Kirin 麒麟 (Starlight Casino)

I hadn't been to any Kirin location other than the Richmond one, so I thought it would be a good idea to try dim sum at the Starlight Casino location. I've passed by a few times and checked out the restaurant prior to this visit and noticed the place had the nicest decor with a small garden patio and a large comfortable waiting area. Elegant lanterns and flowing fountains lined the long corridor leading to the seating area. When I arrived shortly after noon on Sunday, there was a swarm of people at the entrance waiting to be seated. Luckily I had a reservation, and we were quickly led to a table in one of the rooms in the back. The black sesame roll (香滑芝麻卷) ($4.28) came a few minutes after we had placed our orders. Although for dim sum there's usually no specific order the dishes come in, it still really bugs me when the dessert comes at the very beginning. And this black sesame roll is possibly the worst I've ever had. I've made this at home before with store-bought black sesame powder and it tasted better than this. The texture was very starchy and there was almost no black sesame flavour at all. I didn't want to waste food, so I had to force it down with tea.

The deep fried minced fish bean curd roll and pea tip in steamed rice roll (脆竹魚茸豆苗腸粉) ($4.98) was pretty tasty. The minced fish and pea tip were wrapped in bean curd which was then wrapped in a thin layer of rice noodle. I liked the contrast of textures and flavours, even though the roll was still quite mild as a whole.

The steamed preserved meat, peanut, and glutinous rice bun (潮式糯米卷) ($4.78) was very crudely made and the bun layer was pitifully thin. I didn't like the ratio of bun to filling, and the glutinous rice was actually quite bland.

Now for the greatest rip-off of the day: the steamed scallop, crab meat, prawn and egg white dumpling (賽螃蟹蒸餃) ($5.98). Just looking at the name, one might think, "How could you go wrong with scallop, crab, prawn and egg white?" Well... think of extremely non-fresh and fishy-tasting seafood all ground up and mixed together with instant egg whites, then stuffed into a doughy wrap.

I should mention that I also ordered the steamed barbequed pork bun, but it never came. We waited almost an hour before asking one of the waiters to check if it had been forgotten. He insisted it was already punched in and that it was just taking a little longer. After waiting another 15 minutes, we got fed up and asked them to cancel it. This meal was a complete disappointment in terms of both food and service. I won't be coming back to this location any time soon.