ZiLin

Came in for dinner the other night with a friend and was pleasantly surprised by the food. I ordered the Dan Dan noodles. The noodles were well cooked and there was a decent amount of spice to the sauce. I was a little bummed that I never got to try the Oxtail Fries. Service was great.

Quaint. Cozy. Free from the hassle of Colorado Blvd crowd which is only around the corner. Great for a big group of friends and family. Excellent service! Everything else is a bonus… Love the beef roll, noodles, adobo egg, mapo rice, pork belly, and their special that night, cougar fries!
Don’t be mislead by the bad reviews you’ve read. Enjoy a fun dinner here and walk the neighborhood for great dessert. Lette Macaroons!!! Cheers!

My second visit was honestly a bit disappointing. There was only one waiter working on a Saturday night. The place wasn’t packed but there was one big table and a couple of other small tables. The waiter and staff were really friendly and apologetic, but the food was just ehh this time. Scotch eggs were probably the only really good thing. Popcorn chicken was average, the dan dan noodles just had bit blotches of chili oil and was not enjoyable. They changed the oxtail fries to some cougar fries which were okay. Nothing was bad persay, but nothing was particularly good.

What a lovely place!!! Absolutely love the décor! The bartender/​server was friendly, gave great suggestions and had a good knowledge of the food served.
The menu is very small, but prices are great. Get a free Pop Corn Chicken with a Unilocal check-​in too!

I found ZiLin on Unilocal and dragged my fiancé here on a Sunday night to try it. I hate to say it but Unilocal steered me wrong.
We ordered the Scotch egg and also got the popcorn chicken free for checking in on Unilocal.
For our entrée, we shared the old lady spicy noodles that come with ground pork in black bean sauce. The Scotch egg was the best dish but wasn’t amazing. It was tiny (yes, just one egg) for the price of $ 6. The egg itself was well cooked; soft with a runny yolk, but I couldn’t taste the sausage and it really didn’t have a flavor other than salt. The papaya slaw it came with was very good and had a nice ginger flavor.
The popcorn chicken was below average: bland with a chewy texture on the meat and no crunch to the skin.
The noodles were also lacking in flavor; labeled «spicy,» they were anything but and were just kind of boring. The portion was big enough for us to share.
There was only one other couple in the restaurant with us. Service was very good. I ordered a Tsingtao but they were out. Since it was the cheapest beer on their menu, I just stuck with water.
The décor is strange: funny dog pics on the walls, which are purple, and also some things that make it look like the interior of a spa. The music playing was slow and boring.
I know they recently changed their menu but it seems like ZiLin hasn’t quite found its niche. I wouldn’t return.

My husband and I loved this little restaurant and I really hope ZiLin continues to stay in business and attract customers. Located in downtown Pasadena, ZiLin is a tiny restaurant with an atmosphere that isn’t too busy or loud. Came here on a Saturday night and was surprised to find a fairly empty restaurant in the midst of a very busy downtown. However, I was thankful for the relaxing environment.
Upon seating, we were promptly greeted by a kind server. I love not feeling pressured to order or know what drinks I want right away. They gave us space and didn’t rush us. We got a couple drinks then ordered dinner. I got the Pork Belly Rice Bowl and husband got the ginger noodles. There’s also free popcorn chicken with Unilocal check-​in. I am not exaggerating, but all of our dishes were good. We were so happy with the food and we finished our plates clean. At first glance on the menu, I was a little surprised at the lack of options but now I understand it’s because all the food they make is made with care and is delicious. I don’t think you can go wrong with what you order.
For dessert, we asked what they were offering and they said they were trying out a couple new options. We ended up trying a mango pudding (with mango filling inside) served with a side of ice cream. It was pretty good. I was not disappointed by anything that night.
As for the service, it was one of the best. We had 2 people who came by to check up on us periodically and to refill our waters. They even gave me more hot water when I finished my tea. One of the cooks came out and asked us about our dessert and was pleased when we said we liked it. I guess we were one of the first customers to try it out.
After reading a few of ZiLin Unilocal reviews, I see this place has changed up its menu quite a bit as well as its atmosphere. Please come by and try ZiLin now because I couldn’t relate to any of the previous bad reviews about the décor and/​or food. By the time I dined here, I was really digging the ambiance and décor. My husband and I were talking about this restaurant during dinner and we agreed that this type of independent, unique restaurant is the type of business we hope to see succeed.
ZiLin, you have made us into fans of your restaurant. We will make sure to recommend this place to friends visiting downtown Pasadena.

No more oxtail chili fries, ladies and gentlemen! Sadness. My group was really looking forward to enjoying that dish. Good thing we stumbled upon their happy hour and drank our way back to happiness.
Happy hour is everyday from 4−7PM. Specials included $ 2 off any draft or bottled beer and $ 2 off wine (select wine by the glass varieties only). No food specials, but check the Unilocal mobile app for the latest check-​in offer, which was 1 free popcorn chicken at the time. Nice!
Food:
— Spiced peanuts and plain marcona almonds (complimentary)
— Popcorn Chicken (free with Unilocal Check-​In): small fried chicken bites. A bit bland and dry, could use more seasoning or a dipping sauce.
— Scotch Egg — Best appetizer amongst the ones we tried. Tasted flavorful, slightly crispy on the outside, paired with the refreshing papaya slaw.
— Beef Roll — Small, skinny roll compared to other restaurants. Not impressed.
— Basil pancake — a basil interpretation of the popular scallion pancake. It tasted dry and plain. Meh, stick to the scallion pancake.
Imbibe:
— Daou Vineyards The Pessimist Cabernet Sauvignon
— Wolf Creek Brewery Desperado IPA
Service was excellent despite there being only one waiter in the restaurant. This lady did a great job taking orders and delivering drinks and food in good time. She was very friendly and always smiled.
3 stars. I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here. I don’t think I’ll be back. Chinese food was lackluster. Happy hour specials kept me in the restaurant.

The restaurant was very quiet as we were the only guests, which was surprising as it was a Saturday evening. In any case, our server was pleasant and he informed us of the free popcorn chicken with Unilocal checkin.
The Scotch Egg was as delicious as I was expecting, per other Unilocal reviews. The DanDan noodles were VERY a spicy, yet tasty. Wonton soup and popcorn chicken were typical.
Apparently they recently changed the menu to be more of a casual spot to eat and drink. This segues to my next observation. when you walk in you see nice booth seating and art on the wall, both of which would seem to fit for a nice sit down dinner. However the atmosphere is a bit thrown off with the dance music pumping and the mood lighting around the bar. Maybe that’s just me though.
Id come back again on more of a drinking night.

ZiLin tries too hard to be too many things that it fails to be great at any one.
Serving Asian Fusion while also maintaining a decent variety of burgers (still fusing the concept mind you), none of the dishes ever came together to be truly amazing.
My best friend and I had the brussels sprout appetizer as well as two of their Asian Fusion burgers. Given how trendy burgers are and have been, my palate is very sensitive to knowing when I’ve hit a gold mine of taste and I was definitely coming up empty handed here. The meat was average and while the surrounding ingredients on our burgers hit their theme home, taste-​wise it did nothing for us.
[It is worth noting that their menu apparently changes regularly.]
The service is great, though for full disclosure we were the only ones there at the time. Very attentive, friendly, and chatty.
Décor is nice for a date, dark with cool colors, but I’d imagine it’s better in the evening than in the day, when we went.

I appreciate the rotating menu idea but it’s a little disappointing to come back and have food not on par with previous experiences. This updated review is for my recent trip last week for he fall 2014 menu.
I would probably only give 3 star for overall experience but added an extra in hopes that future experience will be better since I believe this place has a lot of potential.
Popcorn chicken– good. Served in a cute wooden bowl but nothing special from your Lollicup or Guppy’s serving.
Pumkinweiser seasonal beer– great! On the medium side. I’d order this again.
Pork belly rice bowl with kimchi-​too bland for me and meat is over cooked
Beef rolls were the bomb! The meat is seasoned well and nicely paired with some cucumbers. I also like the fried rice paper on the outside. Highly recommend this item. Portion was kind of small… Or maybe I just have a big stomach.
Dumpling soup– the broth was kind of bland. I was told the broth was chicken stock but I couldn’t taste that chicken. The dumplings and sauce made up for the lack of broth flavor though. It’s probably personal taste, but the cabbages in the soup were undercooked and that was a no no for me.
Our server recommended the ginger noodles and even though I am not a fan of Brussels sprouts, I ordered it anyway. Turned out the Brussels sprouts were better than I expected but the overall dish was disappointing. Ramen was way overlooked so it was soggy. So-​so sauce that came with the chicken. Meh.
They were still developing their fall desserts menu so no desserts were available for us.
Out of everything I ate, I probably would only order the beef rolls again. On the bright side, this place has a rotating menu so I’m hoping next time I come, I’ll have some food on par with my first trip here.
Us two were the only ones in the restaurant at 630 so food came out faster than we can eat. Service was friendly.

Was around the area and wanted a late night dinner and stumbled upon ZiLin from Unilocal ratings and reviews. Not hard to find, just street metered parking can be difficult on the weekends.
Upon entering, it was around 9 – 9:30pm ish so there was one other couple. When I checked in for the complimentary wings, the server let us know that they had run out… we were a bit bummed but he brought us a substitution.
We ordered one dish and most dishes ranged from $ 5 — $ 13ish…it seemed they were more known for their noodles. We decided to go with the ginger noodle dish and loved the flavors. The Mrs. and I shared the dish and it was a decent sized entrée, but I wouldn’t have any trouble finishing the dish on my own. Came topped with vegetables, really nicely flavored chicken, and a egg over easy on top. I’d recommend that dish for someone wanting to try a different style/​taste of a noodle dish.
Décor is cute, lots of dog portrait paintings/​pictures on the wall.

NUMBER OF VISITS: 1
WOULD I COME BACK: hmmmm maybe but probably not.
It’s been several months since I’ve been here. I’ve had trouble sleeping lately so I figured I’d catch up on some reviews. Anyway I was introduced to Zilin through one of Unilocal’s events. I think it was Pasadena’s restaurant week. Marvy S. was kind enough to put together a PYE. There were several of us and we sampled several items. I don’t quite remember the specifics of each dish, but I remember the taste was just ok. Nothing spectacular. It was pretty much ok food presented in a visually appealing way. I remember they did have a spin on a Filipino breakfast/​snack item called taho. I like my taho the traditional way… warm tofu pudding with a brown sugar syrup and tapioca. This had unnecessary additions which I think was an attempt to make it look prettier and give it texture. It was a fail in my book.
The service was ok. The interior did speak to me. The walls are painted purple… it’s my favorite color. But that’s about it.
Sorry for the lack of description in the food items. It’s been a while and I guess the food wasn’t memorable. Well, the company sure was… I got to meet new friends. But anyway, to get a better description of the samplings we had, refer to marvy’s review. She typically explains the ingredients, texture, etc.
The end…

A very atypical of what one would classify as an Asian bistro. You have purple walls paired with both American and Asian art. There is Hispanic music playing in the background. More of a hipsters’ setting than anything. Very eclectic.
I came on a weekday for an interview, and the place was really empty. The food may also take some time to prepare, so patience is a virtue.
Ordered the dragon burger, which had pickles, mushrooms, dragon sauce, and cilantro crème fraîche. There was definitely a good mix between sour and sweet flavors in the sauce, which you can find in a lot of Asian dishes. Overall, it was a good experience.

Unique Asian-​fusion cuisine in a contemporary atmosphere. This restaurant was our first culinary stop in our trip to Pasadena, and it was a satisfying one overall.
We started with the Filipino Scotch egg. If you can only get one dish here, this is the one. It was an amazing combination of textures and flavors, and the presentation was beautiful.
I had the bulgolgi burger and tried some of the Hainan chicken rice. The bulgolgi burger was a hefty meal, with a plethora of ingredients, served with fries. The taste itself was good for the first few bites, but after a while I got tired of the sweet, very concentrated taste of the burger. The Hainan chicken rice was decent. It had the delicate, yet nuanced flavor that is the hallmark of this dish.
Service was good, and drinks were refilled as needed. I liked the atmosphere of this restaurant, with its deep purple walls and the anthropomorphic pet portraits hanging on them.
Overall, a cool place to enjoy a meal.

We walked into a completely empty restaurant and was immediately greeted by not a hostess or waiter but a rather strange odor. It wasn’t entirely foul-​smelling, yet it was reminiscent of a barn and wet dog. Ok, it really wasn’t that bad, but I would expect a restaurant to at least smell like food.
Moving on to the food. The nested egg actually looked like bird poo was smeared all over the bowl. I get that it was for aesthetics, but this wasn’t very appealing. It tasted bland, but with a touch more seasoning, it could’ve been better. The fried chicken was pretty good, though I’ve definitely had better «KFC».
The Brussels sprouts with kimchi and pork belly was sub par. Firstly, the kimchi wasn’t funky enough. The brussel sprouts were fine with a nice flavor and not at all bitter. Finally, the pork belly was just plain bad — dry, unseasoned, and we were only served two measly slices.
My ginger noodles were pretty tasty, but the dry shredded pork was not the business.
The bulgogi burger was a big portion but lackluster in flavor.
Overall, I’m not too impressed by ZiLin. «/

I came here recently on a Wednesday night with a friend. The restaurant was almost completely empty, but we liked it like that. The waiter paid extra attention to us and even gave us a complimentary dessert that the chef was testing out.
We shared 2 appetizers: scotch egg and oxtail fries. The scotch egg was REALLY delicious, but at the same time so small. I’m not aware of other restaurants in the area that have scotch egg on their menu so this is definitely a must try. The oxtail fries were whatever to me. It really just tasted like overpriced chili cheese fries.
After our meal, our waiter offered a complimentary (eggnog/​liquor) crème brûlée. During slow week nights, the chefs like to test out recipes, and they give it to their customers to try! The crème brûlée was yummy, but a bit on the sweet side.
I love that they’re constantly changing their menu with exotic dishes!

Zilin is located in downtown Pasadena and has very tasty Asian-​fusion dishes. I came here with a friend for happy hour; during happy hour, all wines, beers, and sakes are $ 2 off their regular price.
We had:
Filipino Scottish Egg $ 6: DELICIOUS! Served in a bed of lettuce/​cabbage and covered in a delicious, creamy sauce. The egg is ever so slightly runny… yum!
Crab Toast $ 14: (³⁄₅). The filling was a bit soggy which, in turn, made the bread soggy. Soggy bread is no fun.
Calamari $ 6: (⁵⁄₅) Served with a spicy mayo sauce
The service and food were great! I will come back for those Filipino Scottish eggs!

I’ve been here a few times, twice for lunch, dinner during the weekend and I got to sample their food at an event. The restaurant has picture frames of dogs and cats. There are couches in the front and a small bar at the back. Each table has a glass of crayons in case you want to be artistic while waiting for your food and/​or for kids to draw on the paper table cover.
:Food:
~Spiced Shrimp, basically similar to coconut shrimp. The shrimp was small and crispy. (
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~Mary’s Farm Free Range Chicken Wings was tangy and had a spicy kick. According to the menu the sauce consist of Sriracha and Lime. (
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~Seafood Stew was served in a bowl with clams, squid, enoki, bean sprouts and glass noodle. The broth was sweet and spicy. (
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~Brussels and Belly, I was surprised I liked it since I am not a big fan of brussels sprouts. It had roasted pork belly, and homemade Kochi and Crème Fraiche. (
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~Roasted Cauliflower had Kochi cream, chinese black vinegar, and salted Chile. The flavors were unique. (
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~Korean Style Karage is fried chicken, kochujang, lime glaze, and seasoned seeds. The chicken was tender and some parts were crispy. After a couple of bites, the sauce started to taste too sweet for me. (
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~Filipino Scotch Egg was served on a bed of lettuce, shredded carrots, and green onions. It had adobo egg, longanisa, and atchara slaw. The egg was soft boiled, breaded and deep fried; I wasn’t able to distinguish the longanisa. (
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~Nested Egg was the least dish that I didn’t like. It had asparagus, mushrooms, peas, and poached egg. The ingredients didn’t go well together in my opinion. (
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~Korean Chicken Taco had green onions, kimichi, cilantro, and lettuce; the chicken was tender. (
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:Desserts:
Taho a Filipino dessert served warm in a mason jar. Inside was tofu, custard, caramel, purple tapioca pearls, black and brown sesame tulie, and rice cake crumble. (
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:Highlight:
The following items are the food that I would order again. Even if I couldn’t taste the Oxtail, I still liked the Oxtail Chili Fries which had parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Deviled Crab Toast was also good, it came with two toast and it had shrimp, crab salad, and spiced cucumber. My favorite is the Bulgogi Burger with fries, it was seasoned well, juicy, bun was toasted and buttery. It also had Asian slaw, pickled sweet pepper, and Sriracha cheese sauce.
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:Tip:
Check In to receive 50% off a bottle of beer

I had first visited this restaurant when they were going through their soft opening. Thanks to Unilocal,I had found out about it and immediately wanted to try it. Why? Based on the one picture I saw of the Oxtail Chili Fries. I’ve only had this dish in one other restaurant and it’s out of state, so I knew I just had to have it.
On to my F.A.S.T review:
Food: Tried the Oxtail Chili Fries and the Korean Chicken. As far as the portions, I thought they were a bit small, but this is a fancy restaurant, so I wasn’t surprised. The fries itself were just the right amount of crispiness and the egg on top really finished the dish. I was a bit disappointed in the oxtail as I thought it was a bit too much on the sweet side. The Korean chicken was pretty good as well, and the flavor was on point, but the chicken itself was a bit soft and didn’t really resemble any fried chicken at all.
Ambiance: The restaurant was a bit hard to find at first since there wasn’t a big sign. I just noticed a dimly lit restaurant and assumed that must’ve been it. I love the atmosphere of this place. It’s lounge-​y meets restaurant. What’s more surprising is the fact that even though it’s under the Asian Fusion category, it’s heavily Filipino influenced. Most of the menu items are filipino dishes with a modern twist. I really love the variety. Anyways, back to the ambiance – there’s a small wait area at the front of the restaurant and a pretty average sized dining area. The décor is clean and modern. I love the dark purple color that really contrasts with the lighting.
Service: Service was really good. We were greeted and seated immediately. Our server was friendly and helpful and I really liked the recommendation of the Calamansi Limeade. Even though I’m skeptical of recommendations of drinks, I appreciated this one because he was completely right. Our server was attentive and I couldn’t have asked for better service.
Tips: It’s easy to miss the restaurant, but it’s right across from Lucky Baldwin. Try the Calamansi Limeade! It’s life changing and there’s free refills!
I’ve visited this location one more time since then during Cheeseburger Week. Overall, other than the food itself, it was a good experience. Maybe because they were still new and working out the kinks the food didn’t reach my expectations. I’m hoping that when I visit again, I’ll be more than satisfied. I’ll be back!

Nested egg was really great but the other dishes we tried were not just ok, at best.
They did, however, find themselves a sweet lil spot in old town pasadena pretty close to the parking structure on green so it’s easy enough to meet up w several ppl there.
Service was decent. They checked in every 20 – 30 min to see if we needed anything and prices are reasonable. If you’re a mushroom lover like me, might be worth stopping in to try the nested egg. If not, there may be other local joints to check out since the menu is somewhat limited, esp for veggie eaters.