Kai Mayfair

Without a doubt the best chinese restaurant in London. I've visited Kai on several occasions and must say this place always delivers. Sadly the decor is a little dated but if its good food you're after then look no further. Beats Hakkasan hands down!!
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8 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Sunday, January 29, 2012

Everything we were served tasted good to very good. Perhaps a couple of dishes lacked that extra kick though.

Great service.

Overall slightly pricey... Had the bill been ~15% lower I would have been even happier with the whole experience.
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Pascal
6 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 5
Monday, July 18, 2011

Myself and 3 others went to Kai last night for the first time and all I can say is amazing.

The food was very so tasty and in the meat dishes we ordered the meat was lovely and tender and all the dishes were packed with flavour.

The Staff were very friendly and very polite and constantly watching that we were okay. They were very chatty and and even produced an Ice Cream dessert with a candle and insisted in singing to my Fiance (we were in London to celebrate his Birthday).

I would recommend Kai to anyone just wish they did delivery to my house as no Chinese will come close to how nice this was.
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Charlotte Fairfield
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Sunday, June 26, 2011

We had sunday lunch set menu - utterly delicious. Modern de-constructed and well made chinese impeccably executed!

The decor is fun and the clientele fairly glam. We where some of the first to arrive so service was attentive and very good.

Wine list is let down and very overpriced. Overall a good experience, very much looking forward to coming back.
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Maria - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, April 06, 2011

My husband and I celebrated our anniversary dinner at Kai this week. I was really hoping to discover the best Chinese in London, but am so disappointed that this came nowhere close. Really wonder how the restaurant managed to earn a Michelin star. I mean, really?

I wasn't too impressed with the decor in general, but what surprised me was how badly the tables were placed. I literally had to squeeze my way past the table next to ours to get to my seat. (And I'm not fat). Its not so bad even in Chinatown!

Drinks were ok-ish...my lychee martini was nothing special, and my husband's German wine, which came as highly recommended by the sommelier was bad enough for him to switch to Tsing Tao for his next one.

We were very impressed with the menu, and I was especially excited to see how different it was from the everyday Chinese stuff.

We ordered soft shelled crabs - very promising and perhaps amongst the best things we ordered, although nothing different from what I've eaten elsewhere; prawn and scallop with glass noodles - couldn't believe it actually had sweet and sour sauce on it...tad bit too tangy for my liking; lobster broth, which I didn't try but was apparently good. For mains, we ordered the chef's special prawns, which was supposed to be made from some secret recipe of 15 ingredients that the chef learned in Hunan. I was hoping it'd be the highlight of our meal, but it was probably the worst thing we ate. It was literally just salt and pepper prawns topped with sweet and sour sauce. We also ordered the asparagus, the 3 chillies ostrich, which was ABSOLUTELY divine, and the noodles with lobster.

And then came dessert time, the icing on the cake :) 10 minutes after we ordered, our waiter, who was just loitering around saw us and realized our dessert wasn't here yet and came and told us that the fondant takes few minutes to bake so will be with us shortly. It almost appeared as if he had forgotten to place the order and realized after seeing us. Then the hostess went to the kitchen and came back to tell us the first fondant was spoiled so the chef is baking us another one. 30 minutes after we first placed our order we checked again, and were told it'll be with us in 3 minutes. And then the panna cotta and fondant arrived. I was really hoping the fondant would at least be worth the wait, but one bite later I wish I had spent those 30 minutes stopping at the HaagenDazs cafe for a melting middle pudding instead!

So, all in all, I'd say the trip was definitely not worth the £200 we spent on our meal. I could've overlooked everything if the food were even a little bit more authentic Chinese than it actually was! But hey, at least I'll feel happier eating at Chinatown now :)
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Sonal Tarneja
3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, January 26, 2011

My husband and i have been looking for a good chinese restaurant in London for a long time now and when we heard that a michelin star had been added to one, we thought we couldn't go wrong with Kai.

We didn't order starters and went straight to main courses. I ordered chicken and cashew nuts for my main course, i couldn't believe the chicken pieces were the same processed rubbish that i can find at any random take away, you know when chicken is processed, as all the pieces are uncannily exactly the same shape and size and have that slightly slimey coating on the outside. and my sweet and sour sauce tasted suspiciously like the one i buy from the supermarket, thick and gloopy and radioactive in colour, i was in total shock, our local chinese honestly produced better food than this. My husbands main course didn't arrive at the same time as mine, and 10 minutes later when it did, my food was cold. We informed the the waitress who apologised and said she would cook it again... well 30 seconds later the same dish came back piping hot and with a light film over the top of the sauce, it was obvious that it had been shoved in the microwave and reheated.

How on earth this restaurant has received a michelin star, let alone is still in business is shocking to me... no atmosphere, not many people which may be a reflection of the dismal standard of this restaurant... save your money, you

can get the same and better at your local chinese take away!

Over £100 for a couple of mains, sides and drinks... worth it if the food was amasing, but at this laughabley poor standard, they should have paid me!!!!!
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Sarah Wilmott
3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, September 28, 2010

This was my third visit to Restaurant Kai in Mayfair. Food was tremendous as always - this is one of the very few restaurants where my Vegetarian friends can get a 4 course vegetarian menu which for me makes the whole experience quite exceptional been a hard core meat eater, and always struggle to get a table which can all enjoy a fabulous meal.

The attention to detail with regards to quality and presentation of food alongside impeccable service made this as always a truly memorable experience.

The food was excellent: a stylish, modern take on traditional Chinese food. Contemporary decor The service is pretty quick, but also very attentive and nice.

The Wasabi Prawns starter is to die for as so are were the fabulous Wasabi Chai (vegetarian alternative).

We had the new Roast Lamb cutlet which was out of this world - I especially liked the chinese flavour of it. We also had a Roast Seabass dish which was great! Loved it! and a pleasant change from steamed, steamed or steamed.

The Chai 3 chillies (vege) and aromatic beancurd ( vegetarian alternative to aromatic cripsy duck) were amazing and made me wonder if i should turn vego

brilliant as always, will be back soon
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, August 01, 2010

I am really very surprised that this restaurant has the good reviews that it does, let alone a Michelin star. If this is what Michelin views as a one star restaurant (next to Maze, St John, Tom Aikens) then their scoring system is seriously off. And by that I mean deranged.

My friend and I went there to have the set lunch which, at £19, appeared to be great value. (I have taken the cost of this into account in this review I might add.)

Upon entering we were shown a table which Fay Maschler in her Evening Standard review described as "what must be the worst table for two on the ground floor at the top of a precipitous flight of stairs." I wish I had read her review before going. This was indeed the case and we were both brushed by waiters on their way through the restaurant at many times during the meal.

My friend thought the interior was shabby. I looked to see what he meant and there was water damage in the ceiling above our table and and open aircon duct with exposed wiring on show. It seemed a little dark but this is just a mater of taste I suppose.

The service was efficient enough, although lacking in much charm. We were served by 3 or 4 different people and I can only remember one speaking.

I can overlook a lot though on the basis of the food and here was what really annoyed me: on the menu, the starter is described as "a little something from the chef." I would venture that this is true, in that it was indeed "little", definitely "something" and had probably passed the "chef" on its way from the chiller. What we received was a bowl of lettuce, with a few cherry tomatoes, grapes and peanuts, drizzled with vinaigrette. How this is Chinese is beyond me, but I have also had better salads in Welcome Break and McDonald's.

This was followed by a very good, small bowl of Szechuan miso broth. I really liked this despite my growing feeling of being seriously taken for a ride. It was well seasoned, flavoursome and had just the right level of heat behind it to make you reach for the wine and then wonder why you did.

The main was good. My friend had wok grilled pork fillet, oriental barbecue sauce, choi sum & soya sauce, which he said was most wonderfully tender.

I had the ostrich fillet (reasonable tender and quite impressive), 3 chilli styles, spinach in garlic - which was pretty good, although there was too much garlic. (I love garlic so this was a shock and a half.) Rice was perfect but I would have blown a gasket otherwise in a place like this.

Dessert was a bowl about the size of a small ramekin of lemon sorbet perched atop some chopped apple and grapes. It was very nice, but perhaps a bit too simple, not very Chinese, and certainly far, far too small.

Wine by the glass is reasonable but, if you can, they have a good general selection running to stratospheric levels of cash. It's nothing special but it's not bad either. Expect stereotypical Mayfair prices.

I objected to several of my fellow diners (lunchers) talking on the phone incessantly, treating tables and chairs as they would their own living room by moving them about, and two, erm... let's say "large" people, in pink and purple tracksuits who must have got up from their table at least four times each for no discernible reason and brushed past. Again. The staff did not manage any of these issues, but then perhaps these people weren't eating from the "poor list," which was how my friend and I began to imagine the way the staff see the set menu.

I think this is a place that is all about status, and I get that feeling from some of the other reviewers here too. There is no value here and there is no charm. It lacks finesse, personality and innovation. I can think of 10 better Chinese restaurants to eat out at in London, and they would all cost significantly less than here. I have no idea how or why this place has a star and any residual faith in our Michelin friends has been well and truly destroyed.

We both left with the feeling we had been ripped off, and several days later we had only become more angry.

Avoid this place and go anywhere else. Really - anywhere. I think there's a Wagamama on Wigmore Street but you'll probably find a Subway closer. They'll at least have a better salad (sorry, "a little something from the chef.")
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Eatey Avenger - View all reviews by this user
4 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, August 04, 2009