Jimmy Jamz, chilled pizza bar for all

JIMMY JAMZ
175-177 Lygon Street
East Brunswick 
T: 03 93880146
E: eastbrunswick@jimmyjamz.com
W: eastbrunswick.jimmyjamz.com
O.H: From 7:30am for brekkie- 
till late 7 days a week. 




A company of 3, we were there on a Wednesday evening to try what Jimmy  has to offer. This is 1 of the 2 of the JIMMY JAMZ, the other being in Elwood. It was rainy and we were hungry. Parked my car at the back and another friend took the tram up which was convenient from the city.

Right at the corner of Lygon and Glenlyon is where Jimmy resides. Easy not to miss it. In my head, I was already thinking about the Banana bomb dessert all along. But of course a meal first is more appropriate!

So looking through the extensive selection of gourmet pizza, I chose to have the Thai chicken, sweet chilli, fresh herbs, crushed peanuts & mozzarella pizza($9.90)!  Then I saw the rustic beetroot salad which I cannot say no to! wahahaha.

My other 2 companions ordered the Korean BBQ beef, capsicum, caramelised onion, Japanese mayo & mozzarella ($10.90), Sweet potato chips ($4.90) and Linguine with prawns, peas & mint. The food serving is not massive, but 'a just nice for one person' portion- We had altogether about 6 dishes and it was enough for sharing.

Everything looks good when served but the paper pasta don't looked that appetising- look below. Maybe its the appearance of the peas- i dont know. 

Silly enough, I forgot to take pictures of the other 2 pizzas as they were in our stomach before we knew it. 

Chilli Prawn Linguni Paper Pasta- $11.90

Banana Bomb - $7.90

Fluffy pizza dessert w/banana, walnuts, Vanilla Ice cream and maple syrup

Rustic beetroot with rocket feta & walnuts- $9.90

Overall, I had a fantastic time. Staff are friendly and helpful and great place to hang around for 3 hours to catch up with friends. My companion was very much obsessed with the sweet potato chips!:) I highly recommend the Banana bomb, rustic beetroot salad and the 2 pizzas!

UPSIDE
1) Super variety of Pizzas
2) Very Friendly staff- venue is children friendly
5) Many seats available. Big area. You can also probably booked the back courtyard for sunctions due to the sheer size of the place.
4) Bar available.

DOWNSIDE
1) One of the largest toilets I've been in, restaurant wise. But they are unisex ones. So, some dude before you may forget to put the toilet seat down or..... :P

Rate:
Price- medium
Food- 3.8/5
Service- 5/5
Ambiance- Contemporary/Modern/Chic Melbourne
Accessibility- 5/5

CHIN CHIN, Contemporary Thai with a twist!

CHIN CHIN RESTAURANT 
125 FLINDERS LANE 
TELEPHONE 8663 2000
OPEN 7 DAYS - LUNCH + DINNER
web: chinchinrestaurant.com.au

The name is catchy and the restaurant is definitely fancy. Newly opened since June 11', It has already garnered a steady number of clientale and followers. What strike me immediately when I walked into the restaurant was how it reminded me of COOKIE. At the same time, It also, like Cookie has a bar and serve Thai. It also sort of fused a lot of different Asian influenced into the cooking. As an Asian, I am always particular on how Australian cook Asian. I say in this situation, they did quite well.

3.5 of us went to have late lunch at CHIN CHIN on a weekday. The restaurant at 2pm, was still buzzing with people- corporates mainly, due to its placement. We were greeted by a super funky Asian maitre-D with a Punk Cropped hair and casual Punk attire. With a toddler in tow, she recommended us a big table with a little bit of moving space near the door. :)

When we were seated, we waited for the menu in which was only for drinks. It took us a while to realised that the thick Paper funky placemat has the menu on the other side. AAaaaaaahhh. I wondered why it was not flipped the other way so that we can see it?

After much browsing we decided to have a separate meal each although it is a sharing sort of restaurant. My friend ordered Chin Chin special Fried Rice with pineapple, the other Pad Thai with King Prawns, Banana Blossom and dried shrimps and me the Hobson's River Beef Brisket with Noodles and herbs. For starters we had Kingfish Sashimi with lime, chilli, coconut and basil.

Kingfish Sashimi with lime, chilli, coconut and basil 

The starter was exquisite. Such an odd combination sashimi: Japanese style raw fish drizzled with coconut cream with chilli and basil, all so well harmonised. We could actually taste all the flavours individually but enjoy it as a whole. This starters is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Hobson's River Beef Brisket with Noodles and herbs

 Chin Chin special Fried Rice with pineapple 

Basically, the fried rice is a typical Thai fried Rice, The Pad Thai is a pad thai but with ginormous prawns and the Beef brisket is also known as Sen Lek Neua- Typical Village Thai Beef Noodles but with a special beef from Hobson's river.

It took a while before our meal came, probably about 30 minutes, It was partially busy and perhaps most of the patrons are also busy socialising at the bar before their meal to notice the time. We wondered if there were only 2 chefs in the kitchen. When the food came, the presentation was beautiful. The amount is quite decent, perhaps designed more for tasting menu style. But the fired rice was quite substantial.

Palm Sugar Ice-cream Sunday with salted Honeycombe and Lime Syrup- 

It might not look like it but it is the bomb!

From the time I looked at the menu, I was already caught up with its desserts side. I so badly wanted to try its Palm Sugar Ice-cream Sunday with salted Honeycombe and Lime Syrup. O_M_G it was divine- so so decadent. Choosing Palm Sugar as an Ice cream flavour is so rad but adding salted Honeycombe? I was totally in love- currently it is quite IN for anything sweet with an addition of salt, like those crazy salted caramel. So this was a winner for me.- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

To conclude, I felt that the mains are contemporary version of the Classic Thai mains but its the experimental starter and dessert won me over. Will I come back? Yes, for desserts, coffee and perhaps light nibbling.

UPSIDE
1) Beautiful starters and dessert
2) Meal sharing concept
3) Funky Interior
4) Very Friendly staff- good with kids and toddlers

DOWNSIDE
1) Thai Mains were not adventurous enough for a funky contemporary thai fusion. If you expected proper THAI, go to a proper thai place.
2) Long wait for food to come- 30 mins, If you have hungry kids, not the place to go.

Rate:
Price- medium- high
Food- 3.8/5
Service- 4/5
Ambiance- Contemporary/Funky/Chic Melbourne
Accessibility- 5/5