2/5 Ian M. 3 months ago on Google • 5 reviews New
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
eating.)
Unfortunate
stuff.