125 Flinders Lane
Melbourne CBD
This is probably the hottest place in Melbourne right now. We went on a Wednesday night and were told we'd have to wait for an hour to 90 minutes. I hate waiting but there was a bar downstairs so that made it easier.
We started with the dry red curry of soft shell crab with snakebeans, Thai basil and kaffir lime leaf. The crab was still crisp underneath the curry paste coating and the flavours went well. I was initially worried that the curry would completely drown the flavours of the crab - but it didn't (completely). This was a nice combination and a nice dish. Our waiter recommended it strongly and he was right.
We weren't originally going to order this dish but our waiter recommended it persistently - and we were glad he did. The twice cooked river beef short ribs were amazing. The meat literally fell off the bone and the sauce that went with it (in the small bowl) was delicious.
Chin Chin has an extensive wine list. There's even a Wine Guy - you know its him because his apron says "Wine Guy". We had a glass each of red at about $10 a glass - can't remember which one it was though.
We did debate whether to have a bottle or individual glasses but as we'd had a few pre drinks at Gogo Bar downstairs glasses seemed the better option this time.Chin Chin is packed all the time. Everybody wants to go there and it seems that they may already be there anyway. The food is good, in fact very good. The service is good too. It has a nice decor but, not unexpectedly, its crowded and noisy. All in all I enjoyed it though. 