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Kirin, a closer look
Aloha!
7/15/09 - Went to Ala Moana the other day looking for dim sum at Chinese restaurant Kirin, but lo and behold, they're no longer there! Looks like they've pulled back operations exclusively to their original store on Beretania St., right across the street from the Star Supermarket parking lot - soon to be Times, actually, since Times just bought them out! Or will they keep the Star name? Hmmm... Not sure.
Unlike the newer (and former, since they closed!) Ala Moana location, the original Restaurant Kirin has been around for a while, and although it does carry a kind of traditional, old-world elegance that has its own kind of attraction, it is a bit aged, nonetheless, a fact that's apparent whether seen from the outside or inside. I remember this place since I was a kid, and that's a looong time ago! I guess back then it was one of the more fancy places around, especially as compared to other Chinese restaurants I used to pick 'n choose every time my birthday came around! In the days when you actually looked forward to birthdays and wanted to get older, us kids would get our pick of restaurants, and for me, it was all about Chinese! Of course, dad'd usually pick much cheaper spots to visit, considering we had a family of six, but it wouldn't matter to me, as there was no such thing as a bad Chinese restaurant in my book, and I'd always be the first and last one eating - no joke!
Even before entering, you can already see signs of that old-world, traditional-minded elegance, charming in the way a good antique is. And that mode continues as you step inside. It's not modern and schnazzy like a Mandalay or Hong Kong Harbor View, but not homely and run-down like one of your more modest neighborhood Chinese restaurants, either - both extremes kinda leave you wondering if you're even in a Chinese restaurant at all, at least when considering just the atmosphere. Here, it just feels Chinese, ya know? And believe me, there's no shortage of the host ethnicity dining here, a very strong sign that we're in for a great meal, and that here's a place that really knows what it's doing!
Mom and I came for lunch recently, and a very popular way to go here is in the way of dim sum. Forget carts, though, which may be good for nostalgia and novelty's sake, but me, I'll take made-to-order just about every time! Fresher is always better, as fried items can get soggy and steamed items can become dry the longer they stay on those carts.
On this particularly lovely day, fried dishes were out and steamed was in! The first of them came in the form of tender, succulent scallops, which were encased, along with chives, in a very familiar-looking dumpling wrap. No overbearing sauces, nothing particularly fancy - just the good ol' taste of fresh scallops, cooked ever so slightly, till they burst in your mouth with the sweet taste of ocean bounty!
Likewise, the same could be said of their shrimp dumplings - not much else besides the simple, sweet taste of shrimp, along with the light starch of the flour wrapper, both steamed to perfection in bamboo baskets.
See all those folds? They don't just come naturally - someone has to make them, after all, and they don't come through no machine! Anyone familiar with programs from some of the top dim sum houses in Hong Kong or Taiwan? That's where workers are literally timed to construct a certain amount of pieces per minute, their hands moving as fast as a ping pong player on the Chinese National Team! And it's not just about speed, but quality, as well, as not only must the number of folds for each piece add-up to a specific number, but there are also very precise qualifications for size, shape, and all kinds of other criteria - if they fail on any of these counts, they get written-up - too many violations, and they are fired, no questions asked! There are literally thousands of people applying for these spots, with only a select few being chosen, and fewer yet surviving through the rigorous training of the art. The competition is fierce, but succeed at one of these big-name places, and you'll be one of the elite folks who end-up opening restaurants of their own eventually, or at least gaining the option of employment at any other fine Chinese restaurant of their choosing, should they prefer to do so.
Like sushi for Japanese or house-made pasta with italians, there really is an art, skill, and long history with dim sum, and Kirin restaurant definitely knows their craft well. My favorite dish of the day was a shrimp dumpling and choi sum in soup, which was large enough for at least three people. Again, the dumplings were very simple, consisting almost wholly of shrimp and pork, while the broth was clear yet flavorful, the entire dish coming with a streak of elegance, utilizing the freshness of ingredients Hong Kong-style dim sum is known for, and never over-doing anything by over-cooking or overly-powerful sauces. A must-try here, for sure.
For dessert, there's nothing else mom favors more in a Chinese restaurant than gindoi. She loves the sesame-covered, deep-fried glutinous rice, with a center of sweetened black beans. I don't particularly care for sweetened bean mixes like Japanese azuki, but like mom, I do love it in a good gindoi.
While dessert does signal the end of one particular meal, it was so good that we just had to return, yet again! Having only ordered dim sum, we wanted to sample the regular menu, something you'll need to do during dinners here, as evenings do not include dim sum. You won't skip a beat, however, as I do believe you'll find the regular menu even more impressive! There's steamed uhu in soy/ginger sauce, salt 'n pepper dungeness crab, whole Kahuku shrimp, drunken clams, sizzling platters, and all kinds of other traditional dishes.
Just a note, and something I noticed not only on our table but other tables, as well - dishes come out any ol' time, a good 15 minutes having passed between our first and last platters! I even had to remind a waiter, not sure if they had forgotten or not. Eventually, it did come, however, and this is what the wait was all about:
The menu says Peking-style pan-fried noodles for a number of noodle varieties, the term pan-fried leaving me with the impression of regular chow mein sauteed with different ingredients. These, however, were more like Hong Kong-style crispy noodles, the entire batch of floured strings deep-fried and coming out looking like a tangled bird's nest - just the way I like it, thank you! Man, I don't even wanna know how much oil soaks into those noodles, but hey, it tastes so good I just don't wanna stop! Unlike local-style cake noodles, which are much heavier and also carry more oil than you wanna know about, this particular style is lighter and more delicate, the noodles thinner, crispier, and not densely-packed like the local variety. Ono-liscious, boy!
But before the long wait for our noodles, the first dish hitting our table was the deep-fried tofu, coming with small amounts of ground shrimp and a side bowl of ham sauce. Might not look the most impressive, but believe me, these golden nuggets were delicious! Light, delicate, and airy, I couldn't actually see much shrimp at all, but there was a subtle shrimp taste, just enough to give it a little more character and flair than a simple fried tofu, and that ham sauce all over? Winnah'z!
Our next dish was a classic in Chinese cuisine - a mixed seafood in taro basket. Always a show-stopper, this fabulous combination of scallops, shrimp, fish, squid, broccoli, and carrots was the perfect mix of taste and texture - tender, succulent, sweet seafoods and snappy, firm, colorful vegetables, both cooked lightly to perfection, along with crispy taro strips that, like the seafood noodle dish above, soaked in all those wonderful sauces!
The basket itself was a bit on the small side, as I could have easily devoured the entire plate, along with everything else, had I not wanted to save a bit for wifey, who was hard at work and enjoyed the leftover's later that night. Eeeh, 75 percent-full is always good for you, anyway! Moderation in everything, ey?
What strikes me most about Kirin Chinese Restaurant is how elegant just about all the dishes are. Having eaten-out every single day for about 3 months while studying tuina and bone manipulation techniques in Beijing, I got to experience both the every-day foods as well as the fanciest Imperial-style cuisines there, and I do believe that Kirin, right here on the island, is still a great Chinese restaurant. I mean, the laid-back atmosphere, the older furnishings, and even the presentations of the dishes themselves may not strike you as particularly refined, but I'm talking strictly about the taste! There's a certain lightness, a certain style, a certain elegance (yeah, I know I used that word like 5 times already!) that comes from quality Chinese cuisine. Sauces are sophisticated and never over-sugared, over-oyster sauced, nor over-cornstarched in any way; meats and vegetables are never over-cooked, as to appreciate their freshness and natural flavors; and in the end - they are just very noticeably different from the common variety of neighborhood Chinese restaurants, which may taste great and all, but oftentimes lack the subtle qualities I mentioned above.
So don't let the old-school surroundings fool ya - just zero-in like a laser beam on to the quality of the dishes, and not in appearance, but taste - strictly, taste. It is a bit more expensive, even as the portions are also a bit smaller at the same time, but still, a worthy place to check out.
Hope you're all having a great and wonderful day in Hawaii-nei, and do go out and make it a point to be a positive difference in someone's life today, even if that someone happens to be you!
Take care and Aloha till next time!
Aku
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