Chin’s Noodle House

Like a trip back in time to a suburban Australian Chinese restaurant of yester year. Recently, some friends chose (to time travel to) Chin’s as the venue for a mid-​week birthday celebration so who was I to object. They’d had good experiences here & as we entered, the other diners (largely families) seemed happy too. However, the hungry birthday girl & co. were left waiting a very long time and when orders were eventually taken, we discovered even the tofu had animal ingredients in it??? All I can say is I’m glad this place makes so many others happy. However, luckily I can make quicker, better & more affordable Chinese food at home

After being a regular at the Emperor’s Kitchen next door for years and having never gone next door to Chin’s Noodle House, we decided to give Chin’s a crack after reading similar reviews to the opposition and competition.
We had guests over from Queensland that we always dine out with in excellent Chinese restaurants when we’re over their side of the country, so it was a bit of a gamble but seeing Chin’s expansion over the years, taking over the pool shop and seeing that it’s usually quite busy, we thought that was a good indication of the food they delivered.
Well. I must say it was a mistake going next door and I felt like I’d betrayed the Emperor’s Kitchen the whole time eating the meal, as they’ve always been so loyal and great for me. By no means is it perfect but the quality of food is far superior to that of Chin’s.
We had some regular go-​to Chinese restaurant faves like Sweet and Sour Pork, Combination Chow Mein, Mongolian Lamb, Sizzling Beef, Garlic Prawns, Squid Tentacles and Duck and threw a curveball with the Fried Kway Teow.
I can say that the Sweet and Sour was nice but could have been a little bit crispier, given it was straight from the kitchen and that next door’s version, is still crispy by the time we get home.
The Garlic Prawns were also good, cooked nicely and a good size but perhaps a bit stingey on the prawns to vege ratio.
I enjoyed the duck but it lacked a crispy skin and the fat wasn’t rendered as well as you’d expect. The sauce was a little lack lustre too.
The Squid Tentacles were okay but had way too much batter and not even in the same league as the ones next door.
The Sizzling Beef and Mongolian Lamb weren’t bad but with such an easy dish, they both lacked flavour.
Now that brings me to the Kway Teow. That was very ordinary but what people must know and why I call this a curveball, is that it is extremely rare to find good Kway Teow at a Chinese restaurant, as it’s usually the domain of a Singaporean or Malay venue, so I don’t expect too much when ordering but every now and again I’ll stumble across one that does.
The Combination Chow Mein was terrible. If you ask for it Hong Kong style, next door at the Emperor’s Kitchen, you will get something truly superb. Chin’s version is literally the worst I’ve ever eaten.
Lastly Chin’s lacked the cornerstone and foundation of all good Chinese cooking, Wok Hei. Wok Hei is known as the Wok’s Breath or the taste that is a flavour of it’s own, much like Umami. It is the flavour that you get off an extremely hot wok and is the trademark of a good Chinese chef. People often wonder what the flavour is that’s missing when they go to a not so good Chinese restaurant and that is is. There is an art to doing it but without it, you might as well eat at home because it can be hard to replicate at home without the extremely high heat of an industrial gas burner.
I personally don’t understand how Chin’s can be twice or three times the size of the Emperor’s Kitchen given the food that we ate that night but in saying that, looking at the clientele on that night there wasn’t many Asian customers and that is usually the hallmark of a good Chinese restaurant.
Cheers!
Dave.

went there for lunch and I ordered roast duck noodle dry. Price very expensive and tasteless.

It might be a 10 – 15 minute drive from me but Chin’s has become my ‘go-​to’ Chinese takeaway restaurant of choice. We’ve never had a bad dish from there, and we’ve had chicken, duck, lamb, beef, pork and noodles and we’ve given every dish so far a thumbs up! The restaurant always looks completely full on weekend nights, and even at 5pm on a weeknight when we’ve been there it was close to half full. A busy restaurant is always a good sign to me! As with many Chinese restaurants there is an extensive menu, and there is still much for us to try, but the roast chicken, boneless duck, and sweet and sour pork are our favourites.

We started with yum cha dishes. The moved to ala carte dishes. Our host had preordered the 8 treasure duck. This duck is stuffed with mushrooms, herbs, chestnuts, vegetables. Then cooked to tenderness. Very busy as we were there for Sunday lunch. Would come back again for the yum cha. If you can’t finish the food they give you a take away container.

Ahhh Chin you are good !!!
I came here for Dim Sum for the first time on the long weekend. (it was also open on the public holiday-​BONUS). We reserve a table for 6 earlier in the day and went in start our feast. The trolleys came round and we ordered pretty much everything that was there, including tea and drinks for us all. We had 3 guys with us — I’m only mentioning this because they eat A LOT. Every single one of us were struggling to finish what was on our lazy susan. All of the dim sum was pretty tasty and I can’t wait to go back. Pretty well priced too as it only came to $ 22 each.
It took us a while to get served at first but after that the staff were coming around all the time and were very happy and friendly.

Oh Chins. How I miss you! This used to be my favourite place to go when I lived with my parents in Leeming. We used to order here at least 3x a month. They’ve always been consistent with food quality and quantity! They’ve become crazy busy now since they expanded to the shop next door. But even with all the customers, we’ve never waited more than 20mins for takeaway.
Make sure to try the special fried rice, crispy roast chicken and the roast pork. Sooo good! And great prices! Can feed a family of 6 for $ 80 with leftovers :)

As some of you may not know, every Chinese restaurant will have its special. One Chinese restaurant might be amazing at one thing, but below average on others. For Chin’s, I’d say its the roast-​meat related dishes. This includes roast duck (TIP: ask for the roast duck to be de-​boned if you don’t like effort, and sauce separate to prevent soggyness), and the crispy roast pork (TIP: once again, ask for separate sauce to ensure the crackling is not soggy). I would stick to these dishes, and maybe a dish or two of the garlic vegies or Japanese tofu (average).
The one downside to being such a long-​term customer, is that you can see a restaurant slowly increase its prices, and Chin’s has unfortunately suffered that fate… Although it seems this has not deterred their customer base, who constantly pack-​out the joint every weekend dinner (TIP: Ring ahead and book. Unless you like queues). This place (like most Chinese restaurants) allow BYO alcohol — so go ahead and bring your 6-​pack of beer or bottle (s) of wine. Sound absorbent ceilings have just been installed (thank-​god) which takes a few decibels off the noise, but just a warning, you may find yourself yelling across the dinner table on a busy night.
SUMMARY: Great place to get tipsy and eat some nice roast meats. The price rise though, takes off a star for my review. It hurts the bank a little… but worth it.

Chin’s Noodle House located in the bumpin’ district of Leeming has several Unilocal reviews rating the Chinese restuarant quite highly. With Chin’s current renovations, installing new storefront graphics and expanding to offering yum cha, it appears Chin’s has quite a Leeming following.
Unfortunately, I (nor my dining partner) wasn’t as impressed as initially hoped for. The fried wonton’s filling was of the same consistency of a chico roll. It was very similar to sausage with a random scallion here and there. I didn’t enjoy the specialty fried rice either, as it had the same sausage-​like meat as well.
I did find the sweet and sour chicken to be okay. It was white chicken and didn’t have any mystery bits but I noted the pineapple was scarce. All in all the staff was friendly, the place was consistently busy and appeared clean. I didn’t find the food to be worthy of a 2^nd visit but Leeming may disagree.
I was left with this question though, why no knives?

Great service and the food came out in a timely manner.
Had the thee course Peking duck which was great.

I love the food at Chin’s. I have always been satisfied with the quality of the food and have always left with a full, satisfied belly.
The waiters are efficient and bring your food out rather quickly. I normally go with a group of friends, and we tend to order a lot of different dishes. This way we can try a lot of dishes and it is never dull.
We always finish off with dessert and coffee, and this does not disappoint either.
The price is good, considering you can eat so much, and you get a lot for your money.
There is quite a lot of parking in front of Chin’s, but should this be full, there is parking in the adjacent shopping centre car park.