I am a real sucker for hype. Especially when it comes to foodie hypes, I tend to hype about hypes. Sometimes it can get out of control, making the actual foodie experience disappointingly underwhelming. When you allow your imagination to run amok, feeding off from various reviews and Urbanspoon ravings, it can sometimes get a bit out of hand. 

I had ample advice about Chin Chin before finally experiencing the hype last Saturday night. Most food blogs I follow generally gave thumbs up to this new Flinders Lane haunt, but speaking to friends and colleagues about my excitement in trying Chin Chin, I was advised not to expect too much of a WOW factor from the establishment.

Thus rocking up a little before 7pm on a Saturday night, I was somewhat glad that the infamous queue was more or less non-existent and I had no difficulty in locating 2 seats at the bar for myself and my friend.

The atmosphere was relaxed and bubbly filled to the brim with conversation, I felt somewhat out of place while I sat silently waiting for B….and took a few hipstamatics with my phone to kill time.

From the extensive drink list I decided to order the coconut ice which has a different flavour added to the concoction every night. Mine arrived scented heavily with apple and mint.

Coconut Ice of the Day - with Apple syrup and Mint 

 B rocked up 30minutes later, by when I had already settled comfortably at the bar, gazing lazily at the bartenders prepare cocktails and occasionally show off their throwing skills by sending empty coconut ice containers through the air from one end of the bar to the other. B decides to

be a copycat and order the same drink as we poured over the menu

spicy eggnet omlette rolls with spanner crab & chilli jam  ($12.00)

 The egg nets arrived shortly after B’s coconut ice. It was a fascinating thing to look at, and an even more fascinating thing to taste. The dry crispy egg casing contrasted brilliantly against the fresh and flavoursome spanner crab salad.

Chicken wings ($12.00)

The chicken wings were probably the WOW dish of the evening. I honestly believed that

B did a shitty job with his order and had no expectations what so ever for them, but they were
absolutely delish when they arrived. Crispy on the outside and uttermost tender and juicy on the
inside. The flavours made me reminiscence the fried chicken sold on the side of the road in
chinese cities, the type that is highly likely to cause one form of food poisoning or another.

Salt & pepper crusted soft shell crab with green papaya salad & Nahm jim ($23.00)

 The service was fast and efficient at Chin Chin and even though it was full house the entire time we were there, the remaining two dishes arrived shortly after we got our hands dirty with the

yummy wings. 

 B’s baby crab, so cute but B ain’t showing any mercy...nomnomnnomm...

Caramelised sticky pork with siamese water cress ($24.00)

The sticky pork was tender and the flavours were well balanced between sweet and

sour. The salad component (I assume it was the siamese water cress) that gave such an

intense hit of sudden spiciness that made both B and I simultaneously grabbed our glasses of 
water. 

Happy Happy Joy Joy indeed :)

There were plenty of items on the menu that would lure me back for a second visit in the near

future. As for the hype surrounding this new foodie destination in Flinders Lane, I think it should

shift some of the limelight towards the awesome dining atmosphere that Chris Lucas has managed to create in this establishment. The food is more than decent, the atmosphere is fun, an after work drinks/dinner visit is going to be on my agenda. 

125 Flinders Lane 

Melbourne, 3000(03) 8663 2000
www.chinchinrestaurant.com.au