Bang Bang at the Rifle Club in Elsternwick is the latest venture from head chef Matthew Dunbar. Formerly of Longrain, Chef Dunbar’s reputation precedes him, and given the popularity of the short pop up Bang Bang venture at South Wharf towards the end of last year, people have been long awaiting this new permanent home.
I, together with the other half, was lucky enough to attend a blogger dinner that was hosted as part of their opening launch. The weather gods were definitely smiling upon Bang Bang, as they turned on a glorious day. Designed to take advantage of the location, the concertina doors were opened up to create a spacious combined indoor and outdoor area that was basking in the afternoon sun. It was easy to see that this would be a perfect space for a summer evening, or a few cheeky Sunday bevvies.
We were treated to a selection from their menu. Focusing on Indochine cuisine, the flavours of Vietnam and Thailand were predominant, with a clear influence from the French evident, as a homage from their colonised days.
The dishes are all designed to be shared, encouraging a warm and friendly atmosphere. We started with an array of smaller dishes including little parcels of confit duck wrapped in a betel leaf. There was a vegetarian version too, which replaced the duck with pomelo.
We also had chargrilled prawns served with a roasted shallot and lime sauce, kingfish sashimi with caramelised cashews and trout roe, and crispy chicken ribs with Bang Bang sriracha. Vegetarians need not fear though. I had some special dishes made for me with the standout being a take on an egg salad served with a son in law egg, green mango and a basil and lime dressing. It was amazing and I could have easily eaten about eleven serves of this alone.
After the starters we moved onto the larger dishes including a tofu, avocado and sesame seed salad, with a mint, black vinegar and ginger dressing. This had all the carnivores at the table rethinking their opinions on tofu, and everyone was in agreement that you could definitely make a lot of friends with this salad.
We were served a roasted pumpkin curry with kipfler potatos and spiced with cinnamon and anise. It was creamy and warming, and we were all piling rice onto our plates to mop up all the sauce. The last dish of main course was a chargrilled Cape Grim short rib, served in a wild ginger and holy basil broth. The other half said it was was soft, melted in your mouth, and took the phrase ‘falling off the bone’ to a whole new level.
The serving sizes were very generous, and by this stage we were all fairly full, but there was no hesitation in activating our dessert stomach were we were served gorgeous plates of black sticky rice with mango, pandan cream, and coconut sorbet. Asian desserts are not usually my favourite, but this dish was lovely, with the fresh fruit and sorbet adding a refreshing contrast to the sweet, heavy black rice.
To finish off the meal, we had watermelon with chilli salt. It was an interesting combination, although I think the chilli salt would have been better paired with a sour fruit like green mango, or even a tart pineapple.
Bang Bang is a beautiful space with equally beautiful food. It is a great place to catch up with friends and I will definitely be back to try more of the menu and perhaps have another serve of the tofu salad.
I, together with the other half, was lucky enough to attend a blogger dinner that was hosted as part of their opening launch. The weather gods were definitely smiling upon Bang Bang, as they turned on a glorious day. Designed to take advantage of the location, the concertina doors were opened up to create a spacious combined indoor and outdoor area that was basking in the afternoon sun. It was easy to see that this would be a perfect space for a summer evening, or a few cheeky Sunday bevvies.
We were treated to a selection from their menu. Focusing on Indochine cuisine, the flavours of Vietnam and Thailand were predominant, with a clear influence from the French evident, as a homage from their colonised days.
The dishes are all designed to be shared, encouraging a warm and friendly atmosphere. We started with an array of smaller dishes including little parcels of confit duck wrapped in a betel leaf. There was a vegetarian version too, which replaced the duck with pomelo.
We also had chargrilled prawns served with a roasted shallot and lime sauce, kingfish sashimi with caramelised cashews and trout roe, and crispy chicken ribs with Bang Bang sriracha. Vegetarians need not fear though. I had some special dishes made for me with the standout being a take on an egg salad served with a son in law egg, green mango and a basil and lime dressing. It was amazing and I could have easily eaten about eleven serves of this alone.
After the starters we moved onto the larger dishes including a tofu, avocado and sesame seed salad, with a mint, black vinegar and ginger dressing. This had all the carnivores at the table rethinking their opinions on tofu, and everyone was in agreement that you could definitely make a lot of friends with this salad.
We were served a roasted pumpkin curry with kipfler potatos and spiced with cinnamon and anise. It was creamy and warming, and we were all piling rice onto our plates to mop up all the sauce. The last dish of main course was a chargrilled Cape Grim short rib, served in a wild ginger and holy basil broth. The other half said it was was soft, melted in your mouth, and took the phrase ‘falling off the bone’ to a whole new level.
The serving sizes were very generous, and by this stage we were all fairly full, but there was no hesitation in activating our dessert stomach were we were served gorgeous plates of black sticky rice with mango, pandan cream, and coconut sorbet. Asian desserts are not usually my favourite, but this dish was lovely, with the fresh fruit and sorbet adding a refreshing contrast to the sweet, heavy black rice.
To finish off the meal, we had watermelon with chilli salt. It was an interesting combination, although I think the chilli salt would have been better paired with a sour fruit like green mango, or even a tart pineapple.
Bang Bang is a beautiful space with equally beautiful food. It is a great place to catch up with friends and I will definitely be back to try more of the menu and perhaps have another serve of the tofu salad.
Note: I was invited to dine at Bang Bang as part of a media dinner, however all opinions are entirely my own.
Image Credit: Zilla and Brook
*A version of this article was first published on The Plus Ones website.
