Blue Chillies — Restaurant in Melbourne

Stopped by for a late lunch in winter to this nicely-decorated storefront in funky Fitzroy. I ordered the lunch special, Chicken or veggie Laksa with chicken satay and beer or wine for $20. When I chose the veggie Laksa I was offered the option (not listed on the menu) to substitute veggie spring rolls for the satay, which I accepted. Though I am not vegetarian this indicated to me the establishment is thoughtful in considering those who are.

The beer arrived immediately, the spring rolls arrived quickly, and the curry shortly thereafter. Everything was hot, delicious and very fresh. The Laksa in particular was spectacular. In my experience it is deceivingly difficult to get coconut-milk-based curries just right. This one had the proper balance of spiciness to counter the creamy coconut milk without being overly spicy. The vegetables were fresh and cooked well but not so much they lost their individual identities.

It has been a few years since I have been to Malaysia, but the food at Blue Chillies seemed as good or better than anything I had while there.

The owner is very friendly and genuinely interested in her customers. Who they are, where they are from, and even why they ordered what they did. It is the type of attentiveness and care that naturally leads to good customer service. I...

I was on my way to a bbq place further up the road but changed my mind and it was so lucky I did. This place blew my mind. Firstly, it looks like a ma and pa place which is great. I was hesitant to order $10 for 5 dumplings (knowing how much some jiaozi are at other places) but when the dumplings came, I was so pleased I did. The dumplings were very plump. The pastry was home made. This was more like a delicious cantonese style Wor Tip, chewy on one caramelised side, soft on the others. The filling was so tasty. The char kway teow was everything I wanted it to be. It had char due to the Wok Hei. It had garlic chives (which is not a common ingredient but is what I personally am acquainted with in a chinese dry-fry hor fun that my dad used to make). It had lup cheong. It has char siu. Amazing. And then the rendang - so flavoursome. So soft. I had it with some roti which was also very nice. Service is by an elderly couple and sometimes gets a little confused when it gets a little busy on a quiet night. (eg wines took a while and may have been forgotten for like 10 minutes). But oh boy, the food. Thank you Blue Chillies as it was a highlight of my...

While visiting my home town, I chose this place because of the ratings and the promise of Sago Gula Melaka (tapioca pearls with coconut milk and palm sugar) for dessert. We found the place with the shimmering blue lights and entered to seat ourselves by the window.

Our Seafood and Combination Laksas were smooth, creamy and filled with ingredients. Eggplant pieces saturated with this broth exploding in the mouth was pure joy. The serve was so generous there was no room in the belly for dessert!

The dim lighting created atmosphere on one side while the cute cushions on the other side gave the place a playful touch. There was quite a long wait to place an order and receive our food, but this was proactively acknowledged and apologised for, which I appreciate.

Conclusion: worth returning to check out the other temptations...