Bang Bang St Kilda — Restaurant in Melbourne

We visited Bang Bang St Kilda on 03/08/25. It was a perfect spot for your local Asian fusion. We booked for 12pm so it was fairly quiet but we had a lovely window seat with a view of a sunny Melbourne day. On a busy evening, we can imagine it would be quite lively.

This is what we ordered: Hiramasa Kingfish Sashimi (fresh coconut, yuzu, shallots, chilli, soy) $26 12 Hour Beef Brisket Gua Bao (sticky Korean BBQ sauce, sesame kewpie, pickled daikon) $11 ea ✨ Crispy Fried Sichuan Eggplant (fried shallots, Asian herbs) $18 ✨ Bang Bang Chicken Salad (cucumber, bean shoots, Asian herbs, Bang Bang dressing) $29 ✨

✨ = Must-have

We are big fans of kingfish sashimi and often order it from any menu when we see it. Bang Bang’s kingfish was interesting to say the least - perhaps it was the coconut cream! It was alright but I wouldn’t order it again.

The beef brisket in the gua bao was super soft and delicious. The sichuan eggplant had a lovely crispy on the outside vs soft on the inside texture which made for an excellent texture. I was pleasantly surprised by the salad! It was actually really refreshing and not too heavy, with a clear Asian twist - LOTS of bean sprouts!

Overall, we definitely would love to try out the rest of the menu. Great...

Food was quick, delicious and fresh. We opted to do the ultimate feed me option without asking what was included so each dish was a fun surprise - highly recommended. Cocktails were decent with the Winter Lotus being the standout. Service was okay. The staff were all friendly. With that said, they forgot to bring water for our table and it was hard to get anyone's attention to order drinks, until the end of the night when there were less diners, then we were being asked constantly. The biggest down side was the fact despite having a booking we were shoved onto a bar seat at the front door with the freeze Melbourne air hitting us every time it opened and the cash register behind us. Although they allowed us to move a few seats down it was still an awkward spot you'd expect from a walk in on a busy night. Not for a pre-booking. There were other tables available we initially assumed were also booked but no one was ever seated there. This was quite disappointing.

I'd suggest booking over the phone and ensuring they will give you a table rather than booking online.

Overall though this is a great addition to...

I visited this restaurant with a group of friends and we ordered a selection of small bites, which ended up costing around $60 per person. Unfortunately, the experience was a huge letdown.

While a couple of the chicken dishes were okay, most of the food was underwhelming. What made it worse was the poor service, especially from one waiter (wearing glasses) who seemed completely not interested. He didn’t explain the menu properly, didn’t seem to know what he was bringing to the table, and when we provided feedback after the meal, his response was essentially, “That’s just how we serve it.”

Shockingly, he also claimed that he had personally tasted food from each of our plates in the kitchen before it was served — which is not only unprofessional, but also deeply concerning from a hygiene standpoint.

For the amount we spent, we expected much better — both in food quality and service. Definitely not a place I would recommend...