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Kirin Seafood Restaurant
Categories: Restaurants Seafood Restaurants Chinese Dim Sum Seafood, Dim Sum [Edit]
555 W 12th AveVancouver, BC V5Z 3X7
Neighbourhood: Fairview Slopes
(604) 879-8038
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 11 am - 2:30 pm
Mon-Sun 5 pm - 10:30 pm
Sat-Sun 10 am - 2:30 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Garage, Street, Validated
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Loud
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
95 reviews for Kirin Seafood Restaurant
Review Highlights
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"Scallop and asparagus rice roll." In 5 reviews -
"If you're looking for the best dimsum restaurant, look no..." In 4 reviews -
"Deep fried tofu with garlic." In 3 reviews
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94 reviews in English
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Review from Ryan I.
4/24/2012
One word, excellent.
My friends and I stopped at this location on the way to Vancouver International Airport, during my second trip to Vancouver. After my first trip, people kept asking me if I sampled the Chinese food in Vancouver; they said it was amazing. Therefore, I made it a mission to try Chinese food during my second trip.
All their dim sum is made-to-order. As a result, every dish arrives hot and fresh.
Dim sum of the day was their pai kuat (pork spareribs). We waited over 45 min. for this dish and it was well worth the wait. The pork was soft and flavorful, not chewy like it is at most dim sum restaurants. Don't make the mistake and order this dish last, like we did. We probably would have been able to leave a little bit sooner if we hadn't ordered this dish.
Validated parking available in an underground parking lot. Also, there is an elevator that takes you directly up to the restaurant, which was great for my friend who had a broken ankle. -
Review from Patricia L.
Vancouver, BC
Updated - 5/3/2012
The service is 100% better during their dinner service. It's like a completely different planet! The servers are looking to make eye-contact with you and they pay attention to the patrons so much more compared to their lunch service. Mind you, their dim sum is good enough where their weird service during lunches hasn't been a deal breaker for me yet, but dinner was really great on all levels.
The service captains are helpful in suggesting food for dinner. Since I'm pregnant, we kept it really simple and had a Steamed Rock Cod, Quails, the BBQ Meats Appetizer plate and a Beef and Veg plate. They comped us a delicious Coconut Milk and Tapioca Desert too which was very nice.
This place is super baby and kid friendly too. So post-pregnancy I'm going for their Set Menu offering with Geoduck, Abalone and all the works. Definitely one of Vancouver's staple best Chinese Restaurants, I will be back again for both lunches and dinners to feed my greedy belly!Listed in: I HEART Food!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/5/2011
The dim sum here is really good and the service is pretty decent. However, I do have one minor… Read more »
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Review from Bob J.
Vancouver, BC
3/24/2012
pros:
It's close to downtown.
Underground parking is reimbursed.
Food is usually not bad to good.
Some of the tables have decent views of North Vancouver.
cons:
Some of the staff are rude - one time we found a hair in our food and the waiter insisted it had to belong to one of us since "no one in the kitchen had that kind of (black) hair". -
Review from Cynthia L.
3/21/2012
Vancouver has great Chinese food! Well, at least at Kirin. I must have had the best dim sum of my life.
We parked in the shopping center lot and arrived at 10:30AM Sunday morning, beating the noon rush. Parking was free with restaurant validation and the elevator from the parking garage takes you right to the restaurant. It was great for us, because we had an injured friend on crutches.
I liked the made-to-order system here. No carts. Servers walk around and take orders as needed. This led to the dim sum plates arriving fresh and piping hot from the kitchen.
We ate mostly the basics, but there were some items that have become a rare commodity, such as shark fin, which was banned last year back at home in California.
- Siu mai: a juicy, meaty pork dumpling
- Har gow: super soft rice skin
- Hom sui gok: sticky, mochi-like, glutinous ball of meat
- Shark fin dumpling in consommé: good amount of shark fin in a tasty broth
- Pai kuat: long cooking time, do order first, not last like we did; moist and tender pork sparerib pieces
- Scallop and asparagus steamed rice roll: plump scallops inside; something different from the usual beef or shrimp rolls
- Lor mai gai: included yummy dried scallops
- Fung jow: nice fatty pieces
5 stars. I'm a fan. I want to come back and try dinner. Highly recommended for dim sum!Listed in: Wandering Sea to Sky
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Review from Clare L.
1/20/2012
The Dim Sum Monster in me was awaken by my brother when we decided to head out with some friends post-xmas to Kirin in City Square. I have never been to this place as of yet, so I was excited to try things out.
We miraculously were able to order moderately which is a first for us, and we had zero uneaten food. My favourite is always the chinese donut with glutinous rice noodle wrap but they have this amazing Deep Fried Tofu with Garlic/Salt on Golden Sand or something like that, and it's awesome! Tofu Lovers Rejoice!
We got the usual table favourites: Hai Gow, Lotus Leaf Wrapped Rice, Rice Roll with BBQ Pork inside, a veggie dumpling thing that I can't remember the name of it, and BBQ pork buns, White radish Cake, spring roll and then honestly my memory went into failure mode as I realized I haven't had a Vancouver egg tart in years....but all of a sudden my brother throws a wrench in the egg tart quest by saying, have you ever have a pavlova cake? (completely separate place to get that from downstairs in the City Square Food Court) so I decided to save room for that and concentrate on this other dessert (Check my Sweet Williams Review).
I did like my first dim sum experience of my Vancouver Winter Holiday 2011 trip, I'd definitely go back again, and particularly because it was rather inexpensive, ($13 per person tip included - table of 7) They have underground parking plus they validate for parking. When we got there it was moderately busy, but towards the end of the meal, they were hustling! We had two tables taken, and with the small group table, we were trying to wait for the rest of our friends, but the amount of servers wait on us to leave, made us decide to wait for them outside the restaurant instead (which we totally understand) -
Review from Colene C.
1/8/2012 5 Check-ins Here
A solid 3-star effort from this particular Kirin location. I've had better experiences last year but lately I feel it's gone a bit downhill. Not sure if it's because it's too popular for its own good or they're getting sloppy but I find some dishes come out too greasy, batter too thick, or the skin broken on dumplings (blasphemy!).
What saves Kirin are two dishes: deep fried tofu with crispy garlic & baked tapioca dessert. Nom nom. -
Review from Scott H.
1/3/2012
Chinese lunch with the wife and kid at Kirin was really a nice experience. Great service from these guys (and that always sets the stage for me, if service sucks I'm gonna hate my meal). The folks at Kirin were very nice, attentive, friendly and accommodating. That makes me happy.
It was a quick lunch for us, duck, yang chow fried rice and some dim sum shrimp. All were good. I'm not a big dim sum guy, but the wife liked it so take her word for it. The duck was great as the rice, so for Chinese, Kirin is one of the better places in Vancouver (surprisingly). -
Review from Stéphane S.
Montréal, QC
1/18/2012 1 Check-in Here
Maybe the best Dim Sum I had outside of Hong Kong!
Came here while in vacation (arriving in Vancouver after an Alaska cruise) and found this place based in Yelp review. I love Dim Sum and I had good ones in few places and this places but this place is just great. Contrary to what you find elsewhere, they don't pass-by with Dim Sum so all is to order which makes the experience less fun but you wait less time to get exactly what you want.
It's very popular so do reserve! -
Review from Melissa K.
Vancouver, BC
1/16/2012
Kirin has pretty good food, it's standard for the kind of place that it is. But the service at this location is terrible. We came here tonight (Sunday) at 6pm, we reserved a table for a party of 6 and they gave us a table meant for 4 and claimed that all the tables were taken that night. The restaurant filled up within the hour but there were still a few bigger tables around us. We talked to the manager twice and he supposedly went to "check" twice and said he's sure the restaurant is full.
Our table was so small that we had to force ourselves to eat fast just so the new dishes have room. When our 3rd dish came, the waitress took the crepes out of the bamboo holder for the peking duck and just stacked them on top of the plate of duck skins...and I was like..em..you CANNOT just stack them on top, it's going to soak up all the oil. She seemed unimpressed and pretended not to listen. My uncle then told her to give us a plate and said she should ask the customer if it's okay to put the two dishes together first. She seemed annoyed and didn't care.
All our servers had this kind of snooty attitude. I really don't know what their problem is. Our dessert took about 20 mins to come, and it was that premade tapioca stuff.
I'm pretty sure that just like any other Chinese restaurant, you have to know the manager to get great service. I'm also pretty sure that there are other places to go. Kirin downtown has better service than this place, but the food selection, especially at dim sum seem to be lacking.
For Chinese banquet style Chinese food, I'd head to Richmond. Check out Sea Harbour for dim sum, and Bamboo Grove for dinner. -
Review from Anna B.
10/19/2011
My girlfriend and I were craving asian food and particularly for dim sum. We were visiting from CA and I heard that Vancouver has the best chinese food so we had to find a place to try. Our concierge recommended Sun Suh Wah Restaurant and Kirin and we decided to check out Kirin.
They didn't have the traditional people coming around in carts and instead you have to order. My girlfriend is Twainese and I let her order whatever since she's a pro at what's good.
We ordered about 9 plates for me and her and the waiter after ordering 6 told her we're ordering too much, but we were weren't done ordering.
My girlfriend and I are big eaters :) and we want variety. I must say though this is probably one of the best dim sum places I've been too!
I loved how we ended it w mochi :)
You don't usually see that on the menu for dim sum.
Only tidbit, I came to the conclusion Vancouver is very expensive but definitely worth the yum yum yum! -
Review from Kathy W.
11/3/2011
Came for dim sum. First thing I noticed was that it's pretty pricey at $5 Canadian. I don't know if that is standard but I'm from LA and that's outrageous.
We ordered quite a few dishes that it came out to $13 per person (7 people). We had the typical dishes from Xiu Mai, Har Gow, Fung Xao. The Har Gow was disappointing; the outside was too rough. We ordered a deep fried chicken cartilage which just tasted like deep-fried stuff. We also had the deep-fried "salad" roll, which was essentially shrimp, cabbage, and mayo. Yeah we had tons of fried food as if dim sum wasn't already bad enough.
Service: decent, sometimes it was hard to flag the people down. They cleared our dishes frequently so it was good.
Parking: validated for 2 hours I believe. There isn't much free parking around well at least to my knowledge.
Overall, enjoyed my dim sum experience in Vancouver. I wouldn't say it's cheap. Also to note is that there are limited pictures in the menu so hopefully you know the Chinese name for the dish. This is also not the "cart-style" dim-sum. -
Review from Joyce P.
Vancouver, BC
11/8/2011
It's always a hit or miss with the Kirins in Vancouver. While I am generally a fan, there are times when I've left with WTF hanging over my head. Fortunately, last night's dinner was a definite positive one!
One of the best things I like about Kirin is their honesty. The Chinese yelpers will know what I mean. Many times you go to a chinese restaurant, they will cheat you on the weight of your seafood. What I like about Kirin is, a 3 pound loster will actually have the meat of a 3 pound lobster and trust me, you can see the difference when they bring out your dish.
The lobster was one of the best I've had before yesterday, we kept the sauce simple, and the flavor of the lobster really came out. The noodles under was also quite delicious!
One disappointment was that they didn't have fresh scallops as I was really craving them. They offered clams instead which were good but not as plump as I would've liked.
We also ordered a vegetarian dish and beef tenderloin wrapped enoki mushrooms. One of my favorite things ever. Dinner was a reasonable price and they give out XO sauce freely. My mother wanted to pack the dish of XO sauce home and I forbade her. Sigh chinese people!
Anyways, Kirin is one of my favorites again!!
PS: ask for their deep fried birthday buns!! -
Review from Karen L.
1/4/2012
Not your typical Cantonese dim sum joint, Kirin is a bit more upscale (read: expensive). And you won't see the ladies pushing the carts around, so ordering can be a bit of a challenge, but we decided to order some things we've never tried before. Our conclusion: the dim sum here is expensive, but really delicious. The quality is there. If you're looking for some great Chinese food and don't mind spending a few extra bucks, definitely give Kirin a try.
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Review from Taylor K.
9/26/2011
I was scouring the yelp site this morning to see if there was any good dimsum place in downtown that was walking distance from my house and I came across Kirin and victoria Chinese restaurant. I chose Kirin because I had a giftcard for Kirin restaurant and it had better rating than victoria.
My sister and I along with my 21 month old son got there around 12:30. The hostess told me the wait time would be around 30 minutes. I expected this on a Sunday so we decided to wait.
True to her words, we got seated after 30 minutes. The decor was pretty nice. It definitely is more up scale than some of the other places I have been to.
The food was little bit pricier (around $1-$2) more per dish.
But service was prompt and we got our food pretty quickly after ordering.
The shumai was yummy. Little bit smaller than other places I have been to (Lin's on Victoria) but very delicious. Prawn dumplings were yummy as well.
We also ordered chicken feet and beef tripe. One of the best chicken feet I've had for sure and the beef tripe was good as well. They weren't soaked in oil like some of the placed I've had beef tripe.
I wan't too fond of the pork dumplings but by no means they were bad.
My son liked them so it all worked out in the end.
I give it 4 stars because I just can't. I am not sure this is the best dimsum place I will be visiting in my lifetime.
But I will definitely will be coming back. -
Review from Marje B.
Burnaby, BC
wow im impressed!!! we had a large group, Thanksgiving morning for dim sum.
Kirin is one of the better qualities for dim sum and service. but it was my first time to this location.
Food came out Hot and fresh!!! Delish!!!
service was great! some of the food took longer but came out fresh so it wasnt a problem at all. -
Review from Edward L.
Came here to check out the dim sum with some random friends.
They give you 2 hours of free parking with validation. If you think you will exceed this limit, parking is also available on the street to the east (by City Hall).
The layout is quite irregular, with a central area and 2 "wings". I remember coming here for a wedding a few years ago, and probably 1/3 of the tables were out of view of the main area. Something to keep in mind. For for dim sum, this obviously wouldn't be an issue.
The dim sum is definitely on the classier side. They say that one of the ways to judge a place is by the quality of the shrimp dumpling (ha gow), and this place definitely delivers. I also liked how their hot sauce is of high quality.
We had the shark's fin dumpling in soup as well. This was very good. The dumpling was not mushy, and they were quite generous with the filling.
The taro dumpling was nothing special, but the beef ball and siu mai were both quite decent.
Overall, you won't be disappointed, and the price is quite decent, but there are other (less-crowded) options around. -
Review from Richard M.
3/21/2011
Walked in around 10:30am on a snowy morning and just beat the rush. The dim sum was pretty tasty, served fresh and steaming hot. You order off the menu, no carts. That's the way we like to order dim sum, so it wasn't a problem.
We tried at least 7 different dumplings, siu mai, ha goi, tofu wrap, scallop and sharks fin, and a delicious fo tung gao soup.
The next time I'm visiting Vancouver I will definitely be back. The live seafood tanks were filled with delicious looking crabs, fish, prawns, giant clam and more. Can't wait to try all the seafood for dinner. -
Review from Amy B.
2/25/2011 1 Check-in Here
Matt and I searched out restaurants for dim sum on New Year's Day in Vancouver. Kirin was rated well so we thought we'd try it.
We didn't have a reservation and when we arrived the woman at the desk said she could sit us right away if we could finish within a one hour window. We didn't think that would be too hard. Hah!
We were seated in a squashed location against a wall, between a very large table and a very small table. By squashed, I mean I couldn't move my chair back to get out of my seat.
It took 15 minutes to put in our order and the entire hour to get all 4 dishes. We thought the kitchen had forgotten our last plate but we finally got it with the check.
I recognize that the place was busy but it was not well organized and we were not attended to. It was very uncomfortable and the worst dim sum experience Matt and I have had.
Disappointed. -
Review from Michael A.
7/18/2011 1 Check-in Here
I definitely second the deep fried tofu and garlic recommendation. It's just called deep fried tofu on the menu. it came when we thought we were done. We were already stuffed, but it was great, so we powered through.
Ask for the special sauce that they don't give to whiteys. I think it had dried scallop - kind of like an XO sauce. Great for the veggies. -
Review from Erin J.
12/27/2011
Best Chinese food I have ever had. I love to go here for dim sum. If you can't find what you're looking for on the menu, ask the server for help. They can usually make anything. The service sometimes can be spotty if they are busy. However, the food is worth it!!!
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Review from Theresa W.
Vancouver, BC
3/14/2011
King Crab is delicious. And when it's in season, I can't say no. I've been here for the last three years for a weekend in March simply to feast on king crab with a group of friends. We normally get two crabs and a few other dishes, and all the food is fabulous.
It's a shame it's always so much more expensive here. I know I know, the ingredients are fresher, the ambiance is nicer, but man... $16/lb when it's in season is still a bit steep. Luckily, our large group of 14 helps spread the costs out.
The best thing about Kirin's offering is that they can prepare the crab a total of 4 ways: garlic butter, garlic wine, peppery deep fried, and garlic deep fried. And then if you ask for noodles instead of rice, they'll take the wine sauce with all the crab juices and use it to mix into the noodles to give it that extra oomph in flavour! It's so delicious!!
With the extra dishes, it usually ends up being about $40 a person at least, but we always leave really full. If you've never tried a king crab, grab four or five other people and head down to Kirin for smaller 8/lber, or bring a large group for an 11 - 12 lb crab. It's well worth the experience!Listed in: King Crab Feasting
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Review from Kris H.
8/26/2011
It's not Tim Ho Wan amazing dimsum. but quite close. I'd say it's one of the best yumcha in the West Coast. Exquisite dumplings. Fresh ingredients. The porridge is smooth and tasty. Fantastic sharkfin soup. Wonderful service, even if you don't speak Cantonese.
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Review from Roger M.
9/26/2010 3 photos
On our last day in Vancouver, we were on a search for some good dim-sum. After searching for some places here on Yelp, we decided to hit up Kirin. It is located right inside a shopping center, so make sure you get your ticket validated before you leave.
I lived in Hong Kong and ate dim-sum at a countless number of Chinese restaurants all over the world and I have to say that I was a little disappointed with the food here. Maybe we just picked the wrong location to go to, or should have went to Richmond instead.
We order the typical dishes like siu mai, har gow, char siu bao, chicken feet, etc. The texture of the food was not so great and the taste was mediocre. Since Vancouver is a "mini Hong Kong," we thought the food would be up to par but it definitely wasn't here at Kirin. I would have to disagree with a lot of you folks on here giving this place 5 stars. -
Review from Rick C.
Updated - 2/15/2011 21 photos
Our little dining crew and outfit took to Kirin for some dim sum to celebrate the engagement of our dear friends.
It was pretty crowded and lively. The food and quality seemed fine and on par with usual Chinese food flavour. I did like the congee quite a bit.
I say again, the restaurant gives off a more professional, upscale, classy vibe like when I ate there for dinner.
My favourite dish of the meal was probably the deep-fried squid. I found it crisp and delicious.
The service just seemed kind of off. They mixed up a couple of our dishes and, while not being particularly rude or bad, they just seemed inattentive and aloof.
The baked tapioca dessert was actually quite scrumptious and filling. Everything else and the staple dim sum fare was more or less standard.
I thought it was a so-so dining experience. Nothing really soured me on the meal, but little stood out at the same time.Listed in: Diverse Eateries
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/7/2011
On Christmas, my visiting cousins and I headed to a fancier Chinese restaurant for dinner. I was… Read more »
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Review from Tyler A.
1/3/2011
NO CARTS.
Ok, I showed up on our last day of an impromptu Vancouver trip thinking Golden Unicorn, NYC (dying without regularly scheduled dimsum fiests out in PDX) instead I got a dim sum menu (just 1 on a table for 6), not to mention 2 other menus that had some crazy prix fixe things on it for a minimum $115 a head, nuts! I would only pay that for haute cuisine.
And BTW, Dude, I am not Chinese, I need to see this stuff to choose! I ordered a few things that I could see in my mind's eye based on their descriptions, I think I did ok, but who knows what fabulousness I missed out on?
A few of the dishes - some pork/shrimp dumpling in taro then fried, scallop dumplings - just were bland. We got some rice cake with green onion and dried pork, also bland.
They did do the pork bun and meat balls well, but seriously, that's amateur stuff. Also all the food came out super staggered, there wasn't a dimsum onslaught which is one of the best traits of dimsum! Do I have to stop in Richmond for a more fun and tasty experience? SOOOOO bummed out about this, I better go to NY next weekend and get my fix. -
Review from Ernesto G.
12/24/2010
Best DimSum in Vancouver!
If you're looking for the best dimsum restaurant, look no further. Kirin is the best, followed closely by SSW on Main Street.
The reason I like Kirin more is the excellent food paired with excellent service, where in my humble opinion SSW's service is hit or miss depending on how busy they are that day. -
Review from Pamela L.
8/13/2010
Kirin is one of my favourite Chinese Restaurants. It isn't the home cooked meals that you're looking for at the hole in the wall Chinese joints. This is a place where you go for a fancy meal - whether it's a banquet, taking some valued customers or celebrating a birthday with a large group of people - this is the place to get your eats on.
The service is terrific - and it better be for the amount that you're paying. It is one of the more expensive Chinese restaurants and you're not only paying for the quality of their food but you're paying for the attentive service and atmosphere (dinner, not dim sum). That's not to say that their food isn't stellar - because it is and then some.
They are more known for their dinners rather than their dim sum. If you're looking for excellent dim sum I would head over to Sun Sui Wah.
I have wonderful memories of the delicious food and all the celebrations that I've been a part of at this restaurant. For that I give them top marks. -
Review from Annie W.
9/24/2010
My favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner! I have not yet tried their dim sum, so I cannot comment on that, but their food is delicious when it comes to dinner. All I can say is, Kirin's chefs are top notch Chinese chefs. Believe me, I am very hard to please when it comes to Chinese food. Kirin and one other Chinese restaurant in Vancouver made the cut for me (I made a review on the other one too). Also, the service is wonderful. The servers come around to change our plates and refill our tea pots without being asked. We were always immediately served when we needed them. Lastly, their desserts (usually a sweet soup): again, no one can make it like these guys.
A good place for a banquet, a party or just dinner.
A note though: Kirin has a few other locations, but I am only speaking about this location.Listed in: Best Chinese Restaurants in…
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Review from Marc D.
Vancouver, BC
10/6/2009
* Egg tart quest inspired dim sum *
Grabbed a quick dim sum lunch here today, with the hope of expanding the egg tart quest to include some dim sum restaurant versions.
Kirin has always been reliable, and they continued to be so today (even though the egg tart didn't work out). Here is what we had:
- Steamed shrimp and peashoot dumplings. The shrimp was nice and fresh, and the peashoots were perfectly cooked with just a bit of crunch left. Delicious.
- Scallop and asparagus rice roll. I appreciate that they bring the sauce on the side automatically to avoid the bottom getting all mushy and over-soaked. The scallops were a bit sparse, but those that were in there were perfectly steamed. The asparagus was a nice contrast with its crunch. Nice dish.
- Chicken and abalone steamed bun. This had a very pleasant herbal seasoning (I couldn't identify it precisely) that really rounded out the flavours.
- Fried shrimp paste on sugar cane. The shrimp mixture had a generous amount of ginger, and the sugar cane gave a pleasant flavouring overall. Perfectly fried so as to be crunchy on the outside, but not overdone.
- Abalone mushroom and green veggie steamed dumpling. This was my least favourite. It could have used a bit more seasoning/flavour.
- Baked tapioca pudding. This is one of their house specialties and it was as good as I remembered it from the last time I had it. The tapioca pudding has a ribbon of red bean paste inside of it, and the entire dish is covered with pastry and then baked. The crunchiness of the pastry combines really nicely with the smoothness of the pudding and the texture of the tapioca. A lovely dessert.
Sadly they do not have egg tarts, so no update on the egg tart quest! -
Review from Vincent K.
2/6/2009
Vancouver truly is like another Bay Area + Hong Kong and Kirin is a great example of it. It's got the decor and glam that Hong Kong Dim Sum spots have along with the variety of food, yet it has a Bay Area feeling to it with the people and style of the place.
We came afternoon when it was less crowded and the food was almost about to stop serving.
- Shark Fin Dumpling Soup - plenty of shark fins...nice
- Beef Stomach Stew - I love beef stomach and they knew how to make it right
- Sesame Ball with custard - normally i don't eat this, but this had to be an exception. My eyes shot up when i saw someone else have one and instead of dark red, it was golden yellow.
- Turnip Cake - pretty good
- Salt and Pepper Squid - everyone's favorite
- Fried Taro - amazing
- Shrimp Dumpling - the skin was sooo soft
Clearly, I'm a fan, but I would have liked to try some new things that the Bay Area had not offered. They were sort of limited in some areas. But I hear its a chain of like 5 restaurants and this is the best of them all. I'm sure dinner would be great here. -
Review from Phil S.
Vancouver, BC
6/12/2009
OK here's what the five of us ordered today:
1. Two bamboo containers of shrimp dumplings - succulent giant prawns in thin wrap served piping hot from the stove
2. Seafood fried vermicelli + bean noodle with scallops, prawns, cod, calamari, vegetables
3. Deep fried tofu with garlic
4. Deep fried calamari
5. Soy pan fried rice roll / cannelloni
6. Rice roll with prawns
7, Football (aka salty water corners don't ask :)
8. 2 mango puddings
And per person it came to $13! Not bad right? And there are less expensive dim sum no doubt but for quality, this is one of the best places. Very fast service, courteous staff and the meal ended with us handed a nice hot towel to clean up. How's that for service? As far as Chinese restaurants go, this place is top 3 on my list. And oh yah, make rezo to avoid a wait cuz it gets soooo busy at prime feeding frenzy time. -
Review from Pawin Bank W.
Vancouver, BC
4/15/2011
My 3 other friends and i decided to give kirin a try today. After 40 mins on the bus and walking through the rain, we ordered one appetizer platter and 4 other dishes. They were totally worth our money and time! MADE OUR DAY!! :D
I personally enjoyed the peking duck the most. It seemed like they used different flour which made it unique and interesting. We also asked them to use the remaining duck meat to cook another dish for us. One TIP though: do not ask for extra lettuce if you're not ready to pay $6 for a lettuce. Definitely going back again without the extra lettuce of course -
Review from Eric C.
Burnaby, BC
2/8/2009
Delicious from first to last bite, Kirin provides you with amazing cuisine that has set a standard in the traditional asian seafood dining industry.
This location is just outside the downtown skyline and across from City Hall making it a great place to impress out-of-town guests with a spectacular view.
The fare is prepared with care and the portions are typical of all dimsum hotspots. All the typical selection is available.
The staff is considerate and helpful without being overbearing nor over the top. As for pricing, Kirin is an upscale restaurant and the prices reflect it. Don't be surprised to be paying on average about a dollar more per dish than the mama-papa dimsum down the street with the less than spectacular view or location.
I've always been a fan of Kirin restaurants, but this one is the best of the bunch. Be sure to stop here amongst your travels in Vancouver. You won't be disappointed.Listed in: If we date long enough, I'll…
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Review from Tim L.
9/9/2008
Amongst the Chinese community in Vancouver, Kirin remains one of the top notch restaurants that does not market to tourists or non-Asians. Unlike somewhere like Sun Sui Wah, you only typically see Kirin advertised from time to time in Chinese newspapers and magazines.
Well I'm blowing the lid off this place. It's an amazingly delicious dining experience especially if you do one of those typical 8+ course meal. Service is impeccable and the food is delightful to all your senses.
As a result of being so Asian oriented, there are a smaller number of staff who speak good English. Don't fret though, unlike other places though they are actually very friendly here and more than willing to make your experience the most enjoyable.
This place is best experienced as a large group to fully sample the entire menu. Seafood is a must. -
Review from Biker G.
Vancouver, BC
11/8/2011
Rude!
Showed up before 11 on a Sunday in the rain with friends. No, hadn't done any research so I didn'et know I needed a reservation but hadn't expected to be treated like a leper when I walked in, either. There were many empty tables visible behind the guy on the front desk, but he didn't even offer a wait time, just flat refused us.
Never, ever going back. -
Review from Jay L.
6/20/2009
A large and clean restaurant, attentive wait staff. The Dim Sum is great but the dinner is average.
The Dim Sum is always piping hot, straight from the kitchen, and the food never fail to disappoint. It's a great place for brunch, and the atmosphere is comfortable. Always looking forward to have a meal there. -
Review from Kai Y.
12/9/2010 1 photo
I went there for lunch, since they only serve dim sum for lunch. I have to go try it for sure, since I grew up in Southern part of China, dim sum is a necessity. :)
The ambience is quite nice and open, typical Cantonese up-scale seafood restaurant decoration.Service was good.
However, they had a very small dim sum menu, even compared to the dim sum places in the US. A lot of the regular items were missing, especially some of them are my favorite.
In order to be fair, I am not comparing this place with the ones in China, since there's essentially no comparison. The ones in China are infinitely better. I already lower my expectation when having dim sum outside of China, but I was still hopeful I could be satisfied.
The dim sum was fine, but didn't blow my away like I expected. I liked their squash shrimp dumpling the most, which was quite original. I hadn't had anything like that out of my extensive experience of dim sum eating. -
Review from Be N.
1/23/2009
The quality and variety of dim sum is excellent. I've eaten it in New York, San Francisco, and Hong Kong, and I would have to say that Kirin remains one of my top choices.
The Vancouver area is full of great Chinese restaurants, many of which are superior to anything that you'd find in NYC and even parts of Hong Kong (since many great HK chefs moved to B.C.). Kirin is one of these places. -
Review from Kim N.
12/23/2009
Came here for dim sum a few months back on my first trip to Vancouver. Everything tasted great but what truly sticks in my mind is the shark fin dumpling in broth. WOW. Best dim sum dish EVER! Add a dish of red vinegar and the dish becomes even better, if that's even possible!
It's located in a shopping center and so there's parking available. -
Review from Salsaboy S.
8/22/2011
This review is by a vegetarian, and while I don't think this should normally make a difference, at Kirin, I believe it does. I cannot in good conscience implore vegetarians not to go to Kirin, but I believe that a vegetarian's experience will largely be limited by the institutional constraints of this establishment.
Before any reader asks herself, "Why the hell would a vegetarian go to Chinese restaurant that specializes in seafood?", let me first explain that I called Kirin prior to our arrival, and asked several people about their vegetarian options. While I did not receive amazing detail or in depth reports of the various vegetarian delights about which Kirin could amaze me, everyone with whom I spoke assured me that "Yes, we have vegetarian food" and "Yes, we can accommodate your vegetarian needs." Technically, I suppose, that's true, but before I'd venture out to Kirin again, I would instead go to a vegetarian Chinese restaurant, like 3G Vegetarian (though I have not been there), because there would be so much more available to the vegetarian patron. I must also say that I was implored to try Kirin because of its incredible reputation of being among the best Chinese in Vancouver and wanting to experience that more delicate nuance of an experience chef. If Kirin could have delivered on the vegetarian front, it may very well have been worth our effort.
I knew upfront that I would have to aggressively explain my vegetarian preferences and what that means -- i.e., no chicken stock, no oyster sauce, etc. I also had to ask them not to use MSG, which they do definitely use otherwise. The waiter, while appearing to accept my preferences, was not helpful. Simple adaptions like asking for veggie shrimp (offered in one entree, believe it or not) to be added to a different dish with different sauce or vegetables, could not made. Actually, to report accurately, he told me he COULD do it, but then he completely disregarded our request and gave us an entirely different dish (the veggie shrimp dish on the menu).
We ultimately ended up with Veggie Shrimp with Cashew Nuts (not what we ordered) and Mu Shu Vegetables with added gluten. The veggie shrimp dish was okay. It wasn't greasy and it wasn't bad, but it didn't have a lot of flavor and it wasn't interesting. Indeed, this is why I DIDN'T order it to begin with. Frankly, Kirin's vegetarian options upfront were bland and boring (Mixed Vegetables, Bean Curd with Vegetables, etc.), which is why I attempted to modify them. The Mu Shu was better, but it certainly wasn't among the best I've had. Again, no grease, and a good hand, but the flavor was a bit smokey. We also got an order of vegetarian spring rolls, which were actually not bad. I suspect they made them special for us, as we were clearly the only Caucasians in the restaurant and no one else was ordering anything vegetarian. (When I asked him about the veggie shrimp with cashew dish, the waiter replied, "It's not very popular." That's an understatement).
I can't say that the meat or seafood -- Kirin's real specialty -- looked good. It doesn't appeal to me. I will say that the portions looked hefty (this is a "family style" restaurant) and that it appeared as if the fish, the crab, and the seafood delights are the real treasure of Kirin, as its name implies.
The restaurant was very busy, even for 8:30p on a Sunday night. Virtually every table was a table of eight or more, sharing a feast of Chinese dishes with a lazy-Susan in the middle of the table. We were a table of two. The bus-girls didn't speak any English (other than to ask, "tea?" or to tell them, "Check."). The waiter was very busy, rather curt, largely uninterested in us, and never checked back with us to see if we were accommodated or happy once we got our food. Again, I did not appreciate him switching out our meal without informing us after telling us that our requested substitution was possible. To be fair, the food was far from inedible. I believe that were I not vegetarian, I would likely find this food above-average. That said -- and perhaps part of this is a cultural difference -- I think they could have done a lot better with their communication on every level. Don't tell me you can accommodate vegetarians when I call if you can't. Don't have a disinterested waiter give me lip-service about my requests and then ignore them. I suspect it's best at Kirin to order directly from the menu, exactly as presented: no substitutions, no adaptations. I imagine that 99% of the patrons do. In other words, if you are a vegetarian, you'll be marginalized, and someone should tell you that upfront.
Consider yourself warned.
Food: 2.5 stars (out of 5)
Service: 1.5 stars
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