Banter

Favorite food the mussels...
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9/12/2016 live Irish Music, very nice.

Love, love, love this place!
I am sorry that I have not written a review sooner. I have been several times for dinner and breakfast/brunch as well. The service is friendly, but food can take a while to come out. Their whiskey cocktails are tasty and just strong enough. For appetizers we have tried the Jameson Spring Rolls, the Mini Pies and the Curry Cheese Fries. The Curry Cheese Fries has probably been my favorite, though their “plain” fries and sweet potato fries are also very, very good - thin and crispy, with the right amount of seasoning. I have really been wanting to try their Scotch Egg, but haven’t gotten there yet.

Back to breakfast where my favorite is probably the Irish Smoked Salmon. It is salad greens with Irish Brown Bread, cream cheese, smoked salmon, capers, red onion. Yum! This is not the same salad as is on their brunch menu. That is the Blackened Salmon Salad, and it is no where near as good. There is something about pepper jack cheese that is slightly warm and melted by the blackened salmon that failed to impress. The salmon was also over-cooked when I ordered it. I had expected it nearly rare - just a sear, but I did not specify and it was well, well done to the point of being dry.

Also great on the breakfast menu are their omelets. The fillings are never wet or weepy like they can be with high-moisture veggies like spinach and mushrooms. I had the fried chicken and biscuits from the brunch menu and it was pretty perfect. The hollandaise sauce was sweet and creamy, not acidic and salty. The chicken was well seasoned and not greasy. The scrambled eggs served with this were soft, but not runny. I have stolen a few bites of the french toast and buttermilk pancakes from my boyfriend’s plate and they were very tasty also. Also very good is the corned beef hash - not too salty.

Dinner - my boyfriend swears by the burger and really won’t order anything else. I agree, it is better than Shake Shack and he thinks it is better than Bare Burger - I’m on the fence about that comparison, but it is close depending on what you want. The mussels were fantastic in the Guinness broth. I’ve also had the Irish Stew - very meaty, Fish and Chips - crispy on the outside/juicy on the inside. I haven’t had the Chicken and Avocado Salad yet, but it seems to be very popular and looks amazing every time one is paraded past out table.

A word of caution though - if you are visiting in the summer - check to see if they are on their concert menu. This occurs when there is a concert at Forest Hills Stadium and Banter serves an abbreviated menu. It’s still good, but if you have your hopes up for something on the regular dinner menu, it may not be available.

To sum up this lengthy review: service is friendly, the chef and kitchen staff know what they are doing, prices are right on point - the surrounding establishments could take a note or two from this place.