David Chang excels at many things, but handheld bites are his forte. A decade ago, his pork belly buns became the foundation of his culinary empire, and now, with the opening of Bang Bar at the Cosmopolitan’s Block 16 Urban Food Hall, he’s got another winner on his (and ours) hands.
Bang (pronounced “bong”) is Korean flatbread, and if you’ve dined at Chang’s other restaurants, you’re probably familiar with it. At his Cosmo fast-casual stall, bang takes on two iterations: the larger, thinner U Wrap, akin to a burrito (but folded in half, hence the U), and the fluffier, pita-like Fold Up Wrap. (A rice bowl is a third option.) Three choices of protein—pork, chicken and eggplant—fill the wraps, along with pickled onions and a mayo-based white sauce.
“Our spicy pork is a base of gochujang, some habanero, a few other spices that are mixed into that,” says Block 16 chef de cuisine Matthew Cloyes. “Our chicken is teriyaki with a yakitori sauce. For the eggplant, what we’re doing is kind of David Chang’s mix of a tapenada—a lot of herbs and spices and fresh garlic mixed into it. It’s a nice, roasted dish, and we braise everything back inside of it.”
Though the pork might be the one labeled spicy, that eggplant has a wicked kick, too, owing to Thai chilies, says Bryan Fyler, executive chef at the Cosmopolitan. “We actually brought that level down a little bit from what it was,” he says. “I think the one thing you’ll notice that’s kind of synonymous with David Chang is the flavors are always very strong. So if it’s got heat, you know it’s heat-forward; if it’s got sweet, it’s sweet-forward. And then there’s always that kind of rounding of those umami flavors that he brings into his dishes.”
Bang Bar’s price point is a wallet-friendly $9-$11 for main menu items. Sides include spicy eggplant ($4), pickled shishito peppers ($4), a creamy bean salad ($4) and chickpea dip ($7), a very Chang-esque take on hummus. Wash it all down with yuzu lemonade ($7) or a blood orange negroni ($14) for a peachy-keen meal.
BANG BAR Block 16 Urban Food Hall, Cosmopolitan, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily.
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