I loathe giving a bad review to any bar or restaurant, but KE&RA/KE and RA was legitimately bad. And not just bad, but seriously overrated. In fact, the reason we came here was because Google and ChatGPT said this was the place for “authentic” Georgian food.
Instead, what we got was a tourist trap with warm beer, no one actually Georgian inside and a menu that had quite literally nothing on it. The same was felt by the only other group in the restaurant, who incidentally were from China, with everyone leaving within 30 minutes.
Table of Contents
The KE&RA Story
KE&RA is a relatively new restaurant in Gori that opened in the early 2020s as a family run business. It is owned by a local couple who have built much of the restaurant’s reputation around traditional home cooking and personalised hospitality, with the owner often greeting guests personally.
Online it has gained a weird cult following, particularly among foreign tourists and travel bloggers, who regularly rate it as one of the best places to eat in Gori. This is utter proof on how “influencers” can create undeserving monsters. SEO is real y’all.
Scratch beneath the surface though and you see something not good. Negative reviews have criticised the limited menu, slow service, lack of choice, inconsistent food quality and what many feel is an undeserved reputation based on hype.
Ignore Google and ChatGPT when looking for restaurants in Gori, or at least be through with research. For some reason KE&RA have really managed to manipulate the narrative.
The Menu at KE&RA – KE and RA
OK, so while I like to have an English menu, it is usually best as a bilingual thing. Not here, where they had the food menu, which I shit you not had maybe eight items on it only in English. This smelt very quickly like a tourist trap.
Things were not much better with the drinks where they only had beer or wine. I asked for draft beer, but instead got given a warm bottle of beer. This was not down to language, it was down to getting away with what you can. They do not serve vodka here and yes, it is in Georgia. Amazingly they did not even have Stalin wine!
Menu
- Khachapuri (ხაჭაპური) – 18 GEL
- Lobio (ლობიო) – 14 GEL
- Pkhali (ფხალი) – 12 GEL
- Eggplant with walnuts (ბადრიჯანი ნიგვზით) – 16 GEL
- Chicken in garlic sauce (შქმერული) – 28 GEL
- Pork barbecue (მწვადი) – 30 GEL
- Trout (კალმახი) – 32 GEL
- Salad (სალათი) – 10 GEL
Drinks
- Local beer – 8 GEL
- House wine – from 10 GEL per glass
- Coffee – 6 GEL
- Soft drinks – 4 to 6 GEL
The Service and Ambience at KE and RA
Ambience wise the place is in the middle of nowhere and at night is quite hard to find. This is where they have tried to go for the whole hidden location thing. Kinda works, kinda does not, which I will cover later. The interior, while super dark, does look kinda cool, but also seems like they are trying too hard.
Service wise we met the mythical owner briefly, but mainly dealt with one guy who did not seem very interested in us until he saw I was filming. Then they did not want to charge and gave us two shots. Keep in mind they do not serve liquor.
It was here that I got chatting with the only other people there, a family of three from Xi’an in China, which is my old digs in China. We spoke Chinese and they explained how crap it was for them too. They got a snack and left, while we simply finished our drinks and went.
What was also super weird was that they did not take cards – or crypto. I am not a card Nazi, but not taking cards in Georgia is just weird. In fairness they offered to give me the drinks for free. In fairness to me I insisted on paying via TBC Bank as I knew I would be writing this review.
@thestreetfoodguys #KE&RA #gori #georgia #redtourist #georgianfood worst restaurant in Gori @paidtotravelnet ♬ original sound – TheStreetFoodGuy
Location of KE&RA Gori
Address
2 Giorgi Saakadze Street
Gori 1400
Georgia
Opening Hours
Daily: 10:00 to 22:00
Telephone
+995 595 33 55 06
If you do come here at night keep in mind it is almost impossible to find. Overall my big top tip though is to not go to KE&RA, instead do Black Star, for BBQ, or literally anywhere else.
Click to see my Georgia Tours.