Review
Bang Restaurant has established itself as one of Dublin's premier dining destinations; cool decor, interesting food, great tasting menus and good service make it one of Dublin's best. Gerard popped in to try their new lunch menu, while we kept Paolo’s older review as well. Read on...
The room is bang up to date, with a pleasing and restful grey on the walls and ceilings, and a collection of good art on the walls. Bang is now open for lunch with a menu that offers what we think is the best value in dublin at this level.
The A la Carte lunch menu is available, but it was the set lunch we wanted to try. They have come up with a brilliant structure here. It’s a 6-12-6 menu. That means the starters are all €6, the mains €12 and the desserts €6. For food of the quality you would expect in Bang, that is ridiculous value; you wouldn’t get a half decent bowl of soup for €6. I went along with adman Peter Mansfield for lunch to try it out.
The menu offers three choices for each course so it’s a simple layout, and you won’t waste time decided on too many things if you are watching the lunchtime clock. The options were well thought out; torched mackerel, spiced veal or wild garlic and leek soup. Main courses offered hake with mussels, veal meatballs with spaghetti or a Brie, grape and baby parsnip risotto.
I started with the mackerel, which came with a quenelle of bright green avocado mousse and kimchi cucumber. This was a wonderful dish, the flavours were fresh and exciting, and it was light but satisfying; the mackerel was perfect, and the avocado mousse is something I want to see again. Peter’s veal was beautifully presented and the slight spiciness transformed the thin wafers into something else entirely. A truffle emulsion was served with it, and again this was a faultless dish.
Main courses were equally good; the pan fried hake with mussels was delicious, and came with spiach and seaweed cooked potato balls. Peter’s risotto was perfectly cooked, with the right texture and a rich deep flavour.
We finished with a shared rhubarb and yoghurt pannacotta; a pink confection that finshed off a fine lunch perfectly.
I have t say this is a great way to eat lunch, the most you can spend is €24, but have two starters and you will have eaten something wonderful for €12. I love the idea of eating something fabulous, at a value for money price, and that can fit into most people’s timeline at lunch. I can’t recommend this highly enough. - Gerard Carthy, March 2015.
It;s not often Paolo gets more that a little enthused about a piece of venison...
It's not often that I get very enthused about a particular dish, but the loin of venison placed before me was worthy of a great deal of enthusiasm. It was cooked medium-rare, it was superbly tender, but the flavours!
Ah, the flavours. Just a hint of juniper berry gave the loin all of those wintry tastes that, like a Proustian moment, brought memories flooding back. A cauliflower purée, and a tiny leek and onion completed the picture. Elegantly presented food, and brimming with flavour.
Along with this dish, the Ripasso from the Veneto made a fine accompaniment, the full flavours of the wine matching the autumnal flavours of the venison.
Normally, two courses is when I call a halt, but I was aware that a review of just two dishes was a little light, so I decided on a dessert. I chose the mango mousse, which finished my meal off very nicely, the balance between sweetness and acidity was delicately judged. An espresso rounded off what had been a good meal, with excellent service in a pleasing dining room." Paolo Tullio, 2013.
