Longrain

Ph: 9280 2888; 85 Commonwealth St, SURRY HILLS 2010 www.longrain.com

Thai, $$$, ** for Ambience
Open Lunch Mon-Fri noon-2.30pm Dinner 7 days 6pm-11pm; Licensed; AE DC MC V
Chef (Martin Boetz, 2007-11-3) Owner (Sam Christie, John Sample & Martin Boetz, 2007-11-3)

Mietta's Review
Founded in 1999 Longrain has become a Sydney institution. It offers a cool modern look at Thai food by a European chef, Martin Boetz. His dishes are good but not as well balanced as those of the unassuming little local place, Spice I Am, and they are double the price. What you get for the extra money is - a clean, sparse fit-out of an industrial space, cool Surry Hills waiting staff with only moderate attitude, a good bar where you can perch on a stool to eat, a reasonably noisy situation, three big communal tables that are slightly to wide to comfortably talk across, firm seating that encourages turnover and an upmarket crowd. Neither place takes bookings. The entry at Longrain can be a bit daunting - you find yourself facing a blank grey brick wall, behind which and above your head, is the kitchen. On the left is a bar. Great atmosphere - cool music, flat couches and a long bar. To the right the restaurant. Once you've mastered the entry, this is a fun place much admired by many in the restaurant industry. Longrain is very accurately pitched to its smart inner suburban clientele which has ensured it's long term success.

Other published opinions

Gourmet Traveller 2009 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: * "Longrain is the epitome of cool. Diners cluster around communal tables in a warehouse-style space abuzz with conviviality. Martin Boetz turns out a much-imitated but rarely matched menu of modern Thai"

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 15/20, One Hat "Has there been a more successful restaurant launch in recent years? Eight years after chef Martin Boetz folded his first egg net (a must-have), and stick drinks became Sydney's 'it' cocktail, omnipresent co-owner Sam Christie continues to juggle the hordes lining up for a slot at the communal tables"

Gourmet Traveller 2008 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: ** "The cool warehouse vibe, long communal dining tables and Martin Boetz's inimitable modern Thai food: this has become a Sydney institution"

Sydney Eats 2008 "The new one in Melbourne doesn't seem to have affected the quality of the food or the numbers of punters flowing into this large room with its communal tables, wooden floor and long, cool bar"

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2007 Score: 15/20, One Hat "The vibe in this high-ceilinged converted warehouse with dark wooden floors, long communal tables and floor-to-ceiling windows funky, friendly and a touch frenetic: be prepared to wait for a table at night."

Gourmet Traveller 2007 Restaurant Guide Score: ** "Debate may simmer about the authenticity of the food, but there's no question that party loving Thais would eat the Longrain package up with a spoon were it to open a Thonglor branch. The former warehouse is divided by the kitchen, a throbbing bar scene on the left as you arrive, and the restaurant's communal tables stretching down the right side."

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2006 score 16/20, 2 Hats "Perennially hip, Longrain attracts everyone from fashionistas to foodies to this dark wood, plate glass, converted warehouse space. They come for the bloody Longrains (a rocket-fuelled bloody Mary), to be part of the cool gang and for an interesting take on modern Thai food."

Gourmet Traveller 2006 Australian Restaurant Guide ** "Longrain upholds democratic values in dining. Irrespective of income or influence, if you arrive after, say, seven, you'll join the queue of hopefuls vying for a seat at the communal table. Fortunately the design of this converted warehouse anticipates this issue, and half the space is given over to a bar famed for the quality of its mixes and snacks."

Sydney Eats 2006 "Still gorgeous after all these years (six of them), Longrain continues to pack in the fashionable punters and those who crave Martin Boetz's big-flavoured take on Thai."

SBS Eating Guide to Sydney 2005 "There's no doubt that Longrain has won the hearts of Sydney's Thai aficionados. Not only is it a cool and sexy space where you can sip a few cocktails before dining, but the food is cool and sexy too-or 'extraordinary' as SBS chair Carla Zampatti puts it. "

SMH Good Living 12/4/05 Kate Duthie "We arrive early - 7.30pm - on a Friday and as ever Longrain is already jumping with the hip after-work set. They leave in shifts for the dining room next door or off into the night, making way for the local, hipper, Surry Hills set, here for the food, the grog and the rug-cutting grooves of the in-house DJ."

SMH Good Food Guide 2005 Two Hats Score 16/20 "Somehow, with considerable panache in both the cooking and service, it continues to reign as Sydney's swanky king of a regal and ubiquitous cuisine. The affluent 20-to-30somethings return to share massive servings of authentic Thai curries, refreshing salads and stir-fries from a list of nearly two dozen dishes."

SMH Good Food Guide 2005 Best Bars "Longrain has such a unique sexiness that even without spunky bar staff, endless buzz and awesome snacks, it'd still be an instant classic."

The Age GFG 2005 "SOMETIMES it seems that all of Sydney is trying for a table at this converted century-old warehouse. The primped, the pumped and the rest of us rub shoulders to eat some of the nation's best Thai food."

Gourmet Traveller Australian Restaurant Guide 2005 ** Good Wine List, Good Vegetarian Options "The fashionista hordes who frequent this shrine to Martin Boetz's Thai wizardry verge on cultish. All for good reason. From the pared-down interior with its woven veneer screens to the hip bar comes inspired magic. Rubbing elbows with your new best friends on communal tables has been the kiss of death for some restaurants, but at Longrain it's an experience that works, creating an attitude-free zone."

Sydney Eats 2005 "Madly fashionable restaurants often have a brief flurry of fame and then the cool crowd moves on to the next It joint. But five years on, Longrain's stylish warehouse space continues to be the place to be any night of the week except Sunday (closed). That would be because of chef Martin Boetz's Thai-inspired, generous dishes"

Sydney Eats 2005 Best Bars "Not a lot changes at this, one of Sydney's founding Asian fusion restaurants, including a nobooking rule that makes a drink at the much-praised bar a virtual certainty. The everythingmade-from-scratch approach to preparation means you may have to wait a while, but the strong and delicious drinks that result ... are stunning"

SMH GFG 2004,'Since it opened four years ago Longrain has established and maintained its reputation as the coolest Surry Hills bar.Attached to the Thai restaurant,the bar is very much a success story in its own right.'

SMH GFG 2004, Score 16/20,2 Chefs Hats-Really lovely, Award winning restaurant,'The good thing is,it's not all hype and there's good reason why this super stylish converted warehouse is packed most nights.'

Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide 2004, Excellent wine list, Good vegetarian options, 2 Black Stars,'stylish Thai with great flair...No reservations are taken for dinner, so enjoy a fashionable caiproska at the dimly lit bar while you wait for your seat and ponder the menu...There is an extensive Thai-friendly wine list, with several options available by the glass.'

The Age, A3, 30/12/03,'informal, contemporary, and most of all, fuelled by great, bold food'

The Age, 28/12/03, John Lethlean,'It's the kind of modern Thai food we cannot get down here.(Melbourne)'

Epicure uncorked, The Age, Oct-nov 2003, Amy Cooper,'Lograin was born, almost immediately recieving rave reviews for its fragent salads, curries and signature dishes such as baby barrimundi (straight from the tank) served salt-and-pepper or steamed. Diners loved Boetz's insistence on fresh, flavoursome,local produce.'

SMH, Good Living, 22/7/03, Matthew Evans,'A converted warehouse with a red hot bar and mod-thai food served at two communal tables.'

Daily Telegraph 30/5/2001 "Best Dining Bar"

Daily Telegraph 23/8/2000 Lucy Clark review

Vogue 2/2000 article about long tables, featuring Longrain