Mr Italian Stallion suggested a catch up at Chin Chin and who am I to refuse him a delish meal. We turned up ASAP since we knew you’d have to wait a gazillion years before getting a table since Chin Chin only does walk in. Luckily, we got a table within 10 minutes (SCORE!).
It was spacious (well the ceiling was) and very Melbourne-y (yes that’s a real word in my vocab). They also just installed automatic blinds and with one button, BAM, all the blinds went up/down (AWESOME SAUCE).
There were so many delish dishes and we couldn’t make up our mind and we didn’t have enough between the both of us to get the whole menu. We opted for the next best thing, the ‘feed me’ menu for $69pp which consists of 6 dishes signature dishes which also includes DESSERT (my very first question). Let the feasting BEGIN! First up was the pad seuw of braised wagyu which wasn’t meant to be for our table and only found out towards the end of the meal (SCORE!) and they were lovely enough to not charge us either. THIS. DISH. WAS. AMAZEBALL! There was so much flavour, the pad seuw was soft and the wagyu, don’t get me started on that. The crispy shallots gave it the extra crunchiness it needed.
Pad Seuw of Braised Wagyu
Mr Italian Stallion was hanging to try the kingfish sashimi and when they asked our spicy level, we stupidly picked MEDIUM! Boy oh boy was it spicy. It was like a punch in the face. The lime gave it a little zing to it but I wasn’t a fan of this dish. Luckily we also ordered the Vietnamese mint punch to quench the spiciness and also it was FABULOUS!!
Kingfish Sashimi
Vietnamese Mint Punch
The food kept on coming and we didn’t have enough space and eventually had to squish everything together. The ‘chin chin pork roll ups’ were next and you basically put everything in the pancake and BAM you got yourself a ROLL!!!
Chin Chin Pork Roll Up
The wok fried salt and pepper squid came out and I didn’t really like it. It was quite ordinary and nothing special about it. We ate it in silence….
Wok Fried Salt and Pepper Squid
We thought our menu was over but we were totally wrong. The mains were coming (not winter…the mains). The crispy barramundi, apple salad and caramelised pork came out and we couldn’t find the salad! There was just so much MEAT (Meat overload!). We were recommended to mix the whole dish before eating and so we did as we were told (just like in school). The pork was AWESOME but a bit too fatty for my liking so I made Mr Italian Stallion eat it all. The barramundi was SUPER crispy and quite hard. It was pretty average, the dish as a whole.
Crispy Barramundi, Green Apple Salad and Caramelised Pork
The crispy skinned duck was AWESOME SAUCE. They could have put in more cucumber since we were struggling with all this meat. The duck was moist on the inside and crispy on the outside. I liked this better than the crispy barramundi.
Crispy Skinned Duck
Finally, the last savoury dish was the butter chicken curry and this was pretty delish. It was yoghurty, not too heavy and a bit on the sweet side. The chicken was quite soft which I really liked.
Butter Chicken Curry
Finally the dessert came out. By now we were totally full and popping our pants button open (involuntary of course). We got the coconut sago with sweet corn ice cream. It was a big dessert and it was AWESOME! The sweet corn ice cream was FANTABULOUS and the puffed wild rice gave it texture. I loved everything about the dish and there was suprise praline swimming in it too! What a great way to end the ‘feed me’ menu.
Coconut Sago with Sweet Corn Ice Cream
Chin Chin was much better than when I went 4 years ago with some outstanding dishes. Be warned for the long queue but it’ll definitely be worth it once you get a table. Chin Chin, you were great for our din din (BAM Dr Seuss YO!)
125 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, VIC 3000
Tel: (03) 8663 2000
Website: www.chinchinrestaurant.com.au