Bang Restaurant: A Pleasant Surprise

Dine in Dublin is an twice yearly initiative run by DublinTown.ie. It is a week long event which aims to promote and showcase the best of city centre dining. A colleague only recently asked me what was so special about it - sure couldn't you eat out for €25 in a lot of places these days if you go early enough she said. She is right of course, it is easy to eat out for less these days if you are prepared to go early enough. The great thing about Dine in Dublin is that it is for the full seven days and is not restricted to a certain time. It's a great chance to try out some new places, on a Saturday night if you wish, and not break the bank. I already have 37 Dawson Street and The Exchange booked for this week!!

Another restaurant which is participating in the event is Bang Restaurant. Their Dine in Dublin offer is a Special 5 Course Surprise Tasting Menu for €39.95. I recently got to try out this menu for Valentine's Day and have been told that the courses on the Surprise Tasting Menu depend on which local and seasonal ingredients are available at the time so you won't know what you will get till you are given it!

For our surprise tasting menu we started the meal off with an amuse bouche which consisted of Fivemiletown Goats Cheese, Beetroot in various guises, Sunflower Seed Brittle and Truffle Honey. I have adored Fivemiletown Goats cheese ever since I came across it in Salt. It is smooth, light and went perfectly with the beetroot which was both pureed and pickled.

 

Amuse Bouche

Next was the fish course which consisted of Seared Castletownbere Scallops, Crispy Pork Cheek, Celeriac Puree and Caper & Raisin Dressing. The scallops were perfectly cooked, lovely and plump and the whole dish worked very well together.

Fish Course

Then it was onto the main course which was 14 Hour Slow Cooked Beef, Rainbow Carrots, Celeriac and Champ Potato. It didn't photograph too well but dear god it was delicious! The beef just fell apart and it was melt in the mouth. The Guinness and red wine sauce complemented it very well.

Meat Course

By now I was starting to feel full but Bang have thought of this and the next course was the cheese plate. The cheese plate had another of my favourites on it, Durrus, and a slice of Comte. Both of these were accompanied by some homemade cheese crackers whose only bad point was that I covered the table in poppy seeds!

Cheese Course

The meal was finished off with a Dark Chocolate Mousse and Passion Fruit Sorbet with Salted Caramel dotted over the plate. For some reason I don't have a photo of this because I thought I took one, but I am known to get very distracted by any sort of chocolate put in front of me! The chocolate mousse was a good end to the meal as it wasn't too heavy and the portion size was perfect. The salted caramel was practically licked off the plate but I restrained myself!

 

So if you are a bit adventurous and have always wanted to try Bang, then this would be the perfect week to visit and give them a go.

Bang Restaurant is located at 11 Merrion Square. To see the Dine in Dublin Menu for Bang click here.