Melbourne's Chin Chin to close for renovations

After five years and 650,000 bunches of coriander, it's last drinks at Chin Chin this Sunday night as it embarks on a two-week transformation.

The biggest shake-up will be at downstairs holding bar Go Go, which will be transformed into an extension of Chin Chin, with a cocktail focus. Expect bookable booth seating for groups of eight to 10 (smaller parties still have to wait in line), souped-up banquet options ($69 or $88) and a snack menu featuring spicy wings and butter chicken curry puffs.

Head chef Ben Cooper is chopping and changing the menu, adding things like soy-marinated blackened cabbage with chilli and coriander relish, Isaan-style duck larb and a green curry of chicken meat, livers and barbecue skin.

Some old favourites will be reinvented. The beloved son-in-law eggs will become a funky son-in-law egg salad. "I wanted them to get a bit more glory," Cooper says.

Other classics are staying put – no need to say goodbye to beef rendang, pad Thai or corn fritters just yet.

Changes to the restaurant are mostly cosmetic: new floors, tables, bathrooms and a spiffy blue colour scheme. A much-needed kitchen overhaul sees the introduction of a two-metre coal-fired grill.

Chin Chin and Go Go, at 125 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, will reopen at 5.30pm on Wednesday, September 21.