We’ll get it out of the way now: Bang is a suggestive name (especially for a hotel restaurant). But The Standard, a boutique hotel chain founded in Hollywood, doesn’t shy away from a bit of wordplay – its last-minute booking app is called the One Night Standard, and its luggage tags are printed with “SECURE THE BAGS” in bold red text.

The chain – which has 10 hotels around the world, including in Bangkok, Ibiza, London, New York and the Maldives – opened its first Australian hotel, The StandardX, in Fitzroy yesterday.

Bang is the Thai restaurant on the ground floor. Led by Melbourne chef Justin Dingle-Garciyya, it’s open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dingle-Garciyya has worked as culinary director at several hotels and resorts, including in Thailand and Bali.

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“We’ve taken all these things that we see in [Thai] street markets and food courts, and recreated them with local Victorian produce,” Dingle-Garciyya tells Broadsheet.

Dishes include “white boy” noodles with blue swimmer crab and lobster sauce; a spin on pippies in XO sauce that swap in Goolwa littleneck clams; and a pig’s head that’s slow-braised, dried, barbequed and served whole with a heap of sesame, green onions, spring onions and coriander.

“In some places [in Thailand], you’ll see pigs’ heads hanging the same way you’d see duck in a Chinese restaurant here,” the chef says. At Bang, the head comes with a side of roti and pickled radishes, and guests are encouraged to pull it apart and make DIY wraps.

For dessert, try the Thai tea crème brûlée topped with caramelised popcorn, or the malt-and-vanilla sundae with tapioca, white chocolate and popping candy.

The drinks list is almost entirely Victorian. “I didn’t really think I’d get that across the line because I’m working with these international guys, but it was really embraced by the rest of the crew,” Dingle-Garciyya says.

Wines from the Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula, beer from Collingwood’s Molly Rose, and Melbourne Bitter longnecks are fixtures. House cocktails tie in some Asian-inspired flavours, with ingredients like creamy chai, coconut milk, jasmine tea, lychee liqueur and Thai basil.

There’s also a house prosecco – the Prosexy – by Fin Wines that’s infused with fermented makrut lime leaves and lemongrass.

“It’s something Western with a Southeast Asian element to it. I think it’s the perfect embodiment of what we’re trying to do,” Dingle-Garciyya says.

Bang Melbourne
62 Rose Street, Fitzroy
(03) 9124 4814

Hours:
Mon to Sun 7am–11am; 11.30 am–4.30 pm; 5.30pm–10pm

bangrestaurants.com