Chin Chin — Restaurant in Melbourne

Excellent asian fusion! Inspired by asian flavours, they did it the Aussie way! My wife and I will definitely return to eat when we are back in this part of Melbourne.

Food

We went with The Classic ($89 per pax). This is similar to an omakase (the chef decides what patrons eat). They brought out the favourites of customers. Their purpose was for us to leave with a full belly so the portions were just right. The kingfish sashimi, barramundi and apple salad, and braised wagyu beef pad seuw were mouthwateringly delicious; delectable; and delightful. The coconut panna cotta with Vietnamese coffee and cashew praline was such a beautiful way to end the meal (and I am not even a fan of panna cotta and coffee hahaha)

Some dishes were not to our liking though. The yellow fin tuna was overpowered by the curried cauliflowers. This disappointed me personally because I wanted to taste the tuna in all its glory (maybe I had a wrong expectation to begin with). I was also startled when the "ribs" came. I was about to dig in when I realised they were corn ribs! Basically corn on the cob cooked and cut to look like pork ribs hahaha the disappointment was real (but once again my bad hahaha)

But alas such is life, right? There are highs and lows but we were grateful to end on a mighty high!

Service

Ahlia was our waitress and we couldn't speak more highly of her. She was attentive, knowledgeable, and fantastic to talk to. After my wife decided on The Classic, she took the time to ask us if we had any food preferences and allergies. Depending on our answers, she would inform the kitchen and they would customise the "omakase" menu to our liking/needs. The staff of Chin Chin service different sections of the restaurant and while those who weren't servicing our section served us our meals with a smile, Ahlia would always be beaming! There was a brightness about her which warmed our winter night. Amidst her busyness, she made the time to answer our questions about the food; the restaurant; and even her aspirations for the future. First class customer service! An exemplary waitress par excellence!

Atmosphere

It was quite a cold evening and we needed to sit outside because the inside was packed. Although I was partially worried about turning into a popsicle mid-dinner, my worries quickly melted away. We were seated next to a heater and it was soooo comfortable. In fact, outside was quieter than inside and my wife and I enjoyed our food while dining alfresco style. We did observe that some patrons were ushered to seats which were tucked away in a corner that were very cramp. It would not have been comfortable to dine in such circumstances and we were thankful we didn't need...

PREFACE This is an excellent restaurant. But for the below quibbles, I would recommend it. The staff were friendly and obliging, and the food was very good. I would not say it was “excellent”, however.

FOOD On the whole, the food was very good. The kingfish sashimi was very nice, and the scallops did very well with my group. My only two concerns are: • that the food was perhaps not quite of a quality that you might expect given its expensiveness; • the portions were much too small given the price. I accept that the commercial realities of restaurants today (at least, those that actually pay their fair share of tax) have them in a bind. However, I respectfully maintain that these two matters should be addressed if I am to thoroughly recommend Chin Chin going forward.

ATMOSPHERE While trendy and colourful, the restaurant is overcrowded. The music, I found, was far too loud given the number of people. My group found it extremely hard to hear one another. The upbeat, lively atmosphere was pleasant, and staff did well to reflect that.

EXPENSE This was my chief difficulty with the dining experience. I could understand a bill of $300.00, but $500.00+ for the amount of food was unacceptable. The food portions were far too small given the price, and while it was very good, I certainly did not find its quality to meet its price.

SITTING TURNOVER A sitting of one hour alone does no service to the amount one might pay for a sitting. A diner should expect a longer sitting time, whatever the commercial realities of restaurant practice, if they are to pay so much and not feel like something of a cash cow.

STAFF The staff were very, very friendly, and while I would reserve my comments on the concerning tendency of the American custom of paying tips to make up for a proper wage for another time, I could not more happily praise the staff for their solicitousness and timeliness. Excellent.

Qualification: I would qualify the above by saying some of these factors might only have been arisen because of the night of the week on which we...

I rarely leave negative reviews, but after many years in Melbourne, this was one of the most disappointing dining experiences I’ve had.

When I arrived at 11:30 and asked for a table for three, when the whole restaurant was practically empty, the staff member at the door told me I couldn’t be seated until everyone from my party arrived. While I understand some restaurants have this policy, the way it was communicated felt unnecessarily unfriendly. What made it worse was that there were clearly waiting seats available when I left the restaurant, but I was asked to stand and wait for 5–6 minutes until my friends arrived instead of being offered to sit down.

We ordered three lunch sets but were only given two bowls of rice. When we asked, the waitress explained that the restaurant serves one bowl of rice for every two people. I found this quite unusual — in most Asian restaurants, each person is served their own bowl unless they request otherwise. And I’ve been told by others online that two people was offered two bowls of rice so there’s disparity between services?

Later, at the bar, I think a cocktail was mixed in such a careless way that liquid sprayed over three to four nearby tables, I’m talking about 4 to 6 metres of spray. Several guests, including my friend and myself, had our clothes and even faces splashed. Nor the bartender or any waiters apologised or even acknowledged it, and only handed a towel to one guest who was hit the most, ignoring others who were also affected. This lack of care was disappointing.

Overall, the service felt careless and dismissive, and the experience left a very negative impression. To be honest, I’m not surprised since the Lucas group restaurants has garnered incredibly bad reputation and is known for being even racist as shown in the countless posts by asian Australians on an asian social media platform. I should have known better than to give it a...