Banyan - Corn Exchange

We travelled from Cumbria to watch a show and called ahead to inform we were held up in traffic and would be late for our reservation, but were reassured not to worry. Despite a delay to food service due to a fire alarm in The Corn Exchange building (which meant the gas supply was automatically disconnected and the kitchen had to temporarily close), the waitress who served us kept us informed and looked after with delicious cocktails. The 2 for 1 cocktail offer was great value and we tried our first Caramel 'Old Fashioned' after our waitress suggested we should. I was hesitant, but I am glad we did. They were delicious! The only reason I haven't given the full five stars was because we had to wait for over ten minutes at the entrance to be seen to by a member of the team. In the end my husband went inside to try and find someone but it felt less friendly than we feel it should have. Whilst we appreciate that it was very busy, we would have given the full five stars if someone could have just acknowledged us. Luckily, as soon as we were shown to our table, the waitress allocated to us turned everything around. We feel bad for not remembering her name, sorry!!! Banyan was recommended to me by a friend and it did not disappoint. Friendly, super efficient and the food was well worth the wait. We will be back!

I visited with a group of friends for a birthday bottomless brunch. I was late due to the protests in town, but when I arrived, the 2 drinks I missed were already on the table, ready for me to catch up. While I thought it was odd to have us loaded on alcohol on empty stomachs, I appreciate that the drinks and prosecco topups were generous. Carys - or Karys? - (great brows) was lovely and friendly. The other server with great black hair was also very nice. I had a lovely chicken schnitzel, and when food came up, I was already food on liquids (if you know what I mean), so I didn't take pictures. Here's a photo of the decorations.

Came on a busy Saturday night for an outing with my friend. We sat outside and were told we could order everything through the barcode on the table. It was a simple process, and although the food arrived quickly, we were waiting for our drinks a good while after our food came until we had to get up and ask if someone would bring them over. The food was tasty and well portioned. I had the teriyaki sushi bowl and my friend the vegan burger, both of which were wolfed down. Overall it was a positive experience, though the service perhaps could have been a bit better since we had to go hunting for staff on arrival and when we were waiting for our drinks, but we appreciate the nature of a Saturday evening.

I came as part of a hen party so we had one of the private rooms downstairs. Our booking was quite late and the food came out pretty late meaning we had to push back our drinks reservations elsewhere but I really can’t blame banyan for that as we were quite late to the booking (limo was stuck in traffic) so no stars deducted. Portions were small but the food was sooo nice and the cocktails are lovely, toilets were beyond gross but that’s just part and parcel of a bar at 11pm on a Saturday.

Went for a two course meal (Banyan Dinner Club menu) with a friend on a Tuesday. We didn't book in advance but we still found tables available for dining. First impression was so-so, as we weren't greeted by any member of staff. After a few minutes, my friend and I decided to just grab a seat anywhere. Ten minutes later, we were directed to the restaurant area. The food actually came quite quickly, it tasted delicious and the atmosphere was very pleasant. Perfect for a 3 hour catch up! We also ordered Mocktails which were quite nice. Enjoyed the atmosphere and would come again, but one thing to point would be the improvement of the meet and greet by staff.