Had an extremely wonderful dinner at this place. We were a group of 6 plus 3 kids and although the sitting was quite tight it didn't stop us from having a good time at the restaurant. The wait staff was well attained and was quick to take our orders etc.
The food took a little while to come, would have liked it to come a bit sooner. The pad Thai options were very strong and different, sharing dishes were quite sizeable, and the ones we ordered were great. Only thing is they don't have a dessert menu. Will be back again for more!
This is some seriously tasty, fragrant, yummy food. The prawns and kingfish enters were great, the pork belly was good and the beef cheek green curry was melt-in-your-mouth delish. Service was friendly and the beer was cold.
I love this restaurant. As far as Thai goes in Fitzroy, this is definitely the most authentic, and yet it still fits in as a Melbourne restaurant. Very friendly staff and a great place to sit at the bar as well as eat out for dinner. Nothing is as good as eating Thai food in Thailand but this is the next best thing.
The ambience is modern and relaxed. Designed by Studio Equator, the beautiful space is anchored by the reptilian central bar covered in scale-shaped turquoise tiles, while the vaulted exposed beams down the length of the dining room draw diners’ eyes to the Chalawan Crocodile King mural on the back wall.
Incredible. If you're after a place for a relatively quiet bar-setting date with drinks and amazing tapas styled dishes, Chalawan is a fantastic choice. We had the Fried calamari with salted egg aioli, Miang Betel Leaf with fresh herbs & coconut caramel sauce, and the Beef Fondue with herbs. The Beef fondue was to die for, so good. The tom yum was also very concentrated and herbs we don't often find in all Thai restaurants. Love how they sliced the oyster mushrooms in a way that made you think abalone or shellfish. It also absorbed the flavour so well. The crab curry (Gaeng Poo) was well balanced between the sweetness of apricots and citrusy lemon grass and kaffir like leaves. Now awaiting dessert, can't even wait to write about it already.. ✌🏼
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Surprised by the poor reviews below considering this one of the best Thai meals I have ever eaten!
We did end up over ordering (a little annoyed with the waitress as I asked if we had ordered too much and her indication was 'no') but mainly due to the fact the portions are very generous. 5 people did not need 3 rice (twice as big as most restaurants) and ordered one too many mains (although we still ate it!).
Starters: Chicken wings simple with fiery chilli sauce: Chicken satay delightful with light, just cooked chicken: diced duck - lab ped - was the only disappointment as it was tasty herb/spice wise but could not recognise the duck.
Mains: Beef cheek divine as was the rib-eye: mushrooms beautiful, Chinese broccoli scrumptious, chicken noodles tasty although provided the right level of blandness considering all the other tastes going on!
And to cap it all, Friday is Happy Hour form 7-10pm!! Bottles of wine for $25/30! Cocktails half price.
The place itself is small and a little cramped - result is you either sit at the bar or on stools at tables. So can get a little uncomfortable if you're ploughing through so much fabulous food.
3rd visit in May 2018 - not quite up to the standard of the previous two visits: son-in-law eggs a touch on the bland side (although chicken satay still excellent). Stir fried chicken a tad too salty. But still large portions!
We are regulars here and every visit to Chalawan was always a great experience for us. The food was really good and the service was always friendly.
Some of our favourites at the moment: prawn pad thai, crispy calamari with salted egg yolk aioli, oyster with chilli sorbet, ocean trout thai curry, som tum, mussels and glass noodles, son in law eggs, beef cheek green curry, tom yum gunk, and virgin tie me down
I went there following my friend's suggestion and it wasn't disappointed me at all.
I have been trying many thai restaurants in Melbourne as I'm Thai, sometimes when i feel homesick I would like to taste sth authentic like my hometown and I would say this place is one of the nice restaurants i like.
Food was nice I tried many dish already n service was good as well. Staff was friendly n very patient. (My friend quite picky)
Highly recommend!!! 😊😊😊
I first came here because the recommendation from a friend and decided to come back as the food was really amazing. Also, the service was really good, the waitress was more than friendly and helpful.
One more + point is that the oysters were super fresh and yummy with very reasonable price. Will bring more people to come back here again
The food here was fantastic!! I'm Thai and it s not easy for me to find authentic Thai food in Melbourne. I wohad say most of Thai restaurant not really serve authentic but this place is different!! I was really enjoyed with my meal and I'm so confident to recommend this place for my friend who would like to try authentic Thai food😀😀😀 plus services was amazing!!
Make a reservation
Order online
Find the best restaurant in Collingwood
An error has occurred! Please try again in a few minutes