BY YOUR CHINNY CHIN CHIN

Chin Chin:

125 Flinders Lane, Melbourne VIC
www.chinchinrestaurant.com.au

I imagine Chris Lucas sitting cross-legged, chin-stroking Monkey-style, pondering how he was going to import the simple naivety of South East Asian eating houses and still have it fall within the Lucas lexicon. By the hair of his chinny chin chin, Lucas realised the only real way to do that is keep it cheap. And with a $5 starting price, it ain’t one-dollar noodle cheap, but it’s pretty good for one of Melbourne’s best restaurateurs. It’s a mixed bag of South East Asian fare, from Bangkok to Bangalore chef Andrew Gimber (ex Jimmy Liks) serves food all day from 11am to the wee hours, which everyone knows is the best time to consume Asian food — all day that is. There are DIY pork roll ups, and Asian soups for a Melbourne winter. And apparently Ben Cooper (ex St Ali, MoPho) has jumped on board too. Chin Chin is in the old Icon nightclub site, was designed by Projects of Imagination and is right in the middle of what is fast becoming Melbourne’s coolest dining precinct — up the top of Flinders Lane.