Kinkally — Restaurant in London

Overrated. In every way.

We started off quite bad either way. Told that our table was not ready or there weren’t any spaces available at the bar but offered to get drinks at a corner downstairs, which was completely fine for us. However, the “secluded corner” was actually in front of the cloak room. This meant that we were constantly asked to move with a drink our hand. Hence, was very uncomfortable and unpleasant from the start. It would be completely fine if they just said the table is not ready as the customers haven’t left and asked us to wait or accommodate us with the seats outside where no one was sitting down.

Later, when we asked to be seated (we’re still at the cloakroom corner at this point) to the bar the bartender (with a very passive aggressive and hostile tone as if we were asking for him to donate an organ) said it was going to be busy and the people that left would come back. Sadly, we realized that actually the bartender was keeping the space open for his own friends as they came in with a hug and instantly given a place to sit. Again it would have been completely fine if he was just honest and said the seats are reserved. Furthermore, while we waited over 15 minutes for our drinks to be prepared the bartender’s private customers had their drink within two minutes. Considering we ordered one of the same drinks, felt very unprofessional and dismissive.

For a “contemporary and a high end” restaurant the whole experience was very unprofessional by the bartender. The only good thing I could say for the bar experience was the overpriced cocktails. They were pleasantly tasty and unique for London.

In regards to the food, we ordered the scallops and the beef tongue for starters. Scallops were actually decent but definitely overpriced for the portion you get. The tongue was mediocre at best. Literally bao bao (Taiwanese) fast food chain has the exact same dish for the friction of the price (£5). Couldn’t make any connection to Georgian cuisine at all. None of it felt authentic even for a “contemporary” adaptation of the dish.

For a big platter we got Guinea fowl. This was the worst dish we got. The cheese instantly made us feel sick and the sauce was extremely overpowering. The whole dish did not make sense and none of the flavors complemented each other. If we wanted garlic soup we would choose another restaurant. The fowl was overcooked and tasteless. I don’t know if it was the skin or the fat but there were some parts that tasted horrible and inedible. The texture of these fatty parts almost resemble the chewiness of a gummy candy but the softness of butter. We couldn’t even finish this course.

Lastly we ordered langoustine khinkali. This was okay but again not amazing, there are so many other options in London. Definitely didn’t have the promoted “delectable” or “flavorful” taste. Was simply bland.

Genuinely, the blond waitress/manager actually made the dinner nice. Checked in and asked if all was good and tried to be helpful at all points of the dinner. Overall, apart from her, this is a very overrated restaurant with at best mediocre food and mediocre service. Definitely cannot classify it as a high end restaurant. As a restaurant that introduces themselves as contemporary Georgian cuisine it was extremely disappointing, both for service and quality of the food. Kind of lost to write this review as I am beyond disappointed with everything. I have no idea what people were talking about saying the food is great and there’s authentic Georgian wine, Georgian music or even representation of the culture! If you think Georgian decor consists of minimalist furniture, grey walls and orange lights you might be on point. But if you want to look from a realistic and authentic side of things there is absolutely no connection.

So many better options on Charlotte Street! I mean apart from Kinkally all of them. They’re around the same price range but at least you’ll get your moneys worth. Definitely can’t compete with other restaurants on the same street (just walk two more steps and...

Intrigued by their fresh take on Georgian cuisine, I booked a table for myself and a couple of friends at this establishment on Charlotte Street. Far from traditional, the restaurant has an almost brutalist aesthetic to it: grey walls, square shapes and wooden tables. From the very beginning of our meal, staff were attentive and welcoming, guiding us through the menu and suggesting plates to get the full Kinkally experience. Of course, as any other cool London spot, the restaurant adopts a small plates concept (3/4 plates each are recommended to share). We ordered 3 small plates, 2 large plates and all 4 Khinkali, Georgian dumplings with a modern twist that give the restaurant its name. We also opted for a bottle of Georgian wine to really immerse ourselves into the cuisine. The small plates are delicious with an incredible breath of flavours and textures - I highly recommend their beef tartare; it didn't feel raw in my mouth but more like a delicately cooked sausage that's been spread on a warm piece of toast. Large plates were okay: mind you, they are definitely not large. Guinea fowl with polenta was definitely the one to get but what I was expecting to be the star of the show, the Megruli khachapuri, Georgian melted cheese on bread with addition of truffle here, did not do anything for me. I was not getting the truffle notes and the cheese was rather bland. Moving onto the Khinkali which arguably are the stars of this show, they came in four flavours and they had two different shapes. The Langoustines and the Wagyu ones had a bigger shape with a doughy stem on top by which you can pick them up using the wooden utensil that's placed on the table. The two smaller ones, shiitake and the duck foie gras, definitely had bolder favours and shape wise were more satisfying to eat. It was quite a pricey meal coming in at over £80 per person, albeit standard nowadays in central London. Food was definitely innovative with some bold new flavours. And big praise to the staff as they made that place...

Georgian food, Londonized would be my description of this restaurant. Expect to find langoustines and truffle neither of which have ever touched the coast line of Batumi.

This is not an authentic Georgian food experience, maybe if you want to go to dip your finger in what it could be, but prepared to foot a massive bill to eat and drink. Quality of food was great and cocktails we tried were very good. Service staff were all very friendly, enthusiastic and answered all our questions.

One word on the khachapuri ( traditionally a large sharing baked bread usually for 6 people, fed one man) for £17 this was insultingly overpriced and not justified.

The wine was the next disappointment, with the oldest and most famous vineyards in the world their collection consisted of two reds two whites two oranges ? Not sure what NZ or Argentinian wine was even doing on the menu. A bottle of Saperavi the most popular and common wine in Georgia was £70, unfortunately we ordered this to share for our group and it was horrendous and sour. No wine collection to choose anything else unfortunately.

A group of us were left starving after this meal and we all paid £80 each ( didn’t even order dessert) .

I get they’re doing Georgian food with a European spin but unfortunately they added a European price tag. IMO given the Georgian cuisine is so beautiful, simple and cheap in Georgia, I couldn’t appreciate the reason that they wanted to alter such classic food. I think people who have never tried Georgian food don’t need to be nudged into its subtle flavours by the likes of heavily over powering ingredients such as harissa, truffle and langosutines, if anything theres a very high risk one would be disappointed when they tried actual Georgian food which is based on salted Salguni cheese bread and beautiful meat stock...