Brady's KC — Restaurant in Kansas City

Chefs Shaun Brady and Graham Fox are true artists!! That’s what I wanted to begin with. This restaurant has been 10 years in the making and it’s a labor of love (which can clearly be seen). From quality of food to the attentiveness of staff, it’s all perfectly synchronized and fantastic! The ambience is so friend, that it’s impossible to maintain etiquette and not talk to people on your neighboring tables. Both chefs check in on you during your meal, that’s something only people who love their customers do. It also shows the trust they have built with with their coworkers, to leave the kitchen on autopilot and easily mingle with guests.

Now the food! There’s good food and there’s great food; this can be found many places. What’s rare is taking the taste and freshness to the next level which only master craftsmen can achieve! I would rate Brady & Fox as above great - it’s “spectacular”! This is only the 5th restaurant in my 25 years in Kansas City who has earned my “spectacular” rating. Everything is made from scratch! And I mean EVERYTHING!

I was so excited and engrossed in my meal that I forgot take any pictures. We ordered a bucket of fries with curry aioli to start our evening. Fresh cut potatoes with a crispy outside and a medium firmness inside. Absolutely perfect! The curry aioli was something else. It really brought out the subtle potato flavor we so often forget take for granted. Wow, what an invention!

Next we ordered one house favorite item Fish & Chips, and one chef recommended item Irish Lamb Pie. The cod was one of the freshest cods I’ve had in Kansas City, which is flown in daily, to my understanding. Perfectly cooked- crispy batter on the outside and flaky, meaty fish on the inside. But this was not the lazy, chicken tender looking fish and chips that you see at other restaurants, oh No! this was a single hunking piece of fish as big as the chefs forearms! This is not exaggeration, he literally uses his forearms for measuring the length of the fish cut. Genius! It came with savory coleslaw, tartar sauce and some pea slaw. When I looked around the dining room, i saw that every table had ordered fish and chips. It’s darn popular, now I know why.

Our waitress, Alexa, was absolutely superb in her service. She recommended that since it’s spring, I should try the Irish Lamb Pie. I’m so glad I blindly went with that recommendation and, wow, was I pleasantly surprised! The Potpie came with a warning that it had just popped out of a searing 400 degree oven. The pie crust was crisp, golden brown, and flaky. One could make a meal of just the pie crust! Excellent! But the real magic was the lamb chunks inside with a brown gravy and peas and carrots and vegetables. The lamb was cooked to a juicy, tender perfection. This texture and consistency of the meat is only found in your grandma’s kitchen and here at this restaurant. This is a feat only achieved by iron chefs who are either (a) notoriously gifted or (b) have painstakingly perfected their craft with years of dedicated training. In speaking with the chefs, I was pleasantly surprised that all the lamb was locally sourced. They buy whole animals from a farm in Leavenworth (or Lees Summit?) and use freshest of lamb meats. It came with a boat of brown gravy, green beans and a slice of thick hearty Guinness beer bread! This pie is only served here (and maybe in the dining halls of Valhalla). I HIGHLY recommend it!

I don’t know how in our gluttony we made some room for dessert. We asked the Chef surprise us with two desserts. We ended up with bread pudding and raspberry lemon cheesecake! Oh Holy s*%#!!! I thought I’d died and gone to Heaven after the first bite of my bread pudding! It was moist without being soggy, toasted on the crust, firm and hearty middle and a sprinkling of chocolate chips. It was sweet without being sugary and the whisky sauce added incredible flavor to each spoonful. The cheesecake was surrounded by house made caramel - a gooey toffee that complimented the tartness of lemons and berries. And the graham cracker crust was...

On my 1st visit (and there will be more): The laid-back staff serves customers in a comfortable, casual space. The people here, staff & customers alike, seem genuinely to enjoy what they're doing. There's malt vinegar on every table, and that's a good sign, too. When we ask, the fish & chips are recommended by our server. "If you haven't had the Brady & Fox Fish & Chips, you should definitely do that." She's right. How, exactly, the breading on the cod in proper fish & chips can be hearty & substantial yet still light & crispy, I will never understand. Our fish has that going on. It comes with a more than ample serving of really delicious chips (fries with a salted coating almost like a pretzel), cole slaw (which I pass along to my wife, 'cause that's what I do with cole slaw) and buttery buttered peas (did I mention they were buttered?). I order a slice of lemon blueberry cheesecake from the daily (chalkboard) menu, because it purports to be "the best lemon blueberry cheesecake in the world." I take that as a challenge. I order the cheesecake early for fear of it selling out. (The server laughs and so, later, does one of the chefs; but we're talking cheesecake here. It's best not to take chances.) The fish is de-lish-us. Really good. Spot on. There are more chips than I can possibly eat (not for lack of trying; they're great). My wife finishes her cole slaw & mine (so that's clearly great, too. She oohs and ahhs through her buttered peas and I eat most of mine (and I don't even like peas, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, plus they're great). I get halfway through the chips and decide the wise move is to go after the cheesecake. It may not be the best lemon blueberry cheesecake in the world. It may be tied for best lemon blueberry cheesecake in the world. It may even be second best; but if that's the case, it's a very, very close second; and the only other contender is way down at Cole Camp (at The German Table); and Brady & Fox is walking distance; so ... we may never know. I'd have to have both at the same meal ... several times. I would do that. But the logistics would be challenging. So, all in all: one of the most enjoyable meals I've had in ages. On the restaurant more generally: Not just the serving staff, but everyone working here seems to want to be here. Both chefs came out separately to ask for our reactions to our meals ... not glad-handing or fishing (no pun intended) for compliments ... just engaging with their customers and gauging their own efforts. This is one of those restaurants that offers a small menu, and that's as it should be. The focus appears to be on doing a few things really, really well; and from what we've seen, they're succeeding. Next trip, I gotta tear myself away from the fish & chips and try some of those other things. 2nd Trip: Must confess, could not tear myself away from the fish & chips (still delicious); but this time shared a plate of that & a wedge salad with my wife. It was plenty. Also, have to say, this may be the most comfortable restaurant I've ever been to. Certainly in the top 2 or 3. 3rd Trip: Sunday Brunch. Classic 2-egg breakfast w/banger (bacon's another option) & home fries. Very good. My wife had their very non-classic meatloaf (from the regular menu), over mashed potatoes. Awesome. Also, this particular Sunday morning, there was live music, singer-guitarist Jonathan Ramsey, performing a mix of pop and more traditional Irish songs. (Full disclosure, I used to work w/Jonathan, 20 some years ago.) His talent made the morning all the more...

About as authentically Irish as my Jewish American Princess is Israeli. But their bangers and Mash were top notch. The bread pudding had hint of custard in it and was to die for. Preferably don't say that to a member of the IRA but it was enough to make my mouth water with patriotism. The food was overpriced but, then again, that could just be my inner Jew talking. $56 for a dinner of two with Desseet (no drinks. No frills). It wqs alot nicer than the photos and previous guests Described. . The analogy most oftrn made was that of the scene from "Trainspotting" where they profile the "Worst Dive Bar In Scotland." Of course the avg hipster doesn't now the geographical or cultural difference btwn Ireland and Scotland so I didn't take that particular recommendation too seriously. Hence my visit.

The bathrooms were also top notch and I couldn't have wished for a more authentic Irish spring scented air freshener.

Truly authentic irish dining at its finest. And I was surprised to see very few Meals that made excessive use of the cultural icon: the humble potato.

There's nothing more authentically Irish than a potato blight date night.

It was post COVID fuax cultural cuisine at its best and since it was his idea to eat there, I insisted that my date pay for the ticket. So the $56 tab +15% tip soon turned into the best date night subsidized plate of big ole juicy 9 inch bangers and creamy Mash that I've ever gobbled, swallowed and was left eagerly hungry for more.

And later that night, he made sure to satiate that appetite.

Service so fast, it reminded me of a "Βelfast~Bukkake."

Even Margaret Thatcher would give this establishment two thumbs up.

Thank you for the wonderful customer service and the doggy bag for the bread pudding. It lived up to its reputation as the true KC Troost Roost of the IRA. Putting the luck of the Irish Spring-In-your-step fully-subsided-by-datenight-guilt-meal that I've had in a long while.

They go the extra mile in there to set the atmosphere as Irish as possible With a soundtrack by Dropkick Murphys, U2 as well as Elvis Costello (who I guess was recently adopted by the Irish as the patron Saint guardian of the Gibson)

5 out of 5 stars. If I could assign a bonus star I certainly would but I wouldn't want to make any six sided star references at an irish establishment (at least not...