Longrain Melbourne — Restaurant in Melbourne

Longrain Loved By All

Last week we had the opportunity to dine with my dearest friend and his family. That means this was a special occasion. None of them had been to Longrain so the choice of restaurant was made easy.

There is something very special about the atmosphere at Longrain, the look, the feel and the vibe all add to the experience. From the warmest of greetings upon arrival to the laughter and care provided the Longrain team are the very best.

We began with the renowned betel leaf, with poached prawn, peanuts and lime. A single sensational bite. The newbies opted for the Ma Hor, caramelised tofu with peanuts and pineapple. It was a new experience for each of the four and they enjoyed it.

The classic filled eggnet with spanner crab, caramelised coconut, bean shoots and peanuts is a genuinely enjoyable dish. It really gets the palate ready for the tasty sensations to come. Next up is the most luxurious of dishes in the salt & pepper silken tofu, crispy eschalots and sweet soy. The sweet soy is just mouth-wateringly good and the tofu is the absolute best. As I have said before, more than once, if someone says they will never eat tofu get them to try this. If they can genuinely say they do not like it then they will never like tofu because this is the ultimate tofu dish.

Next up was a new one for us, Stir-fried king dory, turmeric, kangkung, spring onions and peanuts. The fish was perfectly cooked and so flavoursome. We had some stir-fried gai lan, chilli and yellow bean soy with a side of steamed jasmine rice as the accompaniment.

Also on the table were the exceptionally tasty Rendang curry, fried tofu, asparagus, summer squash and lotus root, the Coconut poached chicken, Vietnamese mint and pickled green chillies, a Red curry of twice cooked duck legs, lychees, cherry tomatoes and Thai basil, and the special “Pad Kee Mao”, stir fried drunken noodles, with pork and a range of vegetables. This final dish was on the menu as part of Longrain’s “Our Thai Memories” celebrations where team members add a dish that means something to them, from their home. Such a great idea.

I cannot comment on the meat dishes but I trust those we shared the meal with and we had a great discussion about which was the favourite. I think the duck wins the contest on points but, it was a close decision. The duck came away from the bone with ease and was accompanied by a perfect red curry. The poached chicken also rated highly and we were urged to convince Longrain to add a vegetarian option featuring the coconut sauce. There was also some drooling taking place when talking about the drunken noodles. Suffice to say diners were impressed.

Of course we were never going to leave without dessert but even I have to admit it went a little over the top. You should know what is coming for dessert. There is no going past the coconut sorbet and we all opted for that although the boys decided on one scoop of the sorbet and one of the Vietnamese coffee ice cream to be shared. The team at Longrain decided we had to try more so also arriving at the table was scoops of black sesame ice cream and hibiscus & raspberry sorbet to complete the ice-cream options. It didn’t stop there, burnt duck egg custard accompanied by blood plums and raspberry hibiscus sorbet and the Coconut pudding with mango mousse and black sticky rice sorbet also arrived. Spoonfuls were being tried by everyone as the dishes made their way around the table.

I love raspberries so the sorbet was thoroughly enjoyed, and the coffee ice cream was delightful. The burnt duck custard was a treat and the coconut pudding was yummy. Have to say I wasn’t quite convinced by the black sesame ice cream, it was interesting, but the others all loved it.

By the end of that we were all full but, we...

It’s been a couple of years between visits and the first impression they made upon arrival was abysmal. No one to greet you as you enter the restaurant so I loitered for a bit before tentatively venturing in. By the time someone appeared they attempted to unlock the iPad to find my reservation but didn’t know the passcode so off they went to find someone to advise and returned to try again.

This happened a further three times asking different people for the code on each trip before they eventually managed to unlock it (after accidentally setting it to camera mode and me helpfully advising how to turn it off). At this stage quite a queue had formed behind me and it struck me as quite clunky and unprofessional.

The bill came to around $115 a head for the banquet and two bottles of wine which is probably not too bad (if you are drinking the wine which I wasn’t but $89 for the food given we added the egg net) and I appreciated the way they made adjustments to the menu as typically when it’s a set menu I eat around my food requirements/preferences but when I advised them I didn’t eat oysters or pork they accommodated with different dishes that they accommodated the pescatarian and vegetarian with.

As we were a group of 8 the set menu was obligatory. As per my memory of the last visit the food is largely on the hot side but this was more my preferred spice level and absolutely delicious. Previously you could never book a table so I don’t know if this change was because it was a Tuesday night, we were a large group or due to covid but regardless it’s far more convenient.

Update My friend and I found ourselves at Longrain again but were sad to see it’s no longer in the entertainment book (which I should stop buying as I have not used it once). This is maybe the only hatted restaurant where you actually feel really full after. They don’t take bookings and you sit on communal tables but it is defintely worth it for this delicious modern Thai.

Penang curry was a tad hot luckily the cocktails are a pure delight (not to mention rather lethal) and the list is super-extensive. Order the banana leaf salmon. Do it

Original review Longrain is one of my friends favourite restaurants and whenever she is in town from interstate we tend to pay a visit. At over ten years old it was doing Asian fusion before all of the rest of Melbourne jumped on the bandwagon and it is still so iconic today that you will inevitably be waiting for a table regardless of what day it is.

I don't mind the wait so much as it has become a bit of a tradition for us to sip on a cocktail as we linger praying for someone to leave. Cocktail wise I favour the sweet fruitiness of the ping pong while my dining companion sticks to the freshness of the caiprioska. Both very tasty. I love the atmosphere which perfectly suits a special occasion or date night but works equally well for a dinner with friends (if you're friends are willing to spend up big on Thai that is).

The egg net is kind of obligatory but I personally adore the king prawns and the coconut poached chicken. So much delicious flavour it's actually insane. Do ask the waiters regarding the spice level of your chosen dishes if you can't tolerate a lot of heat because the food does tend to pack a punch (just order more cocktails). A beautiful space, seamless service and an...

We had a reservation for 11, we booked weeks in advance. As the hosts of this reservation, we were there on time and felt like we were at the wrong venue because there was no concierge at the Longrain entrance pedestal. The entrance sliding door was not open so we curiously opened it, stepped in slowly not sure if we are allowed to do that, saw a couple of diners but we were still not sure we are at the right place as we were not greeted by anyone. There was staff and what looked like a dusty pedestal for a concierge with a sofa type seating for guests to wait to be seated, so we stood there and waited. But nobody approached us. After what felt like 10 minutes of awkward standing and wondering, a staff member stood at another pedestal about 600 meters away from us, down a ramp style walk way leading further into the restaurant area where diners were seated. We were called towards her, which was odd, we had to approach her instead of her approaching us. We got seated at our table and while waiting for the rest of our party, we noticed there were coat hanging hooks mounted across the wall next to our table. We weren't sure if we should hang our coats there ourselves or whether those are meant for coats or just décor because nobody offered to take our coats. Dinner was served, food was great. But, at the end of the dinner service, we noticed the centre of the table rotated; this would have been so useful for us if someone from the staff told us this as we kept passing food across reaching over each other. When we were leaving, we noticed there were people's coats hanging on the wall coat hanging hooks and we all thought we were expected to do that ourselves, still not sure of that one. We assumed this was not "that type" of restaurant, and we expected the service would be reflected in the price but it was not the case. With what we paid, the service was not up to par. Nobody attending to us at the entrance, nobody taking our coats, nobody introducing the menu or what's going to happen, or even telling us about the centre of the table rotating made us feel like we should have only paid for the food, not the service. The food was great, but everything else made the experience less enjoyable. It felt like pieces of the puzzle were missing. We were lost and did not feel like we made reservations for a special dinning experience. I wouldn't recommend friends to come here for special occasions, just a casual dinner and that even with...