Kirin 玉麒麟 (City Square)

Kirin at City Square is my last visited restaurant in the Kirin chain. So far I've been to the Richmond and Starlight Casino locations, and Richmond remains my preferred choice. After this visit though, I think City Square wins in terms of service. The staff was polite and had a pretty positive attitude. Food was not bad, but I found the desserts much better than the other dim sum. The steamed prawn, dried shrimp and bok choy dumplings (金蝦白菜餃) ($4.78) had very starchy skin and the fillings were quite bland. I usually don't put much seasoning on my food, but I had to eat this with hot sauce for some flavour.

The steamed vegetarian shrimp and pea tip rice roll (素蝦仁豆苗腸粉) ($4.98) was average. The vegetarian shrimp looked like real shrimp with its artificial orange stripes, but the texture was similar to soft ground fish meat. It tasted like some sort of bean curd product.

The deep fried banana and red bean paste balls (脆炸豆沙香蕉球) ($4.28) were very tasty with crispy shells, soft and aromatic bananas, and smooth red bean paste. I thought they would be the highlight of the meal... until I tasted another dessert that was even better. But more on that later.

I thought the deep fried prawn, preserved egg and pickled ginger roll (子薑彩蛋蝦筒) ($4.78) would be good because the ingredients are pretty much the same as preserved egg and pickled ginger pastries which I like. Unfortunately the taste and texture of ground prawn meat didn't go very well with preserved egg and pickled ginger. That wasn't the worst part though. The biggest fail of this dish was the batter which was soft, doughy and powdery.

Out of all the savoury dim sum, the steamed pork, dried scallop and vegetable buns (瑤柱菜肉包) ($4.78) were probably the best. The meat was well-marinated and the texture of the bun was soft and slightly dense.

The real highlight of the meal was the durian mochi (榴蓮糯米糍) ($5.98). The dish was expensive, but it was worth every penny! Some people say you either love or hate durian. I don't agree because I used to hate it as a kid, but got used to the smell since my mom and aunt both love it. Now I'm fine with eating durian, though I don't exactly love it. With that said, I would give these mochi a perfect rating if I were asked to rate them. The mochi skin was amazingly soft and slightly sticky/chewy with a melt-in-your-mouth sensation. The filling was actual durian meat with a bit of cool whipped cream. The skin and filling complemented each other perfectly. When the server circled around with a tray of durian mochi and highly recommended them, I was hesitant about trying them at first because I was worried the durian would be artificial and not the real thing. I'm so glad I decided to be adventurous, or else I would have missed out! For anyone who doesn't completely detest durian, these are a must-try. You won't find them on the menu; you just have to ask the servers. Apparently most people are already in the know, so they sell out quickly.

The enoki mushroom steamed with bean curd ball (金菇扒腐皮球) ($4.78) was another average savoury dim sum. The sauce was thick and starchy, and the bean curd was bland which would have been fine if there had been more mushroom. But there were only a few shreds of mushroom, so the dish was quite boring.

At the end of the meal, we were given hot towels to wipe our hands with. I was a bit surprised, but I found out the Richmond location sometimes provides hot towels as well. It seems like this is a random service Kirin offers when they feel like it.

Overall this Kirin experience was not bad. In my opinion, the durian mochi was already worth the visit. The staff here was definitely a lot more polite and respectful than the staff at the other 2 locations I've been to. The seating was a bit cramped though, since I found the tables a bit too close to each other. But I will still come back for the service and the desserts.