If you are heading to the Eaton’s Centre this holiday season for some Christmas shopping, be sure to make Bannock your lunch spot.  Trade your greasy food court or street meat for a true Canadiana experience with design sensibility.

The decor of Bannock is what you’ll notice first, with the polished concrete floors slow dancing with unmilled wood walls.  I don’t have enough fingers to count the different lighting features peppered throughout the multiple dining sections from the cafe style take away area, to the casual luncheon spot, to the more formal dining area.  My favourite area was a long wooden high rise table with a fantastic tangled light feature running the length of the table.  Reserve it this holiday season during some routine shopping with friends and score some bonus points.

The food is on par with the decor.  I didn’t get to try the namesake Bannock (aka.flatbread), but the neighbouring table had it and it looked good, all smothered in mozzarella.  We had the Cobb salad and the Turkey Burger.  The turkey burger is a must-have;  it’s juicy and flavourful. It comes with terra chips that were a bit too greasy for my liking, but they weren’t even necessary with the size of the burger.  Once I got over the fact that the Cobb salad was not actually a salad, but more of a arrangement of salad-like ingredients, I enjoyed it.  The from the pickled onions to the bulgur, it was a very “down-to-earth”deconstructed plating.  I hold Hamilton’s Harbour Diner‘s Cobb Salad on a pedestal, so this Cobb salad really didn’t stand a chance, in its defense.

The most surprising part of Bannock is it is actually the signature restaurant of The Bay.  Department store restaurants have come a long way from the days of egg salad sandwiches and coffee.  Don’t be surprised if you walk out wrapped in a Bay blanket feeling all Canuck inside and out at the end of your meal.

 

Four out of five forks.

 

View Larger Map