Had high hopes for this place. Menu looked very promising on paper but didn't quite deliver in terms of flavour. Dang is a restaurant by day and a viet tapas/bar by night. Dark decor, dim lighting, loud music (Edm remixes of top 40s songs). Not sure if this is the same vibe during the day. They're trying to attract a younger crowd. Except when I went at 9pm on a Friday night.. It was empty. There were only 3 tables including us. So the service was attentive.. But you also see the two wait staff standing at the bar playing on their phones.
We ordered:
- Bo luc Lac (shaken beef) - comes on a small sizzling plate w/ onions... No wow factor in terms of flavour.. Just oily.
- beef tataki - this was very hard to eat as the wasabi sauce drizzled all over the plate was too overpowering to the point where it feels like you got punched in the nose... And then tears erupted from the corner of your eyes... This happened w/ each bite.
- fish sauce chicken wings - 5 or 7 very small, skinny, fried pieces of chicken wings in fish sauce. I've had better (go to cafe Pho nho to try). The sauce was good... But it wasn't the right consistency and it didn't bind well enough to the wings. You taste more of the oil and batter than you do of the sauce.
- lotus stem salad - it had the right ingredients... But there was a clash of flavour in this dish. The fish sauce dressing was good but could use more heat . It went well with all the veggies except when you bit into the the actual lotus stem. The lotus stems are pickled from a jar.. And you can taste the juice it was pickled in.. Which was different from the fish sauce dressing. Maybe this is because the stems are quite thick. Maybe the lotus stems need to be shredded a bit thinner to blend and absorb the other flavours better. (try this salad at ilovepho and taste the difference)
- scallops - 5 scallops dressed in hoisin, oil, fried green onion and peanuts. It was still attached to the joint, so you have to detach it yourself first and then slurp everything down. Tasted ok.
Overall, wasn't impressed by the dishes I ordered in terms of flavour - missing the wow factor. I've had better elsewhere, For bigger portions and same price or cheaper. But I also haven't tried everything else. Would have to come back w a larger group to be able to try everything else on the menu. But if I wasn't impressed by the 5 dishes I ordered.. Chances are I would probably feel the same about the other items on the menu. But if you wanted to have late night drinks and eat viet appetizers (mon nhau) w a group of friends it would be an ok place to go to.