Chi and Co

I don’t even remember how I stumbled upon this place… I think I was just looking up random restaurants to try out west and came about this one. Then I noticed it in this years’ version of Good Food Under $ 30 Guide.
Decision made.
Didn’t come with any expectations but upon entering it feels like you’re transported to Surry Hills or Newtown. The décor is pretty sweet, along with DOUBLE RAINBOW ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE SKY!!!
This place kind of reminds me of Chin Chin in Melbourne (but with less wait) and better, only because I didn’t have crazy high expectations.
Service was quick and everyone was pleasant, on top of that the food came out fast.
The idea is sharing, so there are several tapas style plates and then the mains are also great for sharing.
We ordered the scallops, spanner crab, fried chicken sliders, their signature salt and pepper soft shell crab and xo pork belly.
Everything was pretty damn delicious… delicious enough I really want to come back to try the other items on their menu and to drag a group of friends from the CBD so we could eat more things. This will take convincing.
Cocktails were pretty good too.
Great place for a group of friends or for a date.

Funky place

Any restaurant with the sign «double rainbow all the way across the sky» automatically gets a 5/​5/​from me.
What they’ve done with the space is pretty funky. Great atmosphere. Definitely didn’t expect to find a place like this in Canley Heights.
I’m a fan of menus that tell you straight up what the dish is. For entrée we ordered the «awesome fried stuffed eggplant» and it really was awesome. The mains were a bit ordinary but I was still distracted by the double rainbow. So intense.

what a surprise to find this very modern restaurant in a side street of canley vale, the $ 50 banquet had plenty of dishes to try, my favourite would have been the egg plant with the soft shell crab coming in second, they have a pretty extensive cocktail list, I had a ping pong, which is a lychee flavored cocktail and was pretty yum.

What a trendy place Canley Heights is now!
Chi Chi’s address is Canley Vale rd but the entry is actually around the corner on Derby St.
We had a group of 6 and love to try different dishes so we had the $ 50 share banquet. Everything was delicious and I think the best course was the desserts.
Staff were very helpful and friendly but at times a little over enthusiastic to collect plates and glasses. At times I felt like I was surrounded by seagulls.
Loved this place and defiantly will be returning.

Oh my giddy Aunt…
This is exactly what this area needs. It’s the Inner West without having to trek out to the Inner West.
We initially drove to Canley Heights to go to another restaurant, but this one caught our eye. It’s funky interior design, low lighting and full bar were definitely eye catching!
We were welcomed and seated straight away. For a Tuesday night there were quite a few diners in the house. Our lovely waitress recommended a few cocktails we might like and left us to peruse the amazing menu. There was soft music playing the background so you could still enjoy a conversation and tables were spaced apart so you could also enjoy some privacy.
The menu is seasonal and changes depending what is available and what is freshest. We chose the Shaken beef (a.k.a Bo lo lac) — wok tossed beef cube in aromatic garlic & pepper served with watercress salad and Saigon Bo Kho — braised beef with Vietnamese spices with a serving of Jasmine Rice to share.
As I said… oh my giddy Aunt. The meat in the Saigon Bo Kho just broke away with my fork, it was braised to perfection and had soaked up all that delicious sauce. There was a delectable punch of coriander as well. The Shaken beef was also brilliant, the meat wasn’t chewy as stirt fry’s so often are. It was rare in the middle and just a pleasure to eat.
For desert we ordered at first a Tapioca shot and the kafir lime crème brule with coconut ice-​cream. Best Crème Brule I’ve ever had. It was for lack of a better word — amazeballs. I tasted my friends Tapioca shot and needed to order one myself! After another quick glance my friend ordered the Panna cotta with mixed berries. YUM! The deserts were sweet, but not too heavy so we didn’t feel sick afterwards having had two!
I cannot speak highly enough of the staff. They were so accommodating and just friendly! I miss friendly service like this in the city. These guys are working hard at building a customer base and really do value your opinion and feedback.
This is the perfect place for a night out with girlfriends without the inflated prices of the inner west and the hassle of getting home! Long lunches or dinners are perfectly suited to ChiChi. We will be back to sample the amazing cocktails during happy hour and to eventually work through the desert menu!

It takes lots of balls (solid gold balls I might add) to open a cavernous industrial warehouse styled space, complete with a cocktail bar and manga motifs off the main dining strip. Even hipsters might stop and admire those wooden bar stools and consider adopting one as a child — it’s an impressive fit-​out. But where’s the balls in serving same-​same Vietnamese fare on fancy plates and Chieu Duong newspaper at exxy prices?
The clunky menu tries to explore the flavours of South East Asia, but like a boozy Contiki tour, the choices are so overwhelming and you kinda forget the highlights. Not that there are many highlights, I mean the cocktails on offer are more befitting to a RSL than a modern Asian eatery (Manhattan anyone?) and there’s not one killer dish that you can tweet about. Even the pubescent staff, keen as fans at a Bieber concert, are finding their feet trying to sell the menu — it’s a tough ask justifying summer rolls at $ 10 a pop, even if they flutter their Maybelline eyelashes.
The best way of describing Chi Chis is to think of it like a multi-​million dollar kung-​fu action blockbuster with sissy casting. So instead of Van Damme fly kicking the bad guys groin regions, you get Justin Bieber combing his perfect hair in front of a mirror: it’s pretty and all, but it lacks balls in the food and drink department to make it a re-​run classic.
Enough of the groin talk — more action!