Review of 'The Old Bank'
I really wanted to love “The Old Bank” and was very much looking forward to visiting having heard good things about it. Unfortunately, we were unable to make our reservations when we were involved in a major road accident that ended up in our car being written off. Before this though we were able to continue travelling around north Cumbria and Carlisle, where we were staying, and we visited “The Old Bank” the day after our cancelled reservation and had no problems getting a table on an early Saturday evening.
The space is decorated quite OTT with kitsch animal portrait paintings (dogs in suits and the like), flowers and lots of other quirk that seems to be trying a trifle too hard. There is a more “formal” dining area to the right as you enter but the main dining space is to the left which is a large room with a bar in the corner and a smaller room just off to the back (accessed through the flower trellis, yes, really). We were seated beside the aforementioned trellis beside a rather noisy table which appeared to be celebrating a special occasion with the young crowd dressed up a bit.
We were given their rather colourful “Food Menu” to browse which is a single double-sided sheet with sections “To Begin”, “Pure Starving”, “Small Plates”, (over) “Burger Barn”, “Grill Grill Grill”, “Kebabs”, “Sides Sides Sides”, “Desserts” and a small “Sunday Roast” section (2 course, £27.50 every Sunday). Yes, it seemed to be trying quite hard again to be cute…The prices, however, are not too outrageous, for example, with burgers with all the extras at £16 to £19.
I opted to start with the “Thyme Roasted Peach and Courgette Salad” (£10.50; “…with Crispy Basil Leaves, Baby Burrata, Cumbrian Air Dried Ham, Crispy Lovingly Artisan Sour Dough and a Pistachio Pesto Dressing” - yes, the menu goes on like this a lot) which was quite nice. It was presented quite prettily in the middle of the plate and nicely dressed. Sadly, it was as if the peach had come from a tin but the greens were very tasty and the burrata nice and fresh. Not a flavour explosion but it tasted good.
We shared the “Garlic and Mozzarella Flatbread” (£8 from the “small plates” menu section) which was quite a good size and was perfectly serviceable but…again, not a huge amount of flavour.
My companion opted for the “Paprika and Roast Garlic Breadcrumb Crusted Pork Chop” (£24.50; “…with Salsa Verde Crushed New Potatoes, Tenderstem Broccoli with Cumbrian Chorizo and a Smokey Tomato and Red Pepper Sauce”) which was somewhat underwhelming on the plate but tasted alright but…again…not exactly full of flavour despite the flowery description in the menu. The pork was slightly pink, as it should be, with the under-seasoned steamed broccoli draped over the top.
So, in general, it seems that “The Old Bank” is more style than substance…or, perhaps, we just did not order their best dishes. They certainly seem to have the “local” provenance that is so much in vogue nowadays but if this does not translate to tasty food it is not really that satisfying. The service was not great considering the place was only about half full, with most attention given to the group at a neighbouring table, but it was adequate though we did have to wait quite a bit between ordering and receiving our food.
At £50 (exactly) for the two of us including two non-alcoholic soft drinks it is, I suppose, reasonable but not amazing considering we were not really eating dinner but rather a light meal with no dessert…I don't think we will be back but in the area I am not sure what other choices there are that attempt this type of dining.
Rating: “A bit better than average”
Review Date: 2025-08-23
Cuisine: American/British
Address: 34 Fisher St, Carlisle, Cumbria CA3 8RH ENGLAND
Public Transport: 
Carlisle
Location: Cumbria (England) - Carlisle
Map:
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Telephone: +44 (0) 1228 818583
URL: https://www.theold-bankcarlisle.co.uk/