After much anticipation, high-end Korean steak house Girin opens at 4 p.m. Saturday in the new Stadium Place complex beside Century Link field. Owner Steven Han is known for his Japanese restaurants (Momiji, Kushibar, Umi Sake House) and this is his first project that plays to his own Korean heritage. Han has teamed up with co-owner Cody Burns and executive chef Brandon Kirksey — who he plucked from San Francisco’s James Beard-nominated flour+water.
Behind the restaurant’s two sturdy wooden front doors sit an entryway garden with a stream-lined bar to the left, complete with the requisite stadium territory television sets. The Korean home-style main dining room fits 125 seats into 5400 square feet: all high ceilings and polished wood.
The menu, partially inspired by a research trip to Korea, centers on ssam plates: proteins that diners top with sauces and banchan (small accompanying side Korean dishes), then wrap in different lettuces to consume as small packages. These and all Girin’s dishes are meant to be eaten family-style — the authentic way. Kirskey’s personal favorites include the skirt steak ssam, yukhwe (raw beef, pear, pine nut, egg yolk), manduguk pork dumplings, and gaeran jjim, a steamed egg custard with salmon roe and chives. Visit Girin Sunday-Thursday, 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., and Friday-Saturday, 4 p.m. to midnight. The full menu follows:
