Kirin Gets a Mixed Review

When we walked into Kirin on Solano at noon a few Fridays ago, we were the only patrons in the restaurant. I suppose that should have been a bad sign, but I've walked by Kirin's plenty of times when it was packed, so I don't think it's hurting for business. It was quite cold inside, so I kept my coat on.

No matter what you order, everyone is served a cup of soup, which warmed me up a bit. We asked the waiter what he recommended, but he just responded that it depended on what you like. So we started with potstickers, which were good. I was intrigued by a cherry pork dish, and Dave ordered the Mongolian beef.

I guess because it was lunch, it wasn't served family style as I was expecting, but we still shared everything. Another item that comes with lunch automatically is a disappointing side salad that came covered in thousand island dressing. I might have eaten it if I'd been given a choice of dressing, but since I abhor thousand island dressing, it remained untouched.

I visited the restroom and found it to be the darkest one I'd ever been in. I'm sure the shiny black décor was going for elegant, but the black tile, black toilet, black sink, and low light made for a rather spooky restroom experience. Plus the flowers were mostly dead. If a person were to, say, check her teeth in the mirror, it would be quite difficult to ascertain whether bits of cabbage or whatnot were visible.

The cherry pork looked yummy with its deep red glaze, but it didn't really taste cherry-like to me, and I wasn't that enthused with it overall. Dave's Mongolian beef was pretty good but not terribly flavorful. Now, usually I don't partake in lamb. (It's part of my somewhat hypocritical stance on refusing to eat babies—I don't eat veal either.) But George seemed happy with his choice, and Dave was raving about it too, so I broke my rule. All I can say is wow. It was by far the best thing we ate that day.

Because Dave had loaded up on Solano Avenue Association cards as part of a fundraiser for Thousand Oaks School, I tried to use them to pay for lunch. But no luck—Kirin's doesn't accept them. Oh, well.

So it was a mixed review, I suppose. My advice? Dress in layers if you're dining in, order the lamb, skip the salad, and use the restroom before you go.