The Bank Tavern, John Street: Another Bristol pub in the rumour mill, but is it just blowing hot air?
Big claims in the burger game
Goodness, how I wish I could reveal the genius behind the nom-de-plume Roo Winks. You’ll just have to take my word for it, and theirs, that there are few more qualified people to analyse a burger. I have a deep affection for The Bank Tavern, and their Sunday roast really is worthy of the wait. But how do their burgers compare?
A rumour can be a dangerous thing. And when it comes to pubs in Bristol, there are many substantial claims. The Llandoger Trow is haunted, The Hatchet has a door containing human skin, and the Wackum Inn’s name is a pruned version of its original: the Beatem and Wackem, so called in homage to the miners’ wives who would angrily descend, armed with rolling pins to persuade their husbands home.
The Bank Tavern on John Street has a rumour all of its own. A waiting list for its multi-award-winning Sunday lunch that gets longer with every revolution. I’ve heard claims of two years and even some as long as five. But if the Llandoger can survive its poltergeist then no doubt The Bank Tavern, having stood through riots, two world wars, Bristol City Council’s planning divisions, and the Iron Lady, can survive the preconception of a kitchen achieving a quinquennial wait time. And that’s some scuttlebutt.
The aforementioned ‘survived through’ is listed on their website, and it’s here amid the confirmation that the infamous Sunday Roast is indeed sold out for (at least) the rest of 2025, that the pub reveals that they also ‘have one of the best pub burgers in Bristol.’ Well, today isn’t Sunday my friends, but it turns out there’s still bun-shaped worship to attend to. Leaving the rolling pin behind I instead arm myself with two companions and head towards the city centre.
If eating out is an exercise in trust between kitchen and consumer, then let this opinion piece be too. Without dragging you through the mire of my credentials on burgers, I know a thing or two, and on that you’ll just have to have faith in me.
Towards the late 2010s, the ‘pub’ burger was drastically going out of fashion - a chunky, helpless slab of beef sitting lonely in a dry bun with only a tomato and raw red onion ring for company. Elsewhere, a renaissance was rising, patties were appearing thinner, Maillard reactions were leaving crusts of fat-rendered-joy to be topped with Swiss or Monterey Jack cheeses, and brioche buns, like the smooth suntanned shoulders of children, were muscling their way into menu fonts to be licked with novelty sauces.
But that was then, and this is now, and The Bank is in full bloom as we arrive at the start of a midweek lunch service. Despite there being only a handful of customers, the atmosphere still has a charm. This is a pub where good times are had; evidence well worn into the wooden floorboards and the perforated leather benches.
Service was efficient and friendly as we ordered a chilli paneer samosa (£5.95), birria taco (£8.95) and the dish central to my visit — the dry aged beef burger (£16.95) which comes with streaky bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato, dill pickles, house sauce and a serving of fries and leaf salad.
Arguably the first bite of any dish should tell you where it’s at, or at least, where you’re heading. This is never truer than with a burger. We are not looking for any developments or pairing notes here. Sinking through the bun you should be hit with everything it has to offer, and you should be left alone, devoid of any cutlery whatsoever, staring into the abyss of god-damn with just your thoughts and maybe a napkin.
The burger was handsome — cute in fact — with its neatly arranged rainbow of facets. But the pivotal bite just didn’t hit that hard. The patty, bulky and cooked to medium, was juicy, but the dominant flavours were bacon and dill. And such flavour notes continued until the last bite. It all held together well enough in the Hobbs House bun and everything was pleasant — including the fries which came plentiful, seasoned, and showing a fleck of skin.
Meanwhile, across the table, the birria taco lacked enough acidity from the lime sour cream to really combat the earthy saltiness. But the chilli paneer samosa, dressed with slivers of pickled jalapeño and a little pool of Bird’s-Custard-yellow mango and coconut sauce, was an interesting and enjoyable snack.
I didn’t leave disheartened. We have undoubtedly moved on from stigmatic labels, and there were elements here from a kitchen with a good reputation for doing things right that tell me so.
Was it one of the best pub burgers in Bristol? I hope not. As for where that is — I don’t know. I’ll just have to keep a nose to the ground, an ear to the wind and keep on listening for those irrepressible rumours.
All words and photos by Roo Winks
The Bank Tavern, 8 John St, BS1 2HR
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Yeah. It's a solid pub burger. I really enjoyed the new ones at The Colluseum, I need to return to verify.