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Fire Kirin
Categories: Restaurants Thai Restaurants Asian Fusion Thai, Asian Fusion
12101 Lake Fraser Drive SoutheastUnit 500
Calgary, AB T2J 7G4
(403) 278-8018
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
9 reviews for Fire Kirin
9 reviews in English
-
Review from Judy A.
Calgary, AB
12/20/2011
Our family of seven went on a quiet Sunday evening. I was worried that we might be getting the dregs of leftovers, but all our food was cooked fresh. Wonderful aromas of garlic, spice and ginger were wafting from our plates. The food was excellent and the service impeccable. The prices were very reasonable.
-
Review from Chris P.
So this building started out as Cannery Row, then it's been a couple other restaurants which included a Thai place. Now it's Asian fusion on the menu.
Everything about this place is a solid three stars. No more, no less. Except for the service, which is sub par. We were promptly greeted at the door and seated immediately in the almost empty restaurant. During our visit here the place started to fill up and by the time we left it was almost at capacity. There were three staff on the floor. A gentleman who seemed to be doing everything from greeting guests, seating them, taking orders, serving food, and ringing up bills. There was another gentleman who seemed to serve food sometimes and answered the phone, but not much else. Finally the woman working wasn't doing much other than filling the odd water glass, but only on one side of the restaurant. I felt bad for the guy doing everything, he was literally running back and forth between the tables and the kitchen.
We were never asked if we wanted drinks. After our order was placed we had to flag down the overworked server to get a beer (Sapporo) to the table. The appetizers came out in a reasonable amount of time. My mom and I split the calamari which was unremarkable, don't bother ordering this one. My dad had the pumpkin soup which he said was excellent.
After our appetizers we waited for a long time to get our meals. Too long. I went with the red curry. There was a healthy amount of chicken in the dish which was great to see. Unfortunately the dish as a whole was mediocre. I get better curry at the fast-food place by my office. There wasn't really anything wrong with it, a good three stars, it just wasn't anything above and beyond.
After our food arrived we never saw our sever again until about 15 minutes after we had finished eating. We felt that we had been forgotten about when he came back to the table to see if we wanted anything else. We just got the bill, paid, and left.
If this place is going to survive they need to sort out the roles for their service staff. The food is good enough, but I shudder at coming back because of the poor service. -
Review from Mia T.
1/4/2012
As a few other Yelpers have mentioned, this place has had many reincarnations. Its decor is nice and simple Its typical Asian and clean.
To keep it short, the service was great, the ladies helping us very helpful. We were given an amazing red coconut curry soup. It was delicous, and not spicy (which is my preference). The Shanghai noodles with cabbage and chicken were also very well done. The cabbage wascrispy and the dish wasnt too heavy, like some noodle dishes tend to be. We werent as impressed with the Lemongrass Chicken, because it didnt have any lemongrass flavour, and the side of rice was dry. The red curry was not too bad, but again the side of rice dry.
Once we were done, we were given each a half of an orange, cut into fancy segements...maybe as a palate cleanser, which was nice because the oranges were perfectly sweet and tart.
Overall, I would go back, if I wanted to stay in my area, and grab something quick. -
Review from Tammy C.
Calgary, AB
4/22/2012
Went on a recommendation and was a bit disappointed.
-
Review from Carol K.
11/27/2011 1 Check-in Here
Over the last ten or so years, there have been at least three different restaurants at this location. I can see why they never stay because the restaurants are never really that good. Fire Kirin is no exception.
It's not a terrible restaurant by any means, it's just mediocre. Down in the south end, there are tons of mediocre restaurants struggling to make it big, and none ever seem to. Especially in this location, you really need to stand out to gain longevity like Newport Grill or Bill's. A random asian restaurant with no distinct identity is not going to cut it.
I came to this place expecting Thai. It was far from Thai. The menu consisted of many random stereotypical "asian" dishes.. and I mean "asian". The way I would describe this restaurant is a melting pot of different types of "asian" - Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and maybe add Malaysian in there for good measure. I realized after that they purposely did this to be some sort of contemporary "asian" restaurant. However, it was not really working with me. I wasn't getting anything authentic, and nothing I've never had before.
Since nothing was really standing out for me on the menu, I decided to order the Korean BBQ Beef, which I knew was not cut like you would get at a regular Korean restaurant. They gave you over-cooked slices of steak cooked in Bulgogi sauce. The steak wasn't very good, but I did like how they brought it out with some steamed rice, romaine lettuce, kimchi, and a condiment of some sort. Afterward, I ordered some coconut and green tea ice cream to end the meal. The green tea ice cream was actually very good. It was smooth and had a lot of green tea flavour. The coconut ice cream was more grainy in texture - often what happens when you make ice cream out of coconut milk - and it had real shaved coconuts in it. I think the ice cream and the complimentary oranges left me feeling pretty good about my meal. For that reason, I'm giving this place a 3. It's OK, but that's it.
27/30 -
Review from Ali Z.
1/3/2011 1 Check-in Here
Fire Kirin recently opened at the same location as the Royal Thai in the Avenida mall. The decor has been slightly updated but maintains the same Asian purchased from Pier One feel. One word of warning to my fellow tall / big people, the tables are low and the chairs are high, so your knees will not fit comfortably.
Service is great, we were greeted at the door, offered a booth or table and seated within minutes. The waitress explained the specials and answered a few questions about the menu knowledgeably.
For dinner we opened with Tom Yum Goong soup which was excellent, tasty, spicy, and plentiful as served in a large bowl. Actually all of the orders had very large portions, though meant as individual entrées you could get away with sharing. The Kirin Skewer was served on a sizzling plate and had eight skewers of beef on top a bed of green peppers & onions. All entrées are served along with a small bowl of rice which may seem small at first glance but is more than enough to last you the entire meal.
We had passed on dessert however when the bill came there was a pleasant surprise - a sliced half orange. The half orange had been hollowed out, the bottom sliced off and placed inside the hollow to act as a stopper, and the orange sliced into quarters with a toothpick to avoid dirtying your hands. An unexpected and appreciated replacement for the standard mint / candy. -
Review from Jill S.
Calgary, AB
My husband & I were planning to go to the Royal Thai which is now Fire Kirin. As we were already there we gave it a try and were more than pleasantly surprised.
We were seated near the bar which looks into the exceptionally clean kitchen. All 3 servers were incredibly sweet & attentive.
Bar prices were reasonable at $5 for an import beer. We started with the best Tom Yum Goong soup I'd ever had. It was so good my husband ordered a bowl after tasting mine.
I had the Szechuan Fried Noodle and my husband the Singapore Fried Rice Noodle. Portions were generous and prices very reasonable. I would definitely recommend my dish. It was not too oily and just the right amount of spice. Vegetables were crunchy and the chicken lean.
I can't wait to go back! -
Review from L J.
Calgary, AB
7/16/2011
Didn't get to taste the food. The service was so bad - as in, we were completely ignored - that we left. It was lunch hour. There was a large table getting attention from the one or two employees working on the floor - leaving customers at about 4 or 5 smaller tables twiddling their thumbs. When we left, a few of them did too.
I'm not going back. -
Review from Mike M.
Calgary, AB
6/19/2011
Fire Kirin is a nice change from Royal Thai, especially given Royal Thai's demise in quality during its last few months of business.
Other than a few slight changes to decor, and a couple of booths being ripped out, the interior is the same. What has been changed, and for the better, is the menu. I could best describe it as a smattering of popular Asian dishes: Kimchi, Korean BBQ, pad thai, etc.,
For appetizers we tried the calamari and the tempura assorted plate. The calamari was fantastic, all four of us loved it. Very lightly battered and it came with a nice, spicy dipping sauce. The tempura was fine, nothing special, just normal tempura. Decent sized portions as well.
For mains, the table ordered pad thai, wasabi pepper chicken, and jumbo prawns. The pad thai was nothing to write home about, I have had better street pad thai in Thailand on styrofoam. The wasabi chicken was good, came with rice and grilled peppers and onions, but again, didn't leave me wanting to come back to order it again. The jumbo prawns were indeed jumbo prawns. It came with five on the plate, rice, and some diced fried veg.
For dessert we had the coconut ice cream, which had two scoops and was pretty good.
Service was okay, not out-of-this-world though. They restaurant ran out of menus and had to come and take two of our to give to another table. Once our food was served (quickly I might add), no one came back to ask us how it was and if we needed anything else, which we did. But, for the most part, drinks and waters were refilled quickly, food came out quick and hot, bill was taken care of straight away, ever server was polite and smiling.
Worth a visit, especially if you want to have something "safe" or have any picky eaters in the group, as the menu has enough choice for everyone. Prices are decent, helpings are enough to make you feel you received your fair share.
I will definitely give it a go one more time, hopefully I find the food a bit more inspiring.
PS. They also deliver free of charge.
