Hannah (Bridgend) wrote on 25 November 2008

Recommended! Modern looking restaurant with very friendly & helpful staff. Low level lighting which was actually slightly too dark. Great range of food for vegans, including delicious vegan dessert - apple/cinammon fritter with chocolate vegan ice-cream. Portions small, prices high. Recommend making reservation in advance, as I was turned away on a Saturday night!

Colin (Brighton) wrote on 15 October 2008

I didn't actually want to step inside the place after reading the menu. Folk up here say that place is good but also very pricey. A bowl of Udon noodles for £9.50 or the plate of roast veg for £13 helped me make up my mind to turn on my heels and go elsewhere. I'm sure the food is delightful.

Lee Gledhill (London) wrote on 7 August 2008

We went to David Bann while visiting the Edinburgh Festival. It is very good food. But we felt that the dishes were not in any way a fair representation of what the menu claimed and we afterwards left feeling hungry. For example, a starter Goats Cheese Salad priced at £7.50 was rather small. The three slices of goats cheese were the size of a 50pence piece, and the same thinness! Frankly, it should have been labelled a salad with a hint of goats cheese. Having last visited about five years ago (when we were impressed), on this occasion we felt rather disappointed. We are vegetarians and know when we have been fleeced.

Our impression: If you want overpriced tiny portions of good food visit David Bann but take a sandwich with you to deal with the hunger.

raksha (edinburgh) wrote on 11 July 2008

The food primarily caters to vegetarians- the vegan options are usually a shadow of their former selves, i.e. without the cheese/ cream etc.

The chef is obviously talented and the presentation excellent, but a little more thought into tasteful vegan food would go a long way.

Nat (Birmingham) wrote on 30 May 2008

Booked a table for Thursday evening then we phoned up to change the time, unfortunately they hadn't got our original booking so we had to eat there later than we wanted. However, the restaurant manager phoned me up to apologise before we'd arrived and they also deducted 10% off the final bill for the inconvenience! This is top quality dining service and what you'd expect at fine dining restaurants in London so it's fab that a veggie restaurant sets such a high standard. The place was full, gorgeous modern surroundings, fantastic wine and a massive choice of veggie and vegan options. I took three meat eaters with me and they were highly impressed. We had three courses and all were fantastic, can't recommend it highly enough!! Check out the menus on the website but i'd recommend the vegan choc ice cream as a must! I'd say there isn't a better veggie restaurant in London - hope they open another branch somewhere else soon!

Amit Roshan (Cambridge) wrote on 10 January 2008

Delightful find!

Staff were extremely friendly and helpful. Its always good when you can share a joke with your waiter (or waitress). The atmosphere was very congenial, and the lighting warm.

The food was innovative, well prepared, and well presented. The ingredients were not the usual stuff, and the combinations worked surprisingly well. The risotto was one of the best I've had in a long time.

The desserts alone are reason enough to detour through this restaurant. We came back for a second round of desserts after making a live jazz performance after dinner!

We paid £47 for two for wine, starters, main course, dessert and tea.

Would gladly indulge ourselves here again.

John (Edinburgh) wrote on 14 January 2006

The Creme de la Creme of Edinburgh Vegetarian Eateries.  Been to David Bann about 6 times and was going to go there this evening but I am trying somewhere that is not on this list (that's how I came across this excellent site).  Anyway, Fabulous Food, Excellent Wines and brilliant staff who will always try their very best to find you a table.  Only gripe is that the gap between the courses can be a little rushed sometimes but the quality of the food makes up for any little silly problems.  In a word, it's splendid.

Koen van der Hauw (JJ Gouda, The Netherlands) wrote on 10 January 2006

Unfortunately the restaurant was closed the day I went, but it looked very good from the outside and seemed to have won some prizes.

John Hilary (London) wrote on 21 April 2004

Exquisite food in a perfect setting, with great atmosphere and attentive staff. Vegetarian eating at its very best - so you may well have to book at busy times.

Rik Moncur (Edinburgh) wrote on 11 June 2003

Formerly Banns Restaurant of Hunter Square, Edinburgh. The new, improved Restaurant is under the sole management of David Bann. Chef Sean Flint seems to be something of an alchemist. His materials, everything that you ever saw in the best-stocked wholefood store, every vegetable that ever passed through the market. He plunders the larders of cuisines as disparate as India, Japan, Italy, Greece, Malaysia and Mexico alongside a reworked Seventies wholefoodie repertoire. All of which may sound like a sure recipe for disaster, but amazingly isn't. Flint turns these disparate strands into gold. Apart from the food, the atmosphere, the service and the approachable flexibility of the menu, the other commendable thing about David Bann is his prices represent good value, a nice change for veggies who are generally ruthlessly ripped-off in restaurants. The sheer amount of work that must go into ingredients in this kitchen could put many carnivorous establishments to shame.

Gill Gibbs (Guildford) wrote on 3 June 2003

I was very happy to eat here. The food was well presented and tasty and the staff were able to tell me which dishes were vegan and gluten free. We ate here lunchtime at the weekend after visiting "Dynamic Earth" which is nearby. Prices for main meal £6 - £9.

Carol Norman (Guildford) wrote on 18 July 2001

Banns has a cosmopolitan feel about it with a modern stylish decor. The menu is imaginative and the roasted roots in maple syrup and lime juice are exquisite. Service was excellent. Middle range prices.