Friday, January 15, 2016

Melbourne - To Eat 13Jan2016 (Spicy Tongue, Chin Chin)

Melbourne - To Stay
Melbourne - To Do
Melbourne - To Eat
Melbourne - To Eat

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Spicy Tongue
1km/13min walk from Rezdvous Hotel

Importantly, this place opens till late.12pm on our visit on Wednesday.


A hot evening of 33degree C in Melbourne and a late night check-in drove us to find
somewhere with working Air-conditioning and late night eats!
Ordered On:
13Jan2016
Garlic Prawns AUD26.80

*An alright dish. The consistency of the sauce was good, with the right amount of starch
to ensure everything is coated evenly.*
Sweet and Sour Chicken AUD17.50


*Good fry on the tender chickens with a very generous serving of capsicums' pineapple and onion. The sour really came through and had the nice zing to it. A fantastic balance with the sweet. A good order*
Coke

Serves cold tap water.Total: 51.10AUD Fed2


Large portions here. In all honesty, the chicken dish alone could have fed two. The place had a nice vibe to it, nice and spacious. Their table side chili was more black pepper spice that the usual aromatics and spice given off by Sichuan Chili. A little disappointing in that aspect. Other than that, pretty okay Chinese food in the heart of china town. The place says its actually known for their dumplings.
Click here for Stalactites (Melbourne) for a 24hr solid Shwarama (Often meat wrappedwith spit fire roasted meats and vegetables with array of sauces) joint!
Best Shwarama joint goes to Middle East (Auckland)

Chin Chin
170m/3min walk from Hyatt Hotel!


Located right beside Hilton Hotel, Chin Chin has a cool, pseudo industrial, artsy vibe to it, that serves up, Asian-Fusion food. Although it's advertised as Chinese fusion, it's flavor profile seems to stem from Thai/Malaysian and Vietnamese influence with the use of basil, lemongrass, chilies, limau purut (type of leaf) and tamarind. But not to worry, its not fusion confusion here, but fusion done right!
ABBA Tip:
NEEDs Kha-Khis! (Singapore slang for buddies)
Ordered On:
14Jan2016
Chin Chin Pork "Roll Ups" red braised suckling pig,
pancakes & Asian Herbs AUD19.50


*The "Peiking Duck" style of pulled pork with traditional vegetables often found with Vietnamese Beef noodles was really refreshing. An interesting balance with the extra flavor derived from the fat found in the pulled pork. The meat is balanced nicely against the sweet sauce with fresh bean sprouts and basil, to bring the much needed freshness to the dish. A good starter with elements I'd love to incorporate into on my own meals.*

Rendang Curry of Braised Great Southern Pinnacle Waygu Beef, cumin, coriander
and toasted coconut AUD24.50

 *A very familiar and homely dish that's very well elevated. In no way does it loose out to any beef Rendang found in South East Asia! Tender meat morsels that isn't dried out or chewy! Smartly balanced spices which get it just right and I'd say definitely give Malaysian home cooks and recipes a run for its money. The drizzle of coconut
milk really brings that 'light' richness and the fried sweet coconut in the renag delivers the
sweetness and a textural element. The topping of Limau Purut really is the additonal X-factor to this homely dish. The only draw back it's that its a little bit salty, but it pairs beautifully with the
pain white rice. An impressively well balance dish, elevated and well worth the order! See for yourself!*
Crying Tiger - BBQ Sher Waygu Chilli Tamarind,
roasted rice, glass noodles and mint AUD29
 
*The char and flavor from the Waygu really came through. Worth the order and you can't deny the quality meat. Well spiced and seasoned with its own slight twist on traditional Thai beef salad with glass Noodels. Crying for more? Definately for the char flavor Waygu!*
 Crispy Barramundi & Green Apple Salad with Caramelized pork, peanuts chili and
lemongrass AUD28.50


*Interesting good. The Barramundi was nicely fried, but what stood out for me was the
braised sweet pork with the crushed nuts and fried onion sprinkled over. Another
successful twist that worked out well. Apple salad is traditional had with pulled pork, so it's
another classic pairing with pork prepared a little differently. Good but not like wow with the Rendang reviewed above.*
Carmalized sticky pork, sour herb salad and chili vinegar AUD26

*Probably the only dish that lack luster. A pretty decent size slab of pork, slowly braised with the
similar sweet and sour combination. Nothing really spectacular and looses out to the
previous pork dish.*
Fed4.
Each paying approximately 32AUD (no wine) and about  42AUD (with wine.)


Jumping at the opportunity of company and economies of scale, this place is well worth the visit! Good food and deserving of the price. (It does help as it is an almost 1-1exchange with the SGD). Rarely am going for Chinese food overseas, but this is worth the try. There are many more options down the menu that piqued our interest but due to limited space and people  these were the few we stuck with.

A common theme we realized was for the dishes we ordered, they were mainly the play on sour and sweet, with basil, mint and peanuts a common theme and ingredient. We're not too sure if this is repeated throughout the rest of the menu. But it is worth to come here, especially in a group and am intrigued to try the rest of their dishes! Some critique, staff on hand was a little too eager with clearing the dishes. So make sure you are totally done with whatever is on the plate or else its gonnnneee... 
Click here for ABBA location of Chin Chin, Australia 125 Flinders Lane, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia

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