Kirin Asian BBQ and Hot Pot — Restaurant in Springfield

*THE WORST EXPERIENCE/RESTAURANT IVE EVER BEEN TO! * Came here for my son’s 14th bday last night with a family of 9 including a 3 yr old. When first arriving I let them know this reservation was for birthday and also let them know we had never been there before and don’t know how it all works. They seated us and after 40 mins of waiting, they individually took our orders. After numerous of times asking for a high chair every single trip the waitress came, we NEVER got one. We ordered our food and everyone’s dishes were all over the place on the table. They didn’t take their time to separate who ordered what they just brought out random dishes which we still didn’t even receive some of the sides we actually ordered. Our table was hectic and chaotic with sides. The music was terribly loud and we never were instructed how to even work the grills, temperatures, or buttons to actually cook the food. The server bringing out the food seemed very agitated that we asked how to work everything as we hadn’t seen our waitress in some time and express this was our first time. We eventually gave up on asking for missing sides. As we finally figured out the buttons, I felt my pant leg wet and the floor very slippery. When I looked underneath the table I noticed something was dripping out from under the grill bowl. So I asked the MANAGER as I was concerned it was leaking from the electrical circuit box she said “oh that’s oil from the grill” as if that was ok to have oil dripping all over me and more-so through the electrical socket. The floor at my feet was extremely slippery from the puddle of oil. As we’re trying to cook our own food with no instructions or direction it was very difficult to pass things along table as each was on for ea individual person. It was so loud we couldn’t even communicate on who had what across the table. Safe to say we had enough! Finally we decided to leave unsatisfied and unimpressed with the food and service. Not to mention after waiting so long no one ever came out to sing HBD to my song. A person from our party asked for a to go box and they wanted to CHARGE $10 to take home the food WE cooked. When we spoke to the manager about this she explained how it is a buffet styled restaurant and if there was a pound or more of food left on the table there will also be a $15.99 per lb charge for food left behind. But if you decided to take any home that’s an additional $10 ea/ for any boxes. We carefully read the menu as it only had SOME explanation of the surcharge for food left behind but NOTHING that stated to go box charge. Since we had her there for the last time we just wanted an understanding on our experience and how things went for a 14 yr old birthday that went horribly and how it was a liability for them to have not brought out a high chair after numerous of attempts the entire night asking for the high chair, since the table was VERY hot for any small child. She then gave the ONE to go box free. When the bill came out we all paid for the bbq and hot pot as we had both which is $37.99 + tax ea. Keep in mind drinks are not included, no free refills, and gratuity and service charges are also not included. As we were walking out, there was a huge bulletin stating if it is your bday, you eat free! I walked back inside and told them how I mentioned there was a birthday person 3 TIMES it didn’t dawn on anyone to mention his meal was free. Our waitress was also standing at the door and replied “ really?”in the most condescending manner. Imagine my shock after figuring out the bill for a large group, the entire time my 14 yr old was suppose to be free. Not ONE of them mentioned it and still deceivingly took our money. The manager did not apologize for anything, did not compensate for anything and overall did not care how the night went for us just ensured our money was taken. Absolute WORST EXPERIENCE. I will never recommend for anyone...

TLDR; My wife and I dropped by for dinner a few weeks back and had a great time. Good food, modern facilities and great service.

We dropped by on a whim because my wife was craving hot pot. They had both BBQ and hot pot options, but we weren't particularly hungry, so we just went for hot pot, but would definitely like to try BBQ as well.

Restaurant itself: The restaurant looked very new and clean and had a very young and relaxed ambiance. The floor was a bit slippery, but not as big of a deal as some patrons made it out to be. Bathroom was clean as well (at least the men's room was).

Sauce bar: It was clean and had lots of options, and even had some suggested mixes for those unfamiliar. They had some fruits and desserts here and even had free honeydew and strawberry milk tea! Being Korea, I always try kimchi and am usually always disappointed, but Kirin had actually pretty good kimchi that would be more accessible to non-Koreans/people who haven't had kimchi before, so this was a nice surprise. The only thing I wish it had were raw eggs so I could mix the yolk into the sauce, but it's not uncommon to not have it at AYCE places.

Seats/tables: The table we were sat at was in between 2 other tables. And the seats are those long couches that face both ways so that you're connected to the other party behind you. The couches were pushed so far into the table where we were sat due to the parties on either side of our table pushing the couch back. As a result, we were unable to sit in one of the seats because it was pressed right up against the table and even the other one was a rather tight fit. But we fit and we were hungry, so we just sat and ate. The tables are large.

Service: Service was amazing. The server was so attentive, she made her round what must have been every few minutes so that we could (and did) flag her down really easily whenever we wanted something else. And even without flagging her down, she checked in very often to ensure everything was good. This is not the typical AYCE experience that I've had in the past and it was even better than some upscale a la carte hot pot places I've been to in Boston. Kudos to the server!

Hot pot: The actual hot pot is great. Everyone gets their own hot pot, so everyone can choose their own broth out of the many they have. I had szechuan and wife had kirin special. Both broths were great. My wife isn't a huge fan of mushroom and despite kirin special supposedly having some mushroom in it, it wasn't overwhelming and she thoroughly enjoyed it.

Meats: We ordered beef belly, pork belly, lamb, kobe beef, and prime brisket. The lamb was very lean, so it was a bit tough, but everything else was really good. My wife's favorite was kobe beef, but for me, everything but lamb was pretty much equal.

Non-meats: We got lobster ball, qual eggs, tripe, dumping, fish cakes, and fried tofu skin. They were all good. Nothing to complain about. They didn't have the freezer burn smell as they do at some places and wasn't too salty.

All in all, this was a great experience and my wife prefers this place over Spring Shabu up in Boston hands down. The fact that Spring Shabu has crazy wait times makes this place even more enticing for us. We'll definitely be back to try more hot pot...

Four of us went here to eat dinner for the first time this weekend. The outside of the restaurant looked nice. The inside felt spacious. Each table felt private. We were led to a table that sits 6 people so we had enough space to be comfy. We started with hotpots. I think the individual hotpot was a good idea here. In other hotpot restaurants, we had to share a big hotpot that had dividers in it. First we were asked to choose appetizers. We chose popcorn chicken and spring rolls. Both were tasty. We opted out of rice and French fries. We each ordered broths for our individual hotpots. I chose the Japanes Miso broth which is mild tasting. Another in my group ordered the Tom yum broth which is spicier.The others both chose the mushroom broth. Its more earthy but mild. We each enjoyed our broth choices. We went to the sauce area and picked out what we wanted for dipping sauces,ie. sesame oil, soy sauce, scallion, chopped garlic, etc.We then ordered slice beef briskets, lobster balls, squid, fish balls, shrimp, prawns,tofu, bean curd rolls, spinach, watercress, lotus root, shitake and oyster mushrooms, as well as taro. When we finished a particular plate of seafood , meat or vegetable, we asked for more and more food was rolled on a cart out to us. Our waiter, Kai, was very nice and attentive to our table and answered our concerns. We were very satisfied with the hotpot. This was a healthy way of eating. However we still wanted to try the Korean bbq. It did not disappoint. We ordered mainly galbi, marinated beef with garlic and brisket for the bbq. The food was put on the grill and cooked for a couple of minutes. It was delicious. The only issue with the bbq is that there should be better ventilation. A hood should be placed above each table to help take the cooking odor away from us. I thought we smelled like bbq ourselves when we finished eating here. That was not pleasant. Kai, our server told us that there was also desert. We were offered ice cream in a cup as well as bubble tea without bubbles. Both were good especially the Thai bubble tea. The cake selection choice was cheap and lacking.Only a few pieces of sliced oranges and cantalope was offered. The dessert selection should be improved. It was disappointing. No lactose free drinks were offered . I hope better desserts will be offered in the future . Also be aware that you should only order what you can eat and finish to avoid waste as well as a surcharge. An 18 percent gratuity is included in the bill. You can always tip the waiter extra if the service is above expectations. Also we were reminded to finish our meal within the 90 minute time constraint Overall, Kirin was a nice experience for the four of us. Good place for hotpot and Korean bbq! If better dessert options were offered, this would be...