A little bit of Soho right here in Charlottesville. BANG!!
In an effort to outdo every other eatery in town, BANG!! succeeds with a flair for the exotic and a taste for anything Asian.
Situated in the vicinity of the Downtown Mall, Bang!! rests to the east of Main Street, near Southstreet Brewery. Nestled in an unassuming white house, Bang!! is easily mistaken for a quaint, dimly lit Charlottesville town home or business. But do not be fooled -- inside is the fast lane to the hippest of New York City-like establishments.
The interior is not much in terms of space, just two small rooms with a nice bar toward the back and a thin staircase in the center leading up to a second floor. Luckily, we were seated in the elusive top floor.
In this area, the bright red walls perfectly complement the Ikea-like couches and tables, as well as the new-aged music in the background. This modern mod makes for some great conversation, or at least that's what Allison and I thought as we glanced at the eclectic menu.
Changed daily, the BANG!! selections on our outing consisted of 26 tapas dishes, both vegetarian and non, and including dessert.
Tapas, originally a Spanish way of eating, are small portions of foods served in bars, bodegas and tascas to accompany a copa of fino -- dry Spanish Sherry -- or draught beer. A tidbit of food placed on the dish helped attract clients to the wine bar, so the cook -- usually the owner's wife -- would outdo herself in creating them.
At BANG!! this tradition continues, but with an Asian, not Spanish twist, and with martinis instead of wines.
It is customary for each diner to order at least three tapas dishes to start, and then go from there. Who were we to be any different?
Avoiding the sushi dishes which included a rare seared tuna, sashimi and halibut, we decided to try our luck with six pretty diverse orders: steak, pot stickers, oyster mushrooms, chicken satay, bacon and a tempura Nori roll.
The Sixty Second Sirloin ($9), served up with ginger, button mushrooms and a watercress sauce seemed to melt in our mouths it was so tender. The outside was seared to perfection, while the inside was a cool pink. And after dipping each piece in the ginger sauce, we wanted another after only a few bites. This is the essence of tapas. Complementing the sirloin was a tossing of Asian vegetables and light soy sauce combination. Combined with the beef, each bite was one of the best we had tasted.
If one is wary of rare beef, this might not be the perfect choice. But we thoroughly enjoyed it.
The Curried Chicken Pot Stickers ($5) were more on the safe side. This dish tasted great, but left little to our imagination. We both had tasted pot stickers before and this was little different. The side of carrots with a sesame seed dressing had a nice kick, however, and added a zing to the dish -- a definite requisite for the stickers.
Next came the Tempura Nori Roll ($5), an amazing dish, especially for the vegetarians. These cream cheese and vegetable filled rolls contain a crispy shell of ginger seaweed that is lightly fried in a batter. Why can't the Pav serve these?
Perhaps the most innovative dish came next. The Grilled Fresh Bacon "Sushi" ($7) is a thick slab of bacon marinated for 24 hours, creating an amalgam of flavor and tenderness from each bite. The pineapple brulee and coconut rice helped tame the rather fatty pork. Meat eaters will love this dish, but the health conscious may choose to pass on it. Either way it's only a few bites.
Finally, the Oyster Mushrooms ($9) and the Chicken Satay ($7). The mushrooms were mixed with crispy flakes for a nice blend of textures, but the satay was the definitely the better of the two. These traditional chicken skewers were coupled with a light peanut sauce that gave the dish a kick that was rather tart. Accompanying these skewers, however, was an amazing salad of mixed vegetables topped with a citrus dressing. We asked if we could order a whole plate of the salad, but to no avail.
Now ordinarily, as seen from these small portions and our previous reviews, we would still be very hungry. But the combination of the constant change of flavors, and the fact that since the portions are smaller we tended to eat very slowly, we finished at this point not full, but very content.
That was until we saw they had dessert tapas ... so we had to try just one.
This was an adventure for the taste buds. A Chocolate Three Way ($6) -- one each of mousse, cake and creme brulee. Just pure heaven, especially when fitting a dab of each on the same forkful. After that, we swore we would come back again and just order from among their four desserts.
It's worth noting that BANG!! normally has quite a wait for a table, although we got rather lucky to sneak right in on a Saturday evening and sit upstairs -- an area which can be reserved for private parties. Additionally, the wait staff was courteous and extremely knowledgeable about the unusual selections on the menu. And believe us, we tested their abilities.
So while you may not be able to catch a quick flight or drive the seven hours to the Big Apple, it's our belief that a little bit of Soho lives right here in Charlottesville. BANG!! is the perfect place for a first date -- forcing parties to share, try new things and make that great first impression by not overeating. And if the conversation about each other is dull, you can always talk about the leopard couch you are sitting on.
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