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!

Pud Thai vs Pho

Shop 4, 60 Siddeley St
Docklands, VIC 3008

This small Thai/Vietnamese restaurant is a lovely little hidden gem.

Located in the WTC (World Trade Centre) Wharf precinct on the north bank it is just a few steps away from the Seafarers Bridge which links to the South Wharf restaurant/shopping precinct. 

I have dined here a number of times but I must admit I have not tried their Pud Thai or Pho!

Rice Paper Roll - $5 each

The prawn rice paper rolls were delicious.  Full of fresh vegetables and herbs. I love the translucency of the rice paper.

Dumplings - $5

The steamed prawn dumplings with a soy dipping sauce were very moreish little morsels.

Spring Rolls

And .. Spring Rolls

Now I didn't have the spring rolls but according to my friend who ordered them, she definitely ordered spring rolls on two different occasions, but as you can see they arrived looking quite different!  Maybe different chefs on different days?  Either way she enjoyed both versions.  Neither of us can remember what she was charged but the online menu says $5 per serve.

Thai Beef Salad - $12.90

I have had this Thai beef salad a few times and love it.  Its light, has lots of beautiful fresh salad and herbs and a very spicy dressing.

Lemongrass Beef - $11.90

I also really enjoyed this lemongrass beef dish.  The sauce was delicious and you add as much as you like to the bowl.  Fragrant and tasty.

BBQ Pork - Flame grilled marinated pork neck - $15.90

My friend had this pork dish which was served with sweet chilli sauce and jasmine rice.  She really enjoyed it and said she would order it again.  I thought it looked a bit dry but I think that is more to do with my average photography skills than the actual dish!

Tom Yum Noodle - $10.90

 
And finally on a cool day I ordered the Tom Yum Noodle which is described as soup noodles with vegetables, tomato, lime leaf and chicken (you can also chose beef or seafood). This was my least favourite dish though there was nothing wrong with it - it just wasn't quite what I was expecting.  But having said that it was a very generous serve and great value for money.  I struggled to finish the bowl and it was packed full of noodles and vegetables.  I just felt the flavour of the broth was missing something. 

Maybe I should have ordered the Pho!!

Yim Yam Thai Laos

Yim Yam Thai Laos

415 Mt Alexander Rd 

Ascot Vale 3032

There are three Yim Yam restaurants - the original in Yarraville, another in Collingwood and the one I recently visited in Ascot Vale.  After being in Moonee Ponds for a number of years the restaurant moved to larger premises in neighbouring Ascot Vale in May.  

I had ordered their takeaway before and been impressed with the food so was looking forward to dining in and I was not disappointed. The food was delicious and the staff attentive and friendly.  I was disappointed though to find out that they are BYO only.  I didn't realise this and would have liked to enjoy a nice crisp glass of white wine with my meal!  They do have a number of soft drinks on offer - but my lemon lime and bitters was not a good substitute :(

Seared Chicken Satay Sticks - $7.90

We started with Chicken Satay sticks.  These were a good version of this staple.  Nice sauce.

Tom Yum Spicy Prawn Stirfry - $18.90

The Tom Yum spicy prawn stir fry was the highlight of the night.  I love Tom Yum soup and this stir fry was full of those beautiful aromatic flavours - lemongrass, coriander, kaffir lime leaves, chilli - absolutely delicious.  Spicy but not too hot and the prawns and vegetables were beautifully fresh.

Massaman Lamb Curry - $14.50

The classic Massaman Lamb curry was very tasty.  The lamb was tender and it had a nice amount of potato and crushed peanuts.  The accompanying coconut rice was lovely.

Coconut Rice - $5.50

Banana Dumpling    $5.50

There were quite a few interesting options on the dessert menu. I tried the Banana Dumpling which was described as sticky rice and banana rolled into a dumpling, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed.  It was served with a scoop of coconut ice cream. This was nice but I found the banana flavour to be quite strong and almost a little artificial and I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. 

Coconut Ice Cream    $5.00

The coconut ice cream was lovely with distinct pieces of fresh coconut.

Will definitely return with a nice bottle of wine next time!