Aniar — Restaurant in Galway

24 Courses of stunning dishes with ingredients only sourced from Ireland!

Priced at just over £220 per person (with the juice package), my partner and I walked away thinking it was a fun, whimsical, and entertaining 3 hour long experience.

All of the courses looked beautiful (enough so to where I took pictures of every dish), and the stories and poems that went along with most dishes really made each of them stand out.

Flavor wise, they were hit or miss. Most dishes we both agreed were a bit bland, and lacked vital seasonings that even the chef said could not be used (since they were not native to Ireland). But they really made the most of what they had available to them and found innovative ways to try making them work. Most plates we had one of 3 reactions after our first bites. We either looked at each other and said "hmm, yeah, that's pretty good", shrugged our shoulders, and said "ehh, it's okay", or even a few times where we both frowned and put the forks down shaking our heads saying "nope".

However the creativity of the chef JP to make dishes out of ingredients we didn't even know existed really excited us. Who would have guessed that we would be served squid ink tapioca chips with mozzarella, or oyster ice cream still in its shell (it tastes exactly how it sounds), and smoked salmon in a strawberry sauce. It's a unique experience you can't get anywhere else but here.

The gentleman pouring the drinks was our favorite part of the night, as his genuine enthusiasm and charisma made us incredibly excited every time he stopped by our table with a new something to try (we both agreed they started off strong, then as they got to pouring us straight cups of beet juice were struggling to finish them), but nevertheless 10/10 for him.

The man who took our coats, seated us, and brought us the bill made us bot a bit... uncomfortable. Some of his jokes didn't land the way I think he intended them to, and when he brought us our bill for £440 at the end of the night, he placed the credit card machine in front of us, then turned the screen towards us and showed us 4 options for his tip (the lowest option being £44). He then made direct eye contact with me, then stood there intently watching the screen, as if trying to guilt me into leaving a larger tip (which really put a sour taste in both of our mouths right before we were leaving, and was what we talked about on the way home rather than the food).

Overall the experience was fun, exciting, and even though most of the dishes lacked seasoning or didn't land the way we think they were intended, we truly got some stories (both good and not so good) that we will be talking about for quite a long...

We picked this place as we were in Galway and I had seen Oysters when I googled and booked on that basis. The wife loves Oysters, I didn't know it was not oysters per sé, instead it was more of oyster yoghurt or oyster ice cream. I didn't know it was a tasting menu, my bad. But still we thought we would like it much more than we did. Without doubt this is the most expensive Michelin we have been to in Ireland and by a long long way and you don't get a bang for your buck. Every town we go we like to try the Michelin restaurants, so we picked Aniar. I think we had 28 dishes, some were really good but for the most part I would say they were good to OK and some were just not for us. By that I felt they went for this petit artistic gourmet and honestly missed. The waiter and manager were very good and explained each dish comprehensively and explained well what the chef was aiming for. I also like that you know where they source the food from and they give their suppliers credit, a really nice touch. Having said that, it was just not for us, not once did we have that wow factor, which Aniar was aiming for. We went I think on either New Years evening or 2nd January and found the atmosphere to be a bit sterile on that particular evening. Maybe it was just the day that was in it? But when we got the bill my wife and I were shocked, not necessarily the price, we have spent that before but it was so underwhelming for what you get. Literally, shortly after we were in another Michelin, different City and what we got was about half the cost and twice as good. Not sure how you feel about this review, maybe the tasting menu is not for us, although we have done it before. Maybe it was just the night that was in it. Maybe we were unprepared. Bottom line, service very good, food was alright and the place was devoid of atmosphere that...

A very good restaurant but not a great Michelin star

The food is definitely very tasty and the usage of local product is brilliant, the different meals were a showcase of how tasty Irish ingredients are.

When we arrived we were asked if we wanted some champagne to start, which we accepted. The food started to arrive before we even received our glasses of Champagne, this was the first time in such a restaurant that I couldn't drink the cup of champagne in peace before food starts to be served

As soon as we finished a meal the next one appeared on our table, there was no time to breath or enjoy the atmosphere because there seems to be a rush to get the meal over

Once we arrived at the desert we could see the staff in the kitchen in their changed clothes waiting for us to leave which we felt invited to as the bill was given as soon as we finished eating. The waiter was also quite insistant in showing us the different tip option and looking at which one was chosen

Compared to the other Michelin star restaurants I've been to around the world, this one probably had the poorest service. Normally time seems to freeze as you enjoy incredible food, in Aniar time was definitely going and that spark which you usually find in such restaurant was missing.

It is a shame that such great food was served in the same atmosphere as my local pizza place

If you are used to Michelin star restaurant or if you are trying to have a once in a lifetime experience you should skip Aniar however if your goal is simply to taste the best West Ireland has to other without caring about the service then this is the place for you,...