David Thompson brought the heat back to Sydney in 2016 with Long Chim, his first Sydney restaurant since leaving the city in 2000.

Long Chim is his first Sydney restaurant since leaving for London in 2000 to open the Michelin star-winning Nahm, coming in after Long Chim Singapore and Perth. Like them, it’s a vast, dark, shadowy, industrial space with a street-market feel and striking wall art from Bangkok-based artist, Sath, with plenty of smoke issuing from the long, central kitchen.

Cocktail

มาลองชิม Maa Long Chim

A 9-course degustation menu from the kitchen.

หอยนางรม rock oysters fresh shucked shallots sriracha

เม็ดมะม่วงหิมพานทรงเครื่อง spicy cashews tamarind fish sauce chilli scallion

ขนมกุ้ยช่าย chive cakes dark soy garlic chillies

It tasted just like my mother’s koochay kueh that has been pan fried.

ปลาข้าวสารทอดกรอบสมุนไพร crunchy whitebait, herbs shallots chillies

I don’t think this would be considered whitebait, more like ikan bilis (anchovies). The combination of kaffir leaves and lemongrass and shallots packed some punch in flavours, but the overall textures were all too rough.

Duck larb, grilled chillies lime toasted rice

This is a classic Thai dish, minced meat (often chicken, beef or pork) is stir-fried with chillies, Thai basil and other aromatics.

Here, they used duck finely chopped and mixed with parsley and shallots, to be wrapped with cabbage like a spring roll. Very yummy.

แกงกะทิกุ้ง sour orange curry of ling fish , choy sum tomatoes

This was my least favourite among all the courses. It’s almost like assam fish,  which I find too sour.

ผัดผักบุ้งไฟแดง stir fried siamese watercress, garlic yellow beans

Stir-fry kangkong with fish sauce, garlic and bits of crackling. Nothing fancy, just solid execution.

Grilled beef 100 day grain fed 300g smoky tomato sauce

Too much meat by the time we reached this course. Again, I don’t really like this because there’s not BBQ taste or distinct flavours.

ข้าวเหนียวดําาตัด black sticky rice and coconut slice

Simple dessert to round up the dinner.

The Ambiance

Much care has been put into decorating this space to portray a street food feel to a sophisticated dining experience. The degustation menu was paced in a fact but good way to give you an authentic Thai dining experience. But it would be better if you have a bigger group for dining and then this space would really come alive. The best thing, however, is being able to cover the table with different dishes – wet, dry, sizzling, steamy, crunchy and soft – around a big bowl of jasmine rice.

Tanongsak is the artistic part of Long Chim while Chef David was the culinary part. With chefs Annita Potter and Matthew Albert in the kitchen, Thompson shakes us out of our comfort zone with the smoke and sizzle of the streets – not so much re-writing Thai dining, as restoring it.

The entrance felt more like the entrance to a nightclub than a gourmet restaurant.

The neon sign outside the door beckoned one to go in, just like the neon lights of Bangkok.

Overall, Angel Place has come alive in recent time, first with Mr Wong, and now Long Chim. There are many other new eateries that have sprung up too that worth a visit.

Long Chim Sydney
Corner Pitt Street & Angel Place, Sydney NSW 2000
Tel : 02 9223 7999

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Date Visited : May 2019