I've been to Chin Chin a couple of times, and I think it's finally time to sit down and write a review of it. The good first - the drinks are superb. The food is high quality, the front of house staff are lovely in what must be a thoroughly demanding job. Why three stars, not four? It's because I think Chin Chin is hitting an inflection point and starting to slip. A relatively quiet, recent night (for significant amounts of the meal, the infamous queue around the corner was nowhere to be seen) saw a drink order go haywire and a dish served with plastic shards in it. When you're putting out these kind of numbers of meals every night, mistakes can happen (and, to be fair, the FOH staff were very good about it). But Chin Chin is incredibly hyped, and the standards are different at a place with this kind of profile. Being upsold on a graphic novel/cookbook bundled with an apron feels weirdly discordant when there's blood in your mouth after this kind of mistake, and what might pass for a 'this is a once-off, it happens' at somewhere else simply doesn't fly here. If you walk up, there's no queue, and you're craving modern street-food influenced Thai, I'd probably suggest you go for it. If it's an hour plus wait, go elsewhere. read more

Really wanted to like this place but none of the dishes we got were that good and it was pretty expensive for what it was. We got the wagyu pad see ew, chili salt chicken wings, butter curry and hot and sour whitefish. It was just all mediocre. We have had better of every dish someplace else. If you are ever in Vegas, check out Lotus of Siam. It will blow this place out of the water. Crazy busy place and very trendy vibe. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait since we got there a little before 5pm. read more

The food is so good it covers a multitude of sins (past mediocre dishes from anywhere any time)! Yes, that good. Went with the Feed Me option and all we had to do was tell out server what we're into and she took care of the rest. This is our new favorite restaurant IN THE WORLD! read more

Best randang I've ever had. Great service and atmosphere. Would give 5 stars but the dishes seem a tad overpriced so docking one star for value for money. If you're feeling like splurging on some truly amazing Thai fusion, this is the place to go. Cocktails are good too. read more

Really fresh and refreshing food. I think I might addicted to kefir lime and basil after one night in Chin Chin. I started out with a Basil/lime martini down at GoGo, because you will have to wait to get into Chin Chin. Though you need to wait a little longer, you should go with at least 4 people to be able to share enough delicious goodies. I can't say this is "genuine Thai" but it is good Melbourne Thai-inspired food. The three things I liked the best were Sashshimi in a lime/chile sauce. The fish wasn't uniformly cut, there were a couple thicker pieces, however, it was still a delightful combination of flavors; nothing was over powering - all was in balance. Pad Ped (a dry red curry tofu dish) full of flavors and textures. I loved the dry red curry - there is no soupy sauce but more of a paste. This is tossed with a set of fresh greens (like lime leaf, basil, cilantro, sliced chiles and more) and tofu fried with a spicy covering. It was the most surprising thing we had. Save room for dessert! There is an ice cream with honeycomb and lime syrup that is a perfect end to a meal. read more

One word... Yum! Great experience!!! I highly recommend this place. They find a really nice way to create dishes using amazing flavor and heat. Absolutely highly recommend this place! read more

Chin Chin never been known for their great customer service and customer care, they make people wait in lines for over 40 minutes don't have reservation option but so many people been putting up with this because the food is always amazing. Today me and my partner finally had enough. Once again waited 40 minutes in line to get a table.... We ordered our usual "feed me option". It's bad enough the waitress made us feel guilty for choosing "feed me option" when I mentioned that I like fish and my partner eats chicken she told us: it's not good value for money... We got our first 3 little dishes, finished them and set for over 30 minutes waiting for someone anyone to serve us more food, while other customers been served constantly and their tables were covered with food. The waitress came past 10 min after clearing the 1st dishes looked at us walked away and for the next 20 min nothing. Just not good enough....... Sorry Chin Chin but if it wasn't for your kitchen stuff and chef's you wouldn't last a month in the food industry. Never ever again! Your food is great but as a service and overall experience I would not even give you a 0 out of 10. (If you never eaten at Chin Chin don't bother! There a so many other great restaurants in Melbourne CBD, with great food and most of all owners and staff who would treat you with respect and care as a customer, POPLE go eat somewhere else save your time!) read more

This is my favourite Thai restaurant in Melbourne. Always busy and bustling, with fantastic food! Any of the curries are good, I really like the Jungle Curry (very hot fish curry) and the Redang Wagyu Beef curry. The pork roll-ups, green papaya salad and the salt and pepper tofu are all deliciously refreshing starters. The only downside is having to queue, no reservations. Eating at the bar is fun and easier to get a last-minute seat. Slightly but not too expensive. read more

Amazing amazing amazing. Get in early to make sure you don't miss out! I went with a group and we ordered several dishes to share. They came out fairly fast and were all delicious! If you have to wait 30 mins to get in, dont worry is worth it :( read more

Worth the hype. Get in early or you'll be standing. However the $69 feed me option was not worth the money. Suggest picking your own plates and enjoy. read more

A friend of mine recommended this place to me and all I can say is...WOW!!! This place was fantastic! They were considerate about my food allergies, they had excellent service and..they played my kinda music! This place was happening :) I enjoyed the wonderful food and atmosphere! We had the "feed me", which consisted of the chef's choice dishes..and the dishes served exploded with flavors! It was so overwhelming! If any of my buddies from Bay Area ever visit Melbourne, this is definitely a must!!!! read more

Coz it wasted me one and half hours to wait... It's good food but rarely can come again anyway

With no ability to book a place at this restaurant, I was forced to wait in a line that wrapped around the building and took at least two hours to get a table. With that being said, Service at the place is truly appalling, took me about 10 minutes to get the attention of a waiter that would actually take my order and took another 45 minutes until I got my food. While the food is notable, the service wasn't worth it. read more

One of the best restaurants I have had the pleasure of dining at. The food is simply outstanding and the atmosphere is fantastic. Can't wait to go back. read more

The bomb. Get there early or be prepared to wait. Food is spectacular! Waitstaff is friendly and knowledgeable about the food. Head to the bar downstairs while waiting, great signature cocktails. read more

This was my favorite restaurant in Melbourne. I recommend the feed me option. All of the dishes were delicious. My only complaint was the wait. Over an hour during the week and they don't take reservations. It was definitely worth it though! read more

Very good, very busy, delicious food prepared with love. If you want to avoid the crowds you have to go on a Monday or Tuesday evening early. Or book a long time in advance. read more

Best meal we've had here in Melbourne. Great staff, fast service & the food & wine is to die for. Enjoy!

Trendy Melbourne joint. Food was ok to good. Some interesting flavours. Nice room. Maybe I've been living in the US too long so my expectations of customer service are way off... We went for a cocktail down at the bar while waiting for our table. They either forgot the alcohol or seriously short poured. Instead of laughing it off and giving me another splash (i would have gladly paid for another shot) the waitress gets very defensive with some stupid hipster excuse that the elderflower hides the taste of the alcohol. Why on earth would she argue with a customer over something so minor? Poorly handled. I couldn't quite make sense of whether she was talking down because she was way "too cool" or not working for tips meant she just didn't care. Either way - terrible customer service. Other than that, the rest of the staff were friendly and fast. I get why visitors might want to go there but honestly Melbourne has much better places that are more about the food and less about the bs. read more

Have been wanting to try this place for a while - the weekend queues are amazingly long, with folks willing to wait outdoors in the cold of winter. Finally managed to try it but I have to say I wasn't completely blown away. The larb and the pork rolls were pretty good but my main dish of the barramundi salad with caramelised pork was quite a disappointment. Just not a great combination to have extreme sweetness from the pork mixed in with dry and salty baraamundi. read more

For such a busy place, I was surprised to find such rude wait staff. I don't mind waiting in line for a good restaurant, but when the waiters talk down to you it does not leave a pleasant taste in my mouth! Food was fine. read more

Honestly, I didnt feel the the wait and hype was justified. I have definitely had better asian fusion food in Melbourne and felt that waiting an hour and a half wasn't worth the price or food quality. Food was good but not mind blowing and expensive for portion sizes. And the restaurant was super cramped and loud as a result. Having the music up so high with that many people inside was not a good ambiance and my partner and I were reduced to shouting or sitting in the din without conversation. read more

Good food, service was ok but definitely not worth the wait. We ordered the feed me which was good value.

Though I wouldn't say that Chin Chin quite lives up to its hype, it is worth going to as the food is delicious. I ordered one of the few vegetarian items on the menu with some trepidation, as it just sounded like a red curry, nothing too excited. I was, however, very pleasantly surprised as it was delicious and just completely unlike any curry I'd ever had. All of the food we ordered was awesome, and I did cheat and try a bit of everything. Decor and vibe is rocking, but minus stars for a too small veggie selection and a 3 hour wait on a Thursday, like, c'mon. But, still, a Melbourne gem. read more

The interior of this restaurant is very hip which gives it a very cool vibe. It's a first come first serve kind of restaurant but doesn't matter because they've made waiting for a table fun. There's a funky bar downstairs you can wait at until the next available table is ready. Most of the food on the menu are pretty much all thai dishes but the chefs have their own twist on how they interpret the dishes. I've tried close to all of the dishes on the menu and my favourite has to be the kingfish sashimi with coconut lime dressing. It is so good that everytime i eat here i have to order it. If you're thirsty for a drink then they have really cool cocktails on offer and even cocktail of the day. This restaurant is good for if you want to eat out in a group because they do a banquet style dinner which is 75aud pp for groups over 12 people. You'll be surprised how much food they bring out for the banquet. So much that we all had foodcoma afterwards. I recommend coming here if you want a nice new modern take on thai food read more

Chin Chin - Asian Fusion Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

First of all, a restaurant which has one of the best music soundtracks playing is always going to be a winner with me ('80's music- YES). Sitting down to a meal in Chin Chin always makes me happy. Even though it is ALWAYS busy and packed, I still love the vibe in this place- well worth the line up. Cocktails are a must, and my recommended main is the red curry salmon in banana leaf. If you need to fill in time waiting for a table, head downstairs to the Go Go Bar, have yourself a drink, light snack, and snap that Instagram-worthy neon sign 'lonely for you only'. read more

One of the better places on Flinders Lane to go to for Sunday lunch - get in early and stay for the afternoon! The food is divine, great staff and service and wine is a must to wash it down with! Evenings are good too but sometimes too crowded and too long to wait (if you get in at all). Yes they have the bar downstairs but the last time I was there, yelling at the barman is not the way I want to order a beer (or wine) - turn the music down pls ;) but after all that, would recommend this place any day! read more

Great food, great music. This place is extremely popular , so book ahead. We ended up sitting at the bar for dinner and loved watching the cool bartenders. Artistes! The place is very loud. If you want to have a conversation, sit at the bar so you won't have to yell. read more

Uber cool, definitely premium prices but food was delicious. Super modern, super good Asian food. King fish sashimi, pork wraps, waghy beef with rice noodles all delicious. Packed with flavour. Divine cocktails and fabulous Asian inspired desserts with modern twists. read more

Cool place. Great food. Efficient service.

Great foods with twist of authentic tastes. Every dish was a bit salty, however. A long waiting time due to popularity is a disadvantage.

Went here very late at night due to a delayed flight from Brisbane. Turns out we were in luck as it can be hard to get a table here. The food was absolutely amazing! The jungle curry was very hot and very tasty with beautiful slow cooked pork. Yum! read more

Most nice fusion Asian restaurant I have ever been in Melbourne!! Strongly recommended to try it out. Ask friendly waiter/waitress for suggestions if choosing the menu is difficult. Had pleasant service and food. read more

FEED ME menu is unbelievable. The lady kept bring out food, till out eyes where out of out sockets. The baby goat to die for and the beef ribs, melted of the bone. And roti banana bread, let's say had to make room for it. People say it's expensive - not really, very well priced. Good work read more

If you only try one restaurant in the CBD, make it this one. Get advice on what to order from a regular and you'll have one of the best dining experiences anywhere. read more

My personal believe Chin Chin is one of the first restaurant that has opened a new page for asian fusion in Melbourne city; King fish salad, Fried Chicken, Chilli Tofu Slider are always to be shown to my new chin chin visitor. It's always packed and you might not like the wait. read more

we tried the 'Feed Me #1" on the menu which is a selection of the chef's choices - I highly recommend this, it was amazing! Expensive, but amazing! Yes, their service is this newer hipster service (we see this more and more now) which has an undertone of "I am nice but I'm too good for this job and don't need to be TOO kind to you because I am cool" vibe. Service would be a 3.5/5 for me and the food a 5/5! Don't get me wrong the service was alright but I am in the service industry and just think you need to be a lot friendlier and not look like people can bother you if you ask for too much (asking = sales). With this hispter service, it always seems like they can be irritated very easily and they purposely avoid eye contact or give you a borderline rude "hold on" when you ask them something while they are doing something else. Great food, service could be a lot friendlier but all in all not a place I wouldnt visit again. read more

I love this Asian Fusion restaurant in Melbourne. The stir fry of bug tail and the wagyu beef sirloin stir fry were delicious. However, my husband ordered the Isaan style spicy hot BBQ chicken which had an intense spicy flavor. The flavor was so spicy it was difficult to enjoy the meal. Take caution when ordering this dish! Otherwise, I don't think you can go wrong ordering any dish on the menu. Cheers! read more

OMG. At first I was a little overwhelmed by the menu because it was kind of hard to understand what some items were (maybe because I am not Australian). I ordered the DIY vegetable rolls for appetizer and some greens and tofu for main course. The chef sent us the bbq cauliflower (the waitress said they had cooked it by mistake and didn't want to waste it. Everything was DELICIOUS! My husband had the short rib and said it was great too. If you are in Melbourne and like Asian food, please go here. read more

Greeted by an inflexible rude front of house. Served by a barman who didn't know his pleases and thank yous. Forgot a dish from our order and you get four pork ribs for $35. All card payments incur a 1.25% fee. Food was mediocre at best. Go to Longrain instead! read more