Bang Bang RC, Elsternwick by Obelix

It was one of those occasions where stars and diaries align and we managed to coordinate ourselves for a pre-Christmas girls' night out.  No mean feat.  It was great food and belly deep laughter until we were ushered out at closing time.

Hiramasa king fish sashimi 

Bang Bang RC is French Indochine cuisine made for sharing.  The flavours were aromatic with the careful tightrope balance of sweet, sour and savoury.  The service was convivial with guidance on ordering and glasses kept topped.

We kicked off with an item from the snack menu to liven the tastebuds.  It was the carmelised sweet turnip and pineapple with tofu and chilli.  It was sweet yet tart with a hint of chilli.  Very  much like an amuse bouche.

Then we progressively moved onto the Hiramasa king fish sashimi (see first pic).  It was light and delicate with a drizzle of namh jim.  I enjoyed the clean flavours of this dish.

I was intrigued with the stir fried apple eggplants.  These were wee little eggplants the size of ping pong balls smothered in a red curry and served alongside baby corn and snake beans.  Lovely flavours but I wished I had a bowl of rice to eat it with.

We couldn't go pass the salted pork belly with caramel masterstock.  It was nice chunk of pork with perfect strata of crackling, fat and meat.  So good.  I would be happy if I just ordered this for myself with a bowl of rice.  Yes, again with the rice - I'm a carb-centric gal!

Chicken ribs with house spices and srirachi sauces was a can't-go-wrong combination.

We ordered two large plates to share and accompanied this with two salads, baos and rice.

Twice-cooked duck

Shiso, beetroot and apple salad

The crispy twice-cooked duck was a winner with a nubbly coating of rice powder.  It was tender, fell off the bone and we shredded it and shoved it into a bao with the shiso, beetroot and apple salad.  Mmm....delicious.

Massaman pumpkin curry

Papaya and kholrabi slaw

Our other large plate was also a crowd pleaser.  It did not sound as exciting on paper but the Massaman pumpkin curry was slow roasted and felt like a warm hug.  Ultimate comfort food.  We had this with rice and the papaya and kohlrabi slaw.

Sticky black rice 

Banana and Nutella roti

Desserts were shared affairs as well.  The sticky black rice with pandan cream and mango sorbert was a taste of South East Asia.  We all agreed we enjoyed it more than our other choice of banana and nutella roti with condensed milk and toasted coconut.

It was a balmy summer night so their sodas of pink grapefruit and raspberry and mint was refreshing and hit the spot.

Verdict

We loved it.

Mid value.

Overall

Bang Bang RC captures the essence of French Indochine cuisine.  The staff are generous with their time in explaining how different dishes can be eaten together.

Find it at

Bang Bang RC
294 Glen Huntly Road
Elsternwick 3185 Vic
Phone: 8692 2680