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December 10, 2004
Kirin - Northern Chinese Cuisine
Kirin is a nice, open restaurant on Solano Avenue serving some unique Chinese dishes. The exhibition kitchen shows the intensity of both the heat and the chefs preparing the dishes.
A few standouts:
The Salmon Spinach roll is an eggroll-like appetizer that's stuff with spinach and Salmon, deep fried, split open and served with a light, soy-based sauce. They are crispy, fresh and nearly perfect for an appetizer.
A notable dish that I've only seen at Kirin on Solano Avenue is the Gwai Wer noodles. It's a combination of pork, carrots, zuchinni, peas in a tomato-based curry. It's served over house made noodles. It's a pleasantly spicy dish that warms you from the inside on a chilly night.
The closest analog I've seen elsewhere is Beijing noodles, which is basically a meat sauce on noodles (also quite good), but lacks the vegetables and robust flavors of the Gwai Wer sauce.
Kirin is also good for very fresh broth-based soups. I'm not a fan, but Jenny thinks it's a very good Wanton soup, and the serving is huge and price low.
Posted by tdotjay at December 10, 2004 06:36 PM
