Gongu Restaurant — Restaurant in Riga

Overall really good, very impressed and I will return. Recommended to friends. Service impeccable, beautiful interior, great attention to detail. Some really good flavours and unique combinations. “Popcorn” ice cream was awesome. Brisket Roti was completely unexpected and delicious. We had 8-10 dishes between 2 persons, 2 aperitifs, a decent bottle of wine, table water, coffee and dessert - 240 euros. Not cheap but very reasonable.

However, not quite 5 stars for a few reasons -

An izakaya with no sake menu is ridiculous.

Unnecessary addition of wagyu beef to dishes such as Gyoza. Not part of the filling, which would be delicious, but rather a sad small slice of unseasoned meat with no sear, placed on top, soggy after sitting in the bamboo steamer. Reminds you of soulless Middle Eastern restaurants lacing the food with 24k gold leaf. I believe the inclusion of wagyu beef on several dishes was just to tick a box.

The only Wagyu steak on the menu is a strip loin for 120 euros with no reference to weight, breed, grade or BMS. You cannot expect patrons to part with this kind of money for an unknown product.

2018/2019 vintage wines listed on the wine card, but out of stock, replaced with 2021. For a restaurant of this calibre, cards should be updated as soon as possible when certain vintages are not available - especially if the sommelier has consciously stocked a younger wine. The waiter did inform us, but the point still stands.

No classic cocktails on the menu, charged 18eur for a negroni. Feels steep.

We really enjoyed our experience and my review should not be considered negative. The staff are doing a great job. They couldn’t answer every question but It’s a new place. The staff asked for feedback, so here...

Couldn’t recommend this restaurant for several reasons:

Quality of food & descriptions of food on menu are inaccurate. Black cod was suspiciously cheap, and the flavour & texture were so off putting I totally lost my appetite. Eaten black cod in many restaurants worldwide & in Riga and this wasn’t cooked right or maybe the fish was frozen/old.

Whilst the service is good and pleasant, the bar on a Friday evening is totally overloaded and expect at least a 30 minute wait if your drink ever shows up at all (our second one didn’t).

Clientele. Akin to Aqualuna back in the day on a Friday/Saturday night. I guess if you’re after that kind of thing then it’s okay, but not the vibe we were looking for. Not all the female guests there are simply just coming for dining if you know what I mean.

Restaurant interiors are nice, particularly for Riga, but acoustics on top floor are a bit off & I thought music volume at 9pm was slightly too high for such a small room. I get the vibe they’re trying to go for but for me it didn’t quite work (a lot of the problems also get blamed on the soft-opening, but as I saw the restaurant was at capacity).

I thought the prices were fine. Food was terrible and vibe was off. There’s a lot to fix here before the grand...

Unfortunately, this was one of the biggest dining disappointments I’ve had recently. I had been looking forward to visiting this restaurant for quite some time, especially after reading so many positive reviews online.

We went today and tried several different dishes. First of all, the service was rather strange — our waitress wasn’t able to recommend anything or explain the differences between some of the dishes or drinks, which already gave a weak first impression. And for some reason we were served by a few waiters.

As for the food, nothing really stood out. None of the dishes we tried were particularly memorable or flavorful — everything felt quite average at best and boring.

To make things worse, one of our main dishes was completely forgotten. It was awkward because one person at our table wasn’t eating, and when dessert arrived, we had to ask about it ourselves. The waitress said she’d check with the kitchen but never came back. After about ten minutes, I had to ask again, and she only then told us the dish was “on the way.” A simple update earlier would have made a big difference.

Overall, it was quite a disappointing experience — average food, poor service, and a lack of attention to detail. Sadly, I wouldn’t recommend this place based...