Long Chim

Long Chim is the new kid on the block - surrounded by the type of hype and publicity that's expected when one starts paying the exuberant rent of waterfront Southbank, it is fair to say that there was a buzz of excitement on walking in.  Unfortunately, if I had to sum up Long Chim in a word it would be "disappointing". The venue itself is pretty incredible - offering upstairs, downstairs or patio seating - it's the perfect spot to watch Southbank wander by or the fire show Crown puts on every hour. But the up-sides pretty much end there.

 Firstly, the service isn't great. Being the first one to arrive for our booking, I was told to walk up the stairs to find our table - on there being no free tables (and no one to assist), I walked backed down the stairs to see what was going on. I was then told to walk back up the stairs as my table was supposably on the left - so I walked back up the stairs - no free table, so went back down the stairs. This time, I made someone walk up the stairs with me to show me where my table was and surprise, surprise, there wasn't a free table for me. 5 minutes later I was seated on the patio - at least I had worked up an appetite.

The next person of our booking arrives - but we are still waiting on one more. Nonetheless, a waitress comes over to start walking us through the menu and tells us what the specials are. On telling her that we were still waiting for one more (who was only 5 minutes late), that still didn't stop her - she was obviously expecting us to pass on this information to our third diner of that night.

Secondly, don't go to Long Chim if you're on a budget.  I'm talking $30 for stir fried Chinese broccoli.  And yes, whilst I don't usually shy away from spending my pay check on food, you at least want it to be delicious. Unfortunately that wasn't the case here.

The chive cakes ($18) were doughy and flavourless.  The only redeeming feature of the plate was the sauce - but there was definitely not enough of it to save these tasteless morsels.

The mashed prawns in the Mashed Prawn Curry ($38) was obviously just an excuse to get away with serving up just one prawn cut into tiny little pieces in a near $40 bowl of curry.

The prawns in the Pad Thai ($34) were overcooked - which was a shame as the noodles were otherwise delicious.

The flavours in the grilled lamb ribs ($38) were exceptional and paired beautifully with the pickles on the plate.  The meat, however, was tough and was definitely didn't want to come off the bone.

Long Chim - you better pick up your game because at this rate I will not be back.

Food: 2/5
Service: 1.5/5
Venue: 4/5
Total: 7.5/15
Verdict: Don't bother - it's not worth the price tag.