (with melted butter in it), a couple with condensed milk, cold brew and a couple of different versions of affogato.
Starting off the meal, it was the usual orders of coffee. There were quite a few good ones that looked tempting on the menu. What I settled on was called the "Barista breakfast" which was a blend of coffee in form of an espresso and a choice of a milk-based coffee - I went with the cappuccino. The coffee that they use comes from Veneziano. Albeit not one of the stronger blends, Veneziano is definitely one that is often reliable. Aside from the buzz oft associated with a strong blend, what this blend often has in it are other factors which are common among the stronger blends. This includes having a fairly rich body, if there are any hint and notes they are often of chocolate, toffee or something similar, and it is not quite smooth but will still go down easily. Still though, this is best if you like it strong and might be a bit stark if it is otherwise. That was the case with the coffee I had, though it was a lot smoother and calmer on the cappuccino - the milk there was fantastically frothed and textured. Thumbs up already, as a nice breakfast out almost hinges on a a good coffee to begin with.
I also got a sip of the bulletproof coffee in during the meantime. I definitely could sense the butter in there, which has a flavour that is difficult to pin down with words but it definitely cannot be mistaken. How it went with the coffee, it was interesting. Might add a bit of creaminess to it, getting the best of two worlds there. What was certainly present was the taste of coconut as well with the coconut oil and all. It was warm, it had a unique texture and palate. Maybe not my scene overall, though it is good for something else. This would really warm you up in winter with harsher climates.
Now is is getting onto the main part of the meal, the breakfast. The item that I ordered was the corn and chive pancakes. These came with poached egg (which I requested the yolk runny), some haloumi, a tomato kasundi, charred corn salsa, and a mixed salad of red onion, tomato and herbs. On top of that, I got an order of crispy bacon. This whole meal was very tasty. The corn fritters were solid, plus all the additions helped create a balanced dish that tasted somewhat healthy. The tomato kasundi was slightly smokey, the eggs were brilliant and soft (plus the yolks bled everywhere), and the mixed salad was not too bad. When asking for a bit of bacon on the side, they delivered in a generous quantity and it was pretty crispy as asked for. The only real gripe was maybe, even though it did taste good, the haloumi could have been seared a little better; it was soft.
As per usual, the brother-in-law and I swapped the missing items between plates - what I got from his were some sausage, mushroom, grilled tomato, and potato rosti. As well as switching stuff between the plates, the old switcheroo took place as well. Everyone got a bit of a try of everything. In saying that, my sister got waffles, and there was some of that left, plus bacon, plus poached pear, plus ice cream - that one albeit melted. The sausage was delicious and made with a good cut of pork, the mushroom was well cooked, the tomato decent, and the potato rosti was crispy outside and soft in the middle. Then getting onto the waffles, the actual waffle part was well cooked, the bacon was nice, and the ice cream was smooth and creamy. This was real quality ice cream, not the brand store stuff. Plus the pears were good and juicy.
This turned out to be better than expected, by quite a decent margin. While the food is not anything that differs too much from most of the cafes around other towns, what really made it stand out was the sheer size of the portions along with the attention to detail with the food - having some fresh additions here and there beefed up the meals. Additionally, credit is going to be given to the setting which is an unusual one, especially in the choice of design.
TL;DR: What we have hear is urban-levels of quality in dining, which is found in the middle of regional New South Wales. There is the charm of the northern region still present, the service does very well managing a large load of clients, and it is efficient as a choice. More of the same with the fare, more or less, and the food is quite a cut above the norm.
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