Chin Chin - Melbourne - 125 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Melbourne has taken a while to catch up in the good Thai stakes and it is slowly getting there. The next cuisines on the rank for a rehaul are Japanese and Korean.

After a great evening watching a dance performance, we thought we would try our luck at Chin Chin.  The previous time I tried it was an hour wait and my stomach was crawling up my throat, so gave it a miss.  This time it was around 9:30pm and we got a table straight away. And the place was still pumping when we left at midnight.

Chin Chin is a modern Thai place with cool and quirky wait staff.

Folks, it is the old Icon bar and for those of you who spend their lives in the business end of town on a Friday night, those memories of watching your friends dancing on the bar still remain.   In fact the restaurant even plays the good time work function retro classics - think Love Cats.

The menu has a lot of choice and for someone like me who is so indecisive, way too much. This is saved, however, by our waitress who could tell us exactly what we should eat and how much - I like that.

We started with pork roll ups and plum sauce ($18).  The plum sauce was excellent and the pork juicy, freshened up with mint and coriander. My friend and I argued over whether this dish should have included some crispy crackling - she thought yes and I thought there is so much pork fat going on in Melbourne, I just enjoyed the clean taste of pork.

Next was crispy barramundi with green apple and caralmelised pork ($26). At the first bite I loved it but then as I ate on, I felt there were too many strong flavours going on, it needed some refinement. I am sure though many will just love this dish - there are some new tastes happening.

The mandarin duck on the other hand was a more sophisticated dish ($33) - sweet and a touch of sour, a really interesting flavour and the duck rather juicy. The rice, however, was overcooked.

The crowd here is non-corporate in a world of suits, which is refreshing.  The reason for this is the funky warehouse feel, the explosion of tastes and the price.

I enjoyed Chin Chin and it was great value for money but I think they could pull back on the number of flavours in some dishes.

I will definitely return and next time try the tasting menu for $66 which I hear requires a very good appetite.

Rating: 7/10


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