I was so looking forward to this place but unfortunately my visit here was a disappointment. Yes, they have good food but there are other restaurants that offer very similar if not better meals, and I’d prefer my serving of pork belly without the smother of pretentiousness thank you.
I found what really let this place down for me was the attitude of the staff. Making guests feel like they should be lucky to have the privilege of dining here… come on. We went on a Friday night; we put our names down at 6pm and were told there would be a 1.5-2 hour wait. We were prepared to wait for this amount of time. We waited down stairs in the bar and had some drinks although when I wanted to pay for these with cash, I was consistently pushed to leave my credit card with them since ‘that’s how we do things here, and when you’re ready to pay for your meal upstairs we just transfer your card upstairs’ again, I said I did not want to do this but the waiter insisted. Alrighty then…
It was 7.45 when we thought we would see how many people were in front of us waiting to be seated before ordering another round of drinks, but when we politely asked the man taking the bookings he abruptly replied ‘I told you 1.5-2 hours and its only been an hour and forty-five minutes’, Sheesh. However he continued to say there were only three people in front of us and it would only be another 10-15 minutes. So we returned to the bar. It wasn’t until another forty-five minutes later that we were seated. When we were seated, we saw that the tables are pushed together so closely along the side of the wall that the people sitting on either side of us kept apologizing as it was a combined two table effort whenever someone got up from their seat and had to squeeze through between the tables. It was extremely hard to get the attention of wait staff. I understand it is a busy place but when people are waiting two hours just for a seat they shouldn’t need to wait too another ridiculous amount just to be served. When a waiter asks you if you ‘understand the menu’ you would think they would explain things that are not clear on the menu. Though never was it explained that many items on the menu are d.i.y. It’s a shame that the hype of this place did not live up to the actual experience and it seems that this place knows all too well about its hype and as a result has let its service standards fall to the wayside. I would like to return to give this place another go, but not if they don’t pick up their game.
My review was based on my experience and as I said, I would consider giving Chin Chin another go but until then, I would suggest if you want to give it a try for yourself, go if you are in the area during a less busier time, say a Weekday lunch (or even dinner) or Sunday lunch and hopefully you won’t have to endure a long wait. The venue itself is funky and exciting and because the food is not your typical High st Chinese cuisine, I would even dare to take a friend here who may not normally like Chinese food, but is up for trying something a little different. Chin Chin would make an impressive weeknight date or a good choice for celebrating a birthday with friends during the week with their small share plates perfect for grazing on in groups, and the best way to try lots of different dishes!
