long chim perth

terrible, disgusting, dog food? i had green beef apple eggplant thai curry today from the long chim tuck shop for lunch. i can't eat it at all, it's all beef fat with no apple nor eggplant what it said in the menu list. perhaps you should name it as "beef fat" instead. $16 for that?? i even won't eat it for free! i even won't give it to my dog! can i get my money back, please...!!

if your idea of thai food is the typical bits of chicken floating in pale green coconut cream from the standard fair australian thai kitchen, then read no further - this restaurant is not for you.  i am a keen follower of david thompson's recipes and reproduce a good number of dishes from his books.  last night i finally got the opportunity to find out what the restaurant could teach me about how it should be done.  i went pre-prepared with a selection of 12 dishes (enough for 7-8 adults).  wow - it certainly was good!  a revelation on what thai food should be.  

we started with cocktails and i can recommend the tropical thunder (had to have two).  

the grilled chicken is crispy skinned, moist and delicious, a superb choice for those not too keen on chilli.  my 10 year old daughter is hooked and it's a recipe i'm keen to emulate at home.  the crispy prawns are exactly that and full of flavour but be prepared to eat the school prawns whole, the heads and shells are where the flavour really is, a point lost on many people i know.  the sour orange fish curry, the snapper tom yum, chinese brocolli & pork, roast pork and roast duck were absolute stand-outs.    the food makes your taste buds sing with fresh lime, mint, coriander, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce, palm sugar and of course chilli.  

the most important thing i think about this restaurant is that if the staff tell you a dish is hot, they mean just that. i like chilli and cook with it a lot but some of these dishes are not for the faint hearted - just as i've had them served to me by thai friends.  you may even need to take a turn outside to cool a sweated brow but let me assure you, if you like authentic thai food, this place is unmissable,  

the only thing i wouldn't order again were the beef skewers which were a touch bland and could have been more tender.  the baked prawns in glass noodles can be a trap when sharing with a large table - there are only three prawns.

at long chim if you find the fire too hot - you're in the wrong kitchen!  can't wait to go back!

my son and i opted for the $45 per head lunchtime set menu. this saved time poring over the a la carte menu and also allowed us to sample dishes we might not have tried otherwise. i confess to being a longtime fan of david thompson's tv persona which showcases his vast knowledge of thai culture and cuisine.

i believe that to truly appreciate mr thompson's genius, it probably helps (but is not essential) to have some experience of eating thai food in thailand. eating thai food in australia is not usually an authentic experience in the same way that eating indian or mexican in australia amounts to eating an interpretation of the real deal. eating versions of a cuisine can certainly be enjoyable.....very enjoyable in fact, but this is testament to the chef's skill, invention and knowledge of the target market, not authenticity.

as a thai restaurant, long chim is 'true to label' because of the esteemed owner's affinity for and deep knowledge of thai street food. yes, many of the dishes are liberally laced with radioactive chillis due to long chim's apparent philosophy that authenticity trumps mass appeal. if you want a western representation of thai cuisine, a folly that falls short of assaulting your tastebuds, not to mention your central nervous system, there are plenty of pseudo-thai alternatives. however, if you have experienced sitting on infant-sized plastic chairs in one of bangkok's insalubrious dark alleys, eating unrecognisable, yet obscenely flavoursome morsels, long chim actually provides an inexpensive and flight-free solution to rekindling such wonderful food memories.

crunchy prawns, beef skewers, glass noodle salad, pork & pineapple curry and stir fried cabbage provided everything thai food has the potential to offer. texture (especially crunch!), charcoal notes, acerbic citrus, sweet, salty and, of course, fiery! if this combination is perfectly balanced, the end result is 'flavour on steroids'. it was!

this gastronomic treat was completed by the thai coffee ice cream dessert. strong yet sweet coffee flavour offset by the textural accompaniment of peanuts, sweetcorn kernels and shaved coconut.

yes, we enjoyed our meal immensely but i believe that appreciation is enhanced if you have had experience of eating real thai food in thailand. david thompson wants his patrons to savour a real and ultimately more rewarding thai dining experience.

mission accomplished i say!

we booked a table of 8 for a birthday celebration. great venue and vibe. we ordered our drinks, a bottle of wine and four beers, ... and waited and waited... first negative. water arrived .. but i had to get up and replace the bottle. the maitre de observed this and responded with an apology ... good. we went for the banquet option ... bad choice. some guests found the food too hot. also a lack of variety and quantity. worst was when the sweets arrived. a dish was put on the table, but no plates to eat it. we waited, i complained again .. and plates we produced so we could eat the dish without using our fingers. complementary banana dish arrived. this is not a cheap restaurant.. the service, quantity and variety of the banquet has to improve. my local thai restaurant in subiaco does much better at way less than half the price.

absolutely amazing thai food. pricey but worth every cent for the amazing food, service and decor. i have never tasted thai food as good as this in australia. they are not shy on the spice which is how it should be, nothing is toned down for the australian palate unlike many other thai restaurants. the chiang mai chicken larb packs a real spicy punch, but the flavour is outstanding. every dish is modern but authentic, a top class experience.

food was very tasty indeed. ordered prawn and fish curry laksa. hardly any prawns, merely pieces of it. but very delicious! dessert was reduced coconut cream with palm sugar and grated coconut. this was the highlight of the outing. absolutely amazing!
for thai cuisine the menu is exceptionally pricey! the service was lacking but the ambiance and deco was spot on.
6 out of 10

nice thai food and good ambience. was buzzing on a friday night. it is in the new como the treasury building in the basement. try the prawns and coconut drink

the ambience/decor/look of the place is 10/10. it's definitely a place you'd go if you wanted to impress someone. the food is also fabulous. my partner and i are used to asking for extra chilli at most restaurants, but all the dishes we ordered had a good amount of heat (but if you prefer your food milder, the staff will warn you, and i'm sure they would be happy to accommodate). we got this little condiments tray with dried chilli, chilli oil, fish sauce and sugar, so you could balance out your dish however you prefer it. yes it is a little on the pricy side, the portions are pretty small, but we left happy.

i love thai food. and this defenitly my favorite thai place in perth. although their food is a bit pricey, but it worth the price. service was great and staffs were friendly.

had lunch with hubby and loved it. we had the $68 set menu and it was a delightful way to taste various dishes. the crispy prawn starter is a lovely dish. the northern pork curry was my favourite main dish. liked the atmosphere and the wait staff are very professional.
would definitely go again.

a fancy place with nice decor and atmosphere. the food is ok. you're paying premium price for the ambiance rather than for the food. many less fancy thai restaurants serves equally good food but this is where you go if you want to impress someone.

food is good but the dining experience wanting. it is thai street food at thai street ambience but at fine dining prices. service staff were lovely but seemed to be harried. too eager to clear dishes even though we had not finished. some of us even had sauces spilled on us. i expect this to happen if we're truly hawker dining but mr thompson not what we were expecting at those prices. veggie choices also very limited. music was way too loud and the group could not enjoy idle chatter. maybe this was a tactic to get us to eat and scoot. politely refused dessert and enjoyed a quiet cuppa and cake at koko black after.

after hearing about how great there laksa was...decided to visit this place and give it a go...very nice and modern venu...good vibe...nice staff...had the chilli prawns and pork skewers as entré...very tasty! prom skewers quite small for the price...orders pad thai and the laksa for main...pad thai nice...nothing amazing...on the other hand the laksa to me was a let down...it looked like a very heavy red curry...very pasty...didn't enjoy the flavours at all...barely ate it unfortunately...would return to try other dishes but will definitely not get the laksa

much better than expected, great flavours and decent portions for the set menu, good and quick service, great that spiciness and heat are turned up high as opposed to many places. the staff do warn punters how hot some dishes are, yet the homebrewing bore sitting next to us still had a winge about it.
overall, reccommend

worst service i've ever had in perth! booked an early sitting at 6.30pm and were told we needed to be out by 8.30 - no problem. however, after we were seated we weren't given menus for over an hour despite asking passing wait staff multiple times. water or drinks never arrived. finally got entres at 8pm then before our mains arrived we were told we had to move to the bar to let the next group in. we were seated next to the drinks service area for our mains and constantly had to move to let wait staff pass. after that we were ignored for the rest of the night.