The Old Clyde Bank

There’s been a bank on Clyde’s Sunderland Street since the gold rush, though these days, The Old Clyde Bank trades in something far more satisfying: a tight menu, a considered drinks list and an atmosphere that will make you feel like an old friend.

Husband-and-wife team Wendy and Werner run the show, with Werner in the kitchen and Wendy out front. Being owner-operated means they’re involved in every detail, and they liken each service to hosting guests in their own home.

Only the middle of the building is the original bank. It became a Bank of New Zealand branch in 1952, and the name is still lettered across the front. To one side, an old alleyway that once separated it from a pub of yesteryear delivers softly lit intimacy. To the other, a facade built for the 1980s film Illustrious Energy adds to the character while providing more room to dine.

Light pours across timber floors in the front room, while the dining rooms glow under Edison bulbs, warming copper-washed walls hung with barrel heads. Between courses, you can play I spy: there’s a schist fireplace with a pot-belly stove, an antique crank telephone on the timber archway and a gilded BNZ sign above the kitchen pass.

The fact that an old bank’s philosophy is predicated on “less is more” is perhaps no surprise. But this one has good reason. Limited seats, a menu of four entrées, five mains and two desserts, and selected wine, beer and zero-alcohol options help the team deliver consistently. The slow-roasted duck has patrons returning time and time again, and people check it’s still on before they book. The warm gingerbread dessert once took a brief sabbatical, but public outcry soon brought it back.

Locals make up most of the trade, with cyclists and holidaymakers joining them through the warmer months. And though the gold that built Clyde may be long gone, you can bank on the duck not going anywhere any time soon.