Chinwag Eathai
Kate Fraser
161 High St, ph: 03-365 7363,
www.chinwageathai.co.nz
7 days 5pm to late
$$
Reviewed in Cuisine Issue 128, April 2008
“Do you have a reservation?”
“No.”
“You should have booked.”
“Your website says it’s not necessary.”
“It is on weekends.”
“It’s Monday.”
“Wait a minute, then.”
We did. In silence. No meet, no greet, just this.
Plenty of time to admire the interior design. Long communal tables dominate one wall; there's an array of impressive woodwork elsewhere. A smart mix that optically extended the smallish spaces. We were ushered to the mezzanine
stephen Goodenoughwhere we waited again while tables were set. We considered ordering cocktails, but wine, we decided, would be swifter.
The lengthy menu has been assembled with thought. It is divided into small bites, entrées, mains and extras, and diners are urged to order a shared meal, banquet style, of dishes that complement each other – a recipe for much talking as well as much eating (hence “chinwag”).
The small bites were a mouthful – small, but fantastic, with mouth-tingling flavours. Next time we’ll order four each and to hell with sharing. The Clevedon oyster with nahm jim and fried shallots, and the generous pile of roasted coconut threads, peanuts, garlic, chilli and lime (served on a piece of spinach leaf designed to use as a scoop) were memorable. Smoked salmon on spinach and grilled scallop with peanut nahm jim were only half a beat behind.
The interesting main dishes included caramelised pork hock with chilli vinegar, grilled sirloin with chilli powder sauce, wok-fried duck, green curry of prawns and corn. But if there are only two at the banquet the dishes have to match well. A spicy squid and spinach medley and a sweetish curry of pineapple, seafood, and basil did the trick. The wok-fried vegetables recommended by our waitress were surprisingly bland. Perhaps because the bowl was quarter-filled with broth. There was no charge for the bowl of rice included with the mains.
Desserts were mainly cold – ice-creams and the like – but a tasting platter that included a sticky rice pudding and a fine sesame seed ice-cream was a good sharing choice. A discussion on the joys of crunchy (battered and deepfried) bananas saw them included as well. A nice gesture that nearly made up for the indifferent service. 
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