Chi Bristol — Restaurant in Bristol

After a friend booked me and my partner a table we were excited to try this new Gloucester road opening but unfortunately all expectations were cut short.

To start the decor and environment is overwhelming at best, bright lights and cut and copy design fail to give this place any identity. An enormous menu greeted us at our table which initially seemed like it would be great, unfortunately the food was a severe let down. The katsu curry I ordered came in multiple different plates, took reconstruction to another level and every part of the meal lacked flavour and texture, felt like a dish prepared out of stress and rush not care for the customer/food. The sushi we ordered alongside also tasted poor with minimal filling and stodgy over cooked rice. After this let down we did not order desserts despite the over bearing attempts from the staff to get us to spend more/drink more. A note on the service however, it seems as if the staff are forced to follow a script or guide as to how to treat each table as I noted the interactions with the two other tables in the building matched ours which removes any sense of personal experience, somehow feeling overbearing and intense whilst not hitting a single personal note. The servers themselves seemed lovely and were as attentive as they could be but it seemed clear they were concerned about delivering certain lines regarding up selling desserts and more food within earshot of (what I can only assume due to the lack of interaction with customers and constant scowling at staff) a manager. Soft drinks poored table side to allude to grandeur but dessert menus put on the tables without asking just thrust in front of you shows the confusion the service seems to have. Again not taking away from the servers themselves all floor level staff besides the grump fellow bossing people around were lovely if a touch robotic.

Ultimately Chi seems to be an attempt at style over substance with quantity to feed everyone's tastes but ultimately leaves everything falling flat.

P. S after our less than stellar experience decided to have a look online into the business and appears there isn't the best track record so would recommend anyone considering visiting to do their research in...

My friend and I went here during the opening weekend for lunch. Their chicken and beef is halal, sadly the sushi has mirin. It's quite spacious and really pretty inside.

We got: ▪️Korean Fried Chicken - this was delicious, the portion size was hearty, crispy chicken pieces coated in the sweet and sticky gochujang glaze. Flavourwise it was banging and not too spicy but it had a good kick to it. ▪️Vegetable Gyōza - these were nice and crunchy with a decent filling. Cooked well and honey soy sriracha sauce was great. ▪️Korean BBQ Beef Short Rib - omg this was superb! The beef was so tender and soft. The BBQ sauce wasn't too sweet, it was perfectly balanced. ▪️Chicken Satay - my friend got this and I tried some. It was incredible, the satay sauce was super fresh and you could tell it was made in house. It was so decadent with the peanut and it had a hint of lime in there too. ▪️Vegetable Nasi Goreng - this fried rice dish was so tasty! We shared this was had it as the side to our grilled meats.

Food was amazing and staff were super friendly. Definitely would...

The restaurant had a very clean and pleasant environment, which made a great first impression. We ordered the Small Plate Platter and really enjoyed it, as it was just the right size for four of us to share. The Duck Pancakes were nicely presented, though the duck itself was a touch on the dry side. Since the basket was placed directly on top of the pancakes, some of the juices and oil dripped down, leaving the pancakes a little wetter and greasier than we would have expected. We also tried the Katsu Curry, which was decent, though the chicken could have been more tender. The Pad Thai was fine, but the chicken pieces felt a bit large, which may have affected the texture. For dessert, we had the Basque Cheesecake. It was enjoyable, though quite different from the Basque cheesecakes I’ve had elsewhere, more like a standard cheesecake. That said, the yuzu curd and vanilla ice cream on the side were a lovely touch. Service was enthusiastic and friendly, though at times a little slow. Overall, it was a...