Food Review: Bread And Banjo

Bread And Banjo on the Ormeau Rd bills itself as an ‘American Style Artisan Bakery’ a pitch that was enough to have me intrigued as to what set it apart from other bakeries. I had heard all manor of praise for this place so last Saturday I decided to head up and raid their bread cupboard, so to speak.

From the outside it’s quite unassuming, a colourful sign with a large window and a big wooden bench underneath, inside are a few more tables and chairs, but to be honest they take up a bit too much room and with how busy the shop was I couldn’t help feel the space might be better used for displaying the breads.  The shop was bunged, the queue reaching the door and as we were in line we passed an insane amount of bread. I have to say if taste was based on looks then this was a winner.  The bread all looked so good, and then up at the counter sat all kinds of sweet treats and tray bakes and a list all over the walls of the things they make. Different days sees them doing different speciality breads so I guess you should pick your days to visit wisely.  I have to mention the smell as well, the smell of fresh bread with a sweet tang mixed with the scent of their coffee was heavenly.

We came away with 2 bagels, a plain one and a poppy seed, a sour dough bloomer, a yum yum and a peanut butter cup.  I’m more into breads and my wife has a sweet tooth so it was a good opportunity to try a bit of a lot of things.  First the bread! The bagel was actually the best bagel I’ve ever had, chewy and soft on the inside and that thick outer that’s not crunchy but has some bite to it.  The closest I’ve tasted to this is a bagel I had in New York many years ago and even it wasn’t this good.  It really was that good.  I had mine with Philadelphia cheese and sun roasted tomatoes, I’d say though have them as you like they’ll still be the best you’ve ever tasted.  The sour dough fared as well I had it as part of a club sandwich for dinner and it was tremendous. Quite a tight bread with a really nice tang and a real texture in your mouth, as nice a sourdough as I’ve ever tasted.

My wife kindly let me test her sweets, all in the name of reviewing of course! The Yum Yum, for those who don’t know, is like a swirled doughnut with water icing all over the top. It was soft and doughy and light and super sweet. Like a super awesome airy doughnut  To complete the set I have to declare that I loved the peanut butter cup. My issue with peanut butter chocolate treats is that they use far too much peanut butter and It’s a kind of dry stiff peanut butter. This had real peanut butter and it was set on all side by delicious thick chocolate and dusted in gold, fantastic stuff altogether.

Suffice to say I was a fan of everything I tasted and will be back for more, I had my eye on the Guinness bread and some of their cornbread.  I don’t know what the banjo part of their name stands for but I can attest the bread part stands for some very delicious produce!