Fire Kirin

Fire Kirin

Unit 500 - 12101 Lake Fraser Drive SE

I was meeting a friend to catch up on news and the like, after the holidays, and while looking for a place to sit down and talk, I found an Asian fusion place - or more, listed as 'Contemporary Asian Cuisine' restaurant in the south side of Calgary.  I'm not normally super high on asian fusion or 'contemporary' but I thought I'd give it a go anyways.


I entered the restaurant, and for a Friday night, it was eerily empty.   Besides my friend waiting, there were only 2 other tables in a seating space that held at least 30 small tables.   While that wasn't a good sign, that didn't deter us from trying out the joint.   The decor was clean, modern, and with a bit of an open view into the kitchen area, and some asian-modern decor strewn about, but not so much that it was cluttered.

We were fairly hungry, so decided to order the Korean BBQ combo for two, not normally on the menu, but on their seasonal specials, along with the Kirin string beans.  The BBQ combo included korean style bbq beef, chicken, and pork, on a bed of lettuce, and served with kimchi and other korean sides.   

We were informed as we ordered that every dish came with rice, and I found that a bit odd, considering that's usually a lunch time tactic, and to allow for people to order fried rice at dinner, they could have just left out the white rice that came with each plate.   We'd actually been considering the fried rice, until they pointed out the inclusion.   

The beans were supposedly wok fried with shitake mushrooms in a spicy soy bean sauce, but I could hardly call this spicy, even though I am fairly weaksauce when it comes to spicy foods.   The small sides that came with the korean bbq were a nice touch, including a glazed potato, some bean sprouts, kimchi, and small pan fried tofu cubes.   

Unfortunately I did not take pictures of the entrees, but suffice it to say that it was fairly tasty - not the best korean bbq I've eaten, nor the best string beans, but the flavour was decent, not too salty, and I wasn't too thirsty due to MSG-laden foods a few hours later either.   

I did however have to order the deep fried bananas, with coconut ice cream.   I have a fairly large soft spot for deep fried bananas, and this was no exception.  The batter was light, not too oily, and complemented the banana nicely.   The ice cream was ok, but didn't have strong enough coconut flavour in it.   

Would I go back?   Sure... if only to try other things on the menu that I didn't have a chance to yet.   Would I be a regular?  Probably not - in the end, it's still just not as good as authentic asian foods.  For modern asian food though, it was passable, and the prices were decent for the portions in a newer restaurant.

Taste:  7.5 - the Korean BBQ didn't have the grill/smoke flavour that usually accompanies it, but the meat was tender, and well seasoned.

Presentation:  8.5 - modern plating for asian cuisine, but for dinner, really, get rid of the bowl of rice on the plate.   

Ambiance:   8.0 - I liked the ambiance, not too asian-cheesy

Service:   8.0 - had to wait a little bit closer to the end of the dinner to get someone to box up the remnants, but otherwise attentive service, and never had to ask to refill the tea pot nor the water glasses.

Prices:   $10-15 per entree, other than the platters