Longrain

10th December 2011

On a Saturday night i headed into the city to complete the penultimate item on my list and had dinner at Longrain. Heading in at 6pm i was expecting a wait in the queue for a later time but to my surprise (and some of the staff) the restaurant was only half full although it would still be almost full by 7pm. Moving into a dark, dimly lit dining room i was greeted by pleasant staff and invited to take a seat at the bar (although the long share tables were free). Part restaurant and part club and cocktail bar space, i was greeted with three menus as i sat down - a one page specials menu, a 2 page regular dinner menu and an extensive cocktail and drinks menu.

Looking through the drinks list i settled on a cocktail called Rose Porteous. A very Asian inspired cocktail with smashed watermelon and some herbs. It had good flavours and wasn't ridiculously potent.

For the food i decided on 2 main course dishes and the waiter suggested that i have half serves of these dishes. Normally i would not be phased by the large portions but went with his advise. I was reasonably glad i did as the portion sizes were very substantial (even the half serve) and i definitely wouldn't have had room for desert. On a small note the second main course came out before i had finished the first which was a little disappointing but it did not get too cold before i moved on to it.

The first course i had was the Egg Net. Cooked egg woven into the shape of a net and filled completely with a mix of bamboo shoots, pork, plump prawns, peanuts and chewy delicious caramelised coconut with a reasonable but not overpowering hit of chili and a cucumber relish to cool it off. Bold flavours, ample portion size and quality ingredients this was a winner.

The next up was the Wagyu beef stir fried with snake beans & caramelised chili. Big flat pieces of stir fried beef with a thick sauce and a very decent chili hit and served with a side of fluffy white rice. Quality ingredients and cooking.

I also had a second cocktail with this course which was a Turkish Martini. Filled with rose water syrup and containing white chocolate liquor and infused vodka it was quality but not quite as good as at MoMo.

The final part of my dinner was desert and consisted of a Taro and Coconut pudding which was rich and dense and full of flavour and topped off a healthy serve of palm sugar ice cream. Bold flavours that worked well together and made for a surprisingly quality desert.

Overall the food, cocktails and overall atmosphere and service was all top notch. Definitely preferred this Thai restaurant to Paladarr and the top Thai restaurant in Melbourne i have been to.