Longrain opened in August 1999 on Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills, and quickly became one of Sydney's most celebrated restaurants — credited with popularising modern, share-style Thai dining in Australia. Chef Martin Boetz's bold, deeply flavoured dishes were served at long communal tables, creating an electric atmosphere that influenced a generation of restaurants.
Signature items
Minimum 2 guests. Price is per person.
Minimum 2 guests. Price is per person.
Calorie estimates are approximate for modern Thai dishes of similar style and portion size.
| Dish | Est. Calories | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Betel Leaf with Scallop | ~80 | $12 |
| Crispy Whitebait | ~320 | $16 |
| Yum Kao Tod | ~550 | $35 |
| Salt & Pepper Tofu | ~400 | $25 |
| Caramelised Pork Hock | ~700 | $45 |
| Yellow Curry Lamb | ~650 | $52 |
| Pad Prik Khing Blue Eye | ~480 | $58 |
| Banana Cake | ~380 | $22 |
Like-for-like comparison of similar modern Thai and fine-dining Asian restaurants in Australia.
| Category | Longrain | Jinda Thai | Bai Mai Thai | Mitr Thai |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest starter | $7 | $6 | $8 | $9 |
| Signature main | $45–$58 | $28–$38 | $25–$35 | $30–$42 |
| Set banquet (pp) | $95 | $65 | $60 | $75 |
| Dessert | $19–$38 | $12–$18 | $10–$16 | $14–$20 |
Longrain opened its doors on Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills in August 1999, founded by restaurateur Sam Christie with celebrated chef Martin Boetz at the helm. The restaurant was immediately hailed as a benchmark for modern Thai cuisine in Australia — not a replica of street food, but a refined, produce-driven interpretation of Southeast Asian flavours served at long communal timber tables that encouraged strangers to share a meal. At a time when Thai dining in Sydney meant modest neighbourhood eateries, Longrain elevated the cuisine to fine-dining status without losing its soul.
Martin Boetz spent years refining his knowledge of Thai ingredients and technique, and the menu he built at Longrain — betel leaves, caramelised pork hocks, whole crispy fish, and aromatic curries — became some of the most copied dishes in Australian restaurants over the following decade. The venue was awarded a Good Food Guide hat multiple years running and remained a fixture on every serious Sydney dining itinerary. In 2005, a Melbourne outpost opened on Little Bourke Street, followed by a Tokyo location in 2017 through a partnership with the Transit Group.
The Sydney restaurant permanently closed in the early 2020s, an end brought on by the combined pressures of a challenging hospitality environment and the broader changes in Surry Hills dining. The Melbourne restaurant continues to operate under the Scott Pickett Group, faithfully maintaining the shared-banquet format and the Thai-inspired cocktail bar Longsong upstairs. Longrain's Sydney chapter remains one of the most influential in Australian restaurant history — a 20-year run that changed how the country thought about Thai food.
The Sydney location has closed, but Longrain Melbourne continues the tradition with the same banquet-style Thai menu on Little Bourke Street. Book a table or find current hours on the official site.
Visit Longrain MelbourneNo. Longrain Sydney on Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills permanently closed. The restaurant ran for more than 20 years from 1999 and became one of Sydney's most celebrated dining institutions before shutting its doors. The Longrain brand lives on at its Melbourne and Tokyo locations.
Longrain Melbourne is located at 44 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, in the city's CBD. It operates for dinner Monday to Thursday from 5:30 pm, and from 5 pm on Friday to Sunday, with a Friday lunch service from 12 pm to 3 pm.
The Standard Banquet at Longrain Melbourne is priced at $95 per person and includes a full spread of shared dishes from starters through to dessert. A Premium Banquet is available at $130 per person, adding wagyu, cured salmon, and premium fish courses. Prices are per person and a minimum of two guests applies.
Longrain serves modern Thai cuisine with an emphasis on shared dining. The menu draws on traditional Thai flavour profiles — chilli, lemongrass, kaffir lime, coconut milk, fish sauce — applied to high-quality Australian produce. Signature dishes include betel leaves with scallop, caramelised pork hock and aromatic curries.
Longrain was founded by restaurateur Sam Christie, who opened the Sydney venue in August 1999. Chef Martin Boetz was the founding head chef and the creative force behind the menu. Boetz's years of study in Thai cuisine and technique shaped Longrain's identity and influenced Australian fine dining for two decades.
Yes. Longrain offers several vegetarian dishes, including salt and pepper tofu, green vegetable curry, betel leaf with pomelo, chive cake fries, caramelised tofu (Ma Hor), stir-fried Asian greens, and cabbage and beans. Most are clearly identified on the menu. A full vegetarian banquet can typically be arranged on request.
The Longrain banquet is a set sharing menu served to the whole table. The standard banquet ($95pp) cycles through starters such as oysters and betel leaves, a crispy rice salad, beef brisket skewers, a main of caramelised pork hock and yellow curry lamb, stir-fried greens, jasmine rice, and a chef's dessert selection. The premium banquet ($130pp) adds wagyu, cured salmon and additional seafood courses.
Yes, à la carte ordering is available at Longrain Melbourne, particularly for pre-theatre diners and walk-ins. Starters range from $7 to $16, mains from $25 to $58, and desserts from $8 to $38 per person. The banquet menus represent better value for groups of two or more.
Longrain Sydney was credited with changing how Australians perceived Thai cuisine — elevating it to a serious fine-dining proposition while retaining the communal, sharing spirit of Thai eating. The long timber tables, the electric open-kitchen atmosphere, Martin Boetz's produce-driven menu, and cocktails at the attached bar made it a destination that earned multiple Good Food Guide hats over its 20-year run.