CHIN CHIN

Chin Chin
125 Flinders Lane
Melbourne 3000

I'm back!! If you are still reading thank you :)  

A couple of weeks ago my sister in law and I met up for lunch at Chin Chin.  Surprisingly neither of us have been there before, (I don't like queuing), so we went with the Feed Me option. For $69 they will serve you a selection of their favourite dishes. I must say I was a little nervous but it turned out to be a fantastic decision.  And the food just keeps coming!  It was definitely an indulgent long lunch and we enjoyed every mouthful.

To begin from the "Little Something" section we were served three dishes.

Kingfish Sashimi, Lime, Chilli, Coconut & Thai Basil

I loved the kingfish sashimi.  It was fresh, light and full of flavour. A great start.

Chin Chin Pork Roll Ups, Red Braised Suckling Pig, Pancakes, Slaw & Asian Herbs

The pork rollups were delicious and fun to make. I could have happily had more of these.

Spicy Corn and Coriander Fritters, Iceberg Lettuce, Chilli Jam

The third 'little something' were spicy, crispy fritters. I love the combination of corn and coriander and these crunchy little balls were yum. Wrapped in a lettuce cup with the bite of chilli jam - perfection. 

Our next dish was from the "Rice & Noodles" section of the menu. 

Pad Seuw of Six Hour Braised Wagyu, Gai Laan, Rolled Rice Noodles & Crispy Shallots

This is pure comfort food for me.  The noodles and beef were sublime, the coriander and crispy shallots the perfect finishing touch to the dish.

Crispy Barramundi & Green Apple Salad, Caramelised Pork, Peanuts, Chilli, Lemongrass

Next up was a salad from "Green Stuff". Not what I would have expected from something in that category but it was one of my favourite dishes. The pork was sticky, the fish tasty and the apple salad fresh and crunchy.  A lovely, refreshing combination.

By this stage we were getting quite full and thought we may have finished the savoury part of the meal but no, there was more - a dish from the "Curries" part of the menu.  The butter chicken curry was good but didn’t wow me like the dishes that came before it and I probably wouldn't order it again. As an aside though I must say I loved the bowl it was served in!

 

Butter Chicken Curry, Yoghurt, Green Chilli served with Rice

Our final course was from "Sweet and Refreshing Things".  This is not something I would have ordered but it was nice and a lovely way to end our meal. Actually I probably wouldn't have ordered dessert at all so I was glad it was a part of the Feed Me experience.  I particularly liked the sweetcorn icecream and the crunch of the wild rice.  

Coconut Sago, Sweetcorn Ice Cream, Praline, Puffed Wild Rice

I highly recommend the Feed Me option, particularly if you've not been to Chin Chin before.  It allows you to get a feeling for the serving sizes of a vast portion of the menu, it is great value and it takes the stress out of narrowing down choices when you want to try everything.

We left very full but happy.  Particularly when we saw the number of people waiting for a table.  I can't wait to go back to Chin Chin but I will definitely go early again to avoid the dreaded queue!