Kirin

i've been to kirin before, but i just went there last fri nite, so i'm gonna write a review now. 1st off... judgin' a book by its cover, kirin is a beautifully decorated place. it fits right in w/ the solano ave. atmosphere, a place where b ... more

i've been to kirin before, but i just went there last fri nite, so i'm gonna write a review now. 1st off... judgin' a book by its cover, kirin is a beautifully decorated place. it fits right in w/ the solano ave. atmosphere, a place where berkelyans can feel all cultured cos they can visit all these asian ethnic restaurants on 1 street. erm, i hope that didn't sound sarcastic. i'm not even sure if i meant it sincerely or saracastically. whatever. neway, it's a beautiful restauarant w/ nice ancestor paintings n' black lacquer frames on the paintings n' on the mirrors. it's got very contemporary / yuppy furnishings. that's what makes it so solano. i guess if there were an asian version of ikea, that store'd sell the kind'a stuff to make ur condo/house look like kirin's dining room, right? neway. it's nice.
kirin serves innovative, contemporary northern chinese dishes. no, it's not fusion cuisine! u know, there r contemporary chefs in asia who come up w/ fresh, new ideas 2! it's not like only american chefs come out w/ new ideas n' "old world" chefs r stuck in the 13th century or something. so it's modern chinese cuisine. that presents a problem to some chinese-americans, i think. they c a restaurant like kirin on solano w/ its nice wine racks n' yuppy atmosphere n' the immediately think: <> well, no. it's not. it's just not "chinese fud like mom used to make." no, it's restaurant cuisine, not homestyle cooking. it's not tradiational fud, no. but deal w/ it. u'll find non.homestyle, non.traditional asian fud _in_ asia 2, u know.
neway, this whole dine.com thing's s'pposed to be 'bout the fud! 'member when ppl were real, n' restaurant reviews were 'bout the fud? man, all we restaurant critics have all become sellouts, man! we just talk 'bout all this image this, image that! frick! get back to the roots, what it's all 'bout! it's all 'bout the fud!
so what did we order? salmon n' spinach fried egg rolls, s'pposedly "spicy" hunan style steamed fillet o' sole, shitake mushrooms n' bok choy, "spicy" dry fried chicken. the salmon n' spinach fried egg rolls were kewl! they had some shitake mushrooms in there 2. yummy stuff, i tell u. yummy, yummy. they cut them lengthwise so u can c 'xactly what's fillin' them. the shitake mushrooms n' bok choy dish was good 2. the shitake mushrooms had a very nice flavour; they weren't just plain mushrooms. they almost had some sort of smoked flavour. there wasn't as much bok choy in that dish as mushroom. maybe that's a good thing cos the mushrooms r the fancier component of the dish, i guess. k... the fish: yummy yummy, no doubt. i'm talkin' "yum yum fish, " yes. however, it's kind'a wierd... the more traditional way to eat a steamed fish is to serve the whole fish, not just a fillet. i'm used to cing a live fish being plucked out of the water, gasping 4 life, just to be killed to feed me n' my party, right? but this was a fillet o' sole. mmm, it was very good tho', i like. it had a pretty basic soy sauceish sauce w/ roasted red chilis, topped w/ green onions, n' cilantro. the dry fried chicken... k, kaela wanted to eat kkanpoongsaewoo. i thought kirin, being a "northern" chinese restaurant'd have something like kkanpoongsaewoo. i didn't c nething on the seafud menu that resembled it, so i figured some sort of fried chicken dish'd hit somewhere near the target. well, the fried chicken was okay... nice n' crispy, yet drowned in this brown sauce that had what appeared to be frozen cubed carrots. uh, the carrots were not impressive. the dish as a whole was okay, tho'. the restaurant served long grain bi fan. i thought they'd have short grain, but it's ok.
i was there b4 n' had the desserts n' they're good. they coconut aisukuriimu atop fried bananas? yum.
yah, go to kirin sometime. enjoy it 4 what it is, k? thank u. oh yah! kirin's a li'l pricier than ur avg chinese restaurant, but go there occasionally. less

Excellent recipes and excution. Philip Chan is innovative - there are dishes available at Kirin that are not available at other Chinese restaurants. Newly remodeled kitchen - with glass walls - gives diners the chance to see a real first-rate oper ... more

Excellent recipes and excution. Philip Chan is innovative - there are dishes available at Kirin that are not available at other Chinese restaurants. Newly remodeled kitchen - with glass walls - gives diners the chance to see a real first-rate operation. We eat there on a highly regular basis and see many familiar faces. Also, we have taken guests to Kirin and have never been disappointed. The wait staff is very friendly and accomodating - the service is excellent. less

our family favorite for chinese food. everything is fresh and flavorful. if i had to say something negative it would be that the recent renovation did not address the need to dampen the noise level (which can be significant when the place is packe ... more

our family favorite for chinese food. everything is fresh and flavorful. if i had to say something negative it would be that the recent renovation did not address the need to dampen the noise level (which can be significant when the place is packed). less

Sister restaurant to the older restaurant in San Francisco, the newer version has been open for seven months and definitely meets the traditional standards set by the former. In addition to the great food and attactive, contemporary decor, this Kiri ... more

Sister restaurant to the older restaurant in San Francisco, the newer version has been open for seven months and definitely meets the traditional standards set by the former. In addition to the great food and attactive, contemporary decor, this Kirin offers an extensive, well executed menu of traditional Northern Chinese dishes. What separates this new trendy establishment from the run-of-the-mill Chinese eateries is Chef Phil Chu's modern interpretations of traditional dishes. If you want a feast featuring the best of the old and the best of the new, try the new Kirin in Berkeley. less