Chin Chin

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  9      Value  8     

Not a place to go for a quiet conversation, but just perfect for a pre-game dinner. The soft-shell crab curry exceeded expectations and the barramundi salad was wonderful. The 'wine guy' and our server were delightful and present, but not intrusive. All in all a great time!

Apr 16, 2012 

8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  8     

Is this place "trendy" and "Eurasian"?... Sure. Is the food decent, albeit nothing to write home about... "Yes". Did I have a good time here?... "Yes!"

My lovely partner and I stayed in Melbourne recently and heard about "Chin Chin". The first night we tried to get a table, they told us it would be an hour and 15 minute wait, so we decided to come earlier the next night and got a table straight away. Well, when I say table I mean stools at the food preparation section. (Which was a great place to sit to watch all the food preparing action!).

We had a very disarming and friendly waiter who made us feel comfortable and at ease. We saw the "feed me" option, and decided to go for that... Man this place fed us! Sooo much food! All the food yes nice and satisfying, I really loved their caramelised sticky pork dish that was yummy. I also enjoyed their kingfish sashimi, the son in law eggs and their take on peking duck pancakes.

Overall the food was good, the vibe fun, and the service warm and friendly. A must if in Melbourne!

Apr 16, 2012 

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  7     

Make sure you get in early because this place is buzzing from the moment it opens. A mix of fusion asian, everything was tasty the value reasonable for all that we ordered.

The kingfish coconut sashimi was excellent, very reminiscent of green thai curry. Their fried chicken was finger licking tasty, their coriander and corn fritters were fun and such a tasty morsels, crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. Duck was good, but spicy and probably too salty, the soft shell crab was great but again a bit too salty for my liking, and the beef short ribs were simply melt in the mouth.

Too full to fit much else in, we had the dessert platter with tiny things to share, it was interesting little bite fulls of candy, candied chilli popcorn, and other variations of small asian desserts. Came away for $50 a head well satisfied.

Mar 28, 2012 

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  8     

Great little place, bustling with activity and conforming to the new style of quicker communal eating. The food is excellent and the staff are fun and professional. Rare!

Dec 20, 2011 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  9     

Next on was the spicy corn and coriander fritters with their self assemble lettuce, daikon and chilli jam wraps. They were great! Not too spicy but bring on the ‘Golden Srirachi hot chili Sauce’ appearing on every table and you can give everything a chilli kick!

And then, Steamed Dumplings with chicken, sweetcorn and shiitake were heavenly, the spring onion and ginger dressing was soooooo good!

But stop everything! The Grilled Roti Madtarbak filled with indian spiced beef and cucumber relish is making my mouth water as I type, the best ever!

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Dec 18, 2011 

6.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  5      Value  7     

The room is funky and has a good vibe but the tables are really close together so you can hear everything the people next to you are saying. The waiter was friendly enough until I said I was vegetarian and then he soured and pretty much ignored us for the rest of the meal.

There are a variety of different cocktails on the menu and they were really nice. There isn’t much vegetarian on the menu but what we had was great. The corn fritters which you wrap in crispy lettuce and mint with chilli jam were interesting but the standout was the tofu salad – full of herbs and packed with flavour.

Meat-eaters were enjoying a variety of dishes beautifully presented and different from the normal Thai/Malaysian/Vietnamese menus.

Nov 28, 2011 

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  7     

As a visitor to Melbourne from Sydney, Chin Chin impressed me with their delicious fluffy oyster omelette, exotic pear cider and son-in-law eggs with chilli jam. The stir fried wild boar was a bit too salty for my liking. Overall a great dining atmosphere and chill out place for a group of friends, but it's very busy!

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Oct 10, 2011 

3.3 Below Average

Food  7      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  4     

Following hype usually leads to profound disappointment, whether that be the top 10 best-selling books, must-adopt fashion trends, must-buy share investments etc. Through double-glazed doors, the newest restaurant hype in Melbourne town, Chin Chin, is simply vast. The main dining hall is furnished in what seems to be becoming a definitive Melbourne signature — dark woods, industrial lighting, bare tables. An open kitchen allows dining patrons to see the chefs conjure their magic. A long galley bar is lined with bottles labelled white on black, “Ping Pong Chin,” a playful, yet perhaps stark reminder of schoolyard taunts for some. With a nod to its auspicious opening in the Year of the Rabbit of 2011, a pink neon outline of a rabbit on the far back wall squeals fun rather than class. Huge rotating fans are positioned at the top of foundational pillars, yearning for summer exercise. Chin Chin in winter already pulsates with the deafening roar and throbbing heat characteristic of a bustling South East Asian hawker centre…and it keeps similar hours.

MoMo & Coco give it due credit for being brave and staying admirably close to its South-East Asian agenda, especially when it came to the irresistibles. Yes, there’s nothing mediocre nor horrible about the food at Chin Chin, but there’s absolutely nothing to rave about either. It’s all rather pedestrian. Uninspired. Because it makes no culinary breakthroughs, because dining-out is not only about the food, but also about the whole experience of service, ambience and an actual ability to converse with your dining companions, Chin Chin is nothing more than a Mod-Thai version of Mamasita — a similarly super-hyped darling of print media and the band-wagoning strands of social media, similarly housed in a palpably boisterous carefree venue, but… with consistently careless, mercurial, glacial service. It might be for some, but it just isn’t our type of dining venue. And really, Melbourne has better.

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Aug 08, 2011 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  10      Service  8      Value  8     

Great food and ambience, loud and cheerful, have been twice in 2 weeks and plan on returning, the no booking policy is annoying, however, if you get there after 8.30 pm the wait is only about 1 hr.

Aug 01, 2011 

7.3 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  8     

I really enjoyed my meal here at Chin Chin. A generous Asian menu that really delivers on taste and originality. Fantastic wine list and fantastic beers I though I could only find back on Koh San rd. No bookings though, so time it right get yourself a great meal.

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Jul 04, 2011