Eye-watering, tongue-tingling, stomach-burning dishes are what Long Chim is known for, and the descriptions don’t exaggerate. When David Thompson, formerly of Michelin-starred restaurant Nahm in Bangkok, brought his Thai street food concept to Australia, diners were in uproar about the level of chilli in the dishes, too hot to handle for our simple taste buds. Thompson listened to the crowds and took it down a notch, bar a northern chicken larp for the adventurous. Unable to resist the challenge, the larp lands on the table with a giggle from our knowing waitress and is a veritable sensory explosion. The chilli transcends our notion of ‘spice’ and you can feel it in your eyes, ears, mouth and nose. It takes a good 10 minutes until the sensation calms down. After the immense accomplishment of finishing the Plate of Fire, and murmurings of “it wasn’t so bad” palates are refreshed with betel leaves carefully layered with a classic combo of dried prawn, coconut and crushed peanuts, and beer, plenty of beer. 

Thompson cleverly makes classic Thai dishes feel completely unique. Pad Thai noodles, a staple in the myriad of Thai restaurants around town, has that true Bangkok sensibility, the noodles tossed over fire in a thin wok, caramelising the strands and chunks of firm tofu, king prawns and garlic chives. Beef green curry is light on sensation but richly layered with that harmonious balance of salty, sweet and acidic. The curry sauce is swimming with bitter pops of pea eggplant and aromatic handfuls of kaffir lime. 

It’s hard to compare Thompson’s food with the dulled down version that we are all too familiar with in Australia, but at Long Chim you can taste the knowledge, culture and history of Thai food. Just order plenty of rice on the side.