Chin Chin is an immensely popular Thai restaurant in Melbourne, though calling it “immensely popular” is a bit of an understatement. TimeOut called it “Melbourne’s busiest restaurant“ and Broadsheet called it “the most successful restaurant Melbourne has ever seen.” I just know it as the Thai restaurant some random barista recommended to me that has 2-3 hour queues on a daily basis.
Chin Chin claims to model itself after the hawker dining halls of Asia, though I don’t know where they came up with that because I’ve been to a bunch of hawker dining halls in Asia and this resembles none of them. They did write “XXX Adults Only” on their menu and have a sign that says “Gogo Bar” though, so maybe they thought appropriating the most offensive aspects of Thailand was enough to give them authenticity. The thing is, they don’t need any of that because the food is actually good. I wouldn’t call it authentic, but that doesn’t matter because that’s not what they’re going for. What they’re going for is tasty, and if it happens to have a slight resemblance to it’s source material then even better. You know, like a Doritos Cheesy Gordita Crunch from Taco Bell. You wouldn’t call it the epitome of authentic Mexican cuisine, but godamn if it isn’t delicious.
Recommended Dishes: Ha! I can’t remember a single thing I ordered, let alone whether or not I’d recommend it. I just remember leaving the place happy, so whatever you order will probably be good.
Chin Chin
125 Flinders Lane
Melbourne Victoria 3000
Australia
Melbourne
Phone: +61 3 8663 2000
chinchinrestaurant.com.au
