Kai Restaurant — Restaurant in Galway

You know what's exceptional about Kai? Not much.

I dined here as a somewhat featured occasion on a Galway visit, having heard its good reputation, and frankly, I'm still perplexed as to where said reputation comes from. If my experience was at all typical, the place was a well-coiffed mediocrity.

Perhaps I ordered poorly (though I did faithfully follow staff recommendations), but the offerings were just . . . flat.

The Inis Mór Crab - allegedly a longstanding signature - was attractively presented, but really offered nothing beyond that. The only notable character was derived from an oppressive amount of dill, utterly masking what was probably nice local shellfish. Honestly, it was about on par with a pre-made supermarket crab salad (albeit at 4x the price), and buried under ribbons of raw, untreated kholrabi that served precisely nothing but the fussy plating. When I indicated my disappointment in the dish at a grudging check-in from the water, the gent was reasoned enough to take it away, but not before acting like I'd just insulted his Gran. "We've done it this way for 13 years", he intoned. Wellsir, perhaps find a better way in the 14th.

The Monkfish main, was a bit better, but still pretty lacking in interest or imagination - a couple sparse bits of semi-seasoned fish, with shrug-worthy mussels and a mess of stewed tomatoes in a puddle of bland Acqua Pazzo. For nigh-on €40, you'd be hard-pressed to imagine a more "Meh" concoction; a sad value proposition in a city where nice seafood is ample. The steak dish looked better, but what decent restaurant can bollocks up a steak?

At Kai, you'll also kind of be served by everyone and no one - and all in their good time, be warned. They didn't seem ready for the second seating at the appointed time, so it was a good 10 minutes after sitting down before anyone passed by. In 20 years in the restaurant business, I've found that when a table is everyone's it tends to become no one's quite quickly, and that was certainly the model here. You wait on them here. The staff were in congress around the bar as much as they were on the floor providing timely service, let alone creating a hospitable or curated experience.

After my flaccid main, I wanted to leave and put a sad little visit in rearview. Instead, I got a nice long wait in front of my cleared table and empty glass, until, eventually (with some frustration), I flagged someone to get a bill. The fellow - maybe puffed up about working the fancy joint in town, maybe poorly trained to deal with dissatisfied guests, or maybe both - was palpably indignant that I wasn't dazzled by my night. He even asked, with a condescending chuckle, where I was from, as if to imply I was some country bumpkin that just couldn't appreciate their high-brow offerings. Grand approach, mate; kudos.

I left hungry, grumpy, and feeling as if I'd just put a Zippo to $110.

Unless your principal dining objective is to snap photos of laboriously presented dishes, and not to enjoy interesting flavours or warm hospitality, you can give Kai a miss. There's so much good eating on offer in Galway - from casual to more upscale - you can skip this spot and spare yourself a night of bland, overvalued plates and couldn't-be-arsed service. (Heck, Ard Bia, up the road, even does a nice Monkfish you might actually remember...

I ate in Kai last night with four friends. It was a truly terrible experience from start to finish which ended in me having an allergic reaction due to the carelessness, arrogance and complete lack of awareness or training of the staff.

I have a serious food allergy to eggs and peanuts. I informed the waitress of this before I ordered as I always do. She then presented me with a menu with the items scratched off that I could not eat. I ordered a starter and a main which had no eggs or peanuts.

Four of us at the table ordered Monkfish with cauliflower purée for our main dish. The waitress had clarified that this dish did not contain eggs. When this dish came out we all agreed that the Monkfish had so much salt in it it was inedible. We told the waitress this and she replaced the monkfish. When this second monkfish (which had no less salt) came out it was resting on a white sauce which we incorrectly assumed was the cauliflower purée it had originally been served with. However, the monkfish had instead been placed on a aioli that contained eggs. I ate the monkfish as the staff had not made us aware of this change to the dish and proceeded to be violently sick immediately. The staff informed us that the replacement fish had been given to us with the aioli.

Mistakes happen on the restaurant industry and while it can be extremely frustrating, the manner in which this issue was dealt with by our waitress was appalling. She proceeded to place the blame on me as I had not informed the restaurant about the allergy prior to my arrival (this is not required by allergen law and I had not made the booking). I had made the situation clear before I ordered. She was rude, confrontational and unprofessional about a very serious issue that required a comprehensive response.

I later spoke to a manager who unreservedly apologised about the incident and took responsibility. This however came far too late. The whole incident ruined our evening out as I had to return home immediately after due to how ill I was.

Outside of this horrendous experience the food was extremely poor across the board. An absolutely...

I had my doubts going in here, first of all because the place looked like fine dining and me as a foodie who wants to go home on a full stomach. We went there for Valentine's Day, after my better said she wanted to try this restaurant. The food - besides the fact that you need to study English in Oxford to understand their menu amd not google every second word the food was delicious! I like it when kitchens/restaurants push the boundaries of taste and surprise us with new combinations and unique flavours. I for starters, never had pickled mussles, had my doubts I admit, turned out to be a very nice starter that really surprised me. The steak was very very nicely done, top 3 steaks I had in Ireland, I love steak, normally would eat it with chips and garlic butter but I didn't see that on the menu so went with whatever the chef had for me, plus some violet spuds. My steak was as asked, medium rare, very tender and well seasoned, sauce was not enough but the onions on top...oh my...never thought this combination would be so amazing. I'll make a joke and say it also had the right temperature, in case you didn't know there are wannabe posh people out there who complain about the core temperature of their steak...yeah, bring a thermometer with you next time. Service was exemplary! You feel welcomed from the moment you step in the door and treated with respect, up until you leave. Very professional from start to finish, we were impressed. Now as for my closing remarks, went home on a full stomach which was a huge plus, was a bit pricey, so I would stick to Kai for special occasions, you can tell the owners have been in the business for a while now and they care about the place and it's reputation. Saw the owner try to calm down the wannabes besides us in the nicest and most professional way. Give it a try, at the end of the day life is a journey and Kai...