Kai Café and Restaurant has been named Restaurant of the Year 2015 in the Georgina Campbell Restaurant Awards.
Kai, located on Sea Road, is run by husband and wife David and Jessica Murphy. The restaurant has already won a string of awards for its food and service, while head chef Ms Murphy has picked up best chef awards.
Georgina Campbell, in her summary of this year’s winners, described the converted flower shop as “a most unusual dining space”, where “Jess [Murphy] displays her talents for cooking that are unashamedly dedicated to the very best of local foods, cooked in her own inimitable manner”.
“We are absolutely delighted to have won the award,” Jessica Murphy said this week. “It is a great testament to our hard work and the highest of compliments to our staff and suppliers who help to make it all possible. The west is a great place for food and Galway is not just proving itself as a key player, but is a really exciting place to be right now. We are honoured and thrilled to be a part of it all.”
The ethos at Kai is to serve fresh, local, and seasonal food with a menu that changes daily. This is delivered through the team’s constant focus on building relationships with local producers and suppliers.
Campbell describes the restaurant of the year as: “full of light and colour and has a sense of fun, but the food is seriously good”, and of the team at Kai she says, “the well trained, focused and efficient front of house team demonstrate genuine hospitality to underpin the quality of the hearty plates of deliciousness coming from the kitchen.
“This extraordinary little restaurant has taken a top place in the Irish food scene, and it is well deserved,” concludes Campbell.
Meanwhile Asian Tea House, located in Mary Street, was named Ethnic Restaurant of the Year 2015 in this year’s Georgina Campbell Guide. Mitchell’s Restaurant, Clifden, scooped the title of Seafood Restaurant of the Year 2015.
