Review – Aroi Asian Street Food, Kilkenny
The first time I ever tried Aroi Kilkenny was having walked from Bennettsbridge to Kilkenny along the Nore path. We were looking for something hearty and tasty to eat. I had been to Aroi with a work function and decided to go there.
Aroi Asian Street Food
Aroi Asian Street Food is located on Friary Street Kilkenny and has plenty of space inside while being bright, airy and a tad funky in decor. The service is very good and on a Sunday there is an option to enjoy a main course and Gelato for only 10 euros which is wonderful value.
The service on the day we arrived was friendly yet unusually curt, perhaps they were rushed off their feet but the girl who served us never once smiled, everything was very formal and overly efficient. However, we are here for the food and were not disappointed.
I chose to push the boat out and have a starter, main and ice cream. The fish cakes were the starter, one of the nicer Thai fish cakes I have tried, with a little kick of chilli present. For the main course, I had the Yellow Fish Curry served with brown rice. This curry was full of flavour and full of fish – salmon, cod, smoked cod, mussels, crab, and calamari – as well as being jam-packed with veg.
The meal was thoroughly enjoyable and was rounded off with some very refreshing ice cream. The whole meal for 2 came to under 35 euros and its a spot I will be returning to. If you are looking for a nice Asian meal then Aroi in Kilkenny is right up your street.
My Only Criticism WAS…
On most of my recent visits, was the music . In 2022 / 23 the music playing has been dreadful dance music, cover versions of actual songs. The worst offender is Careless Whisper by George Michael, covered by some dance instrumentalist who plays it at almost double speed and it just sounds all sorts of wrong. Also, we entered an almost empty restaurant early in the day, perhaps 12:30 / 1 pm and we were asked if we had a reservation; the waitress made a big deal, sighing and looking at the computer screen before seating us … it wasn’t even that busy while we were there. From a customer service perspective, this was unusual and a little offputting.
HOWEVER … in December 2023 we visited and we found that the music was now classic rock which was excellent. As a result, we will be now going back a lot more as the only thing which put us off was the music as their food is fantastic. I highly recommend it if you want a hearth Asian Fusion meal.
Location
Aroi Asian Street Food, Kilkenny
Update October 2021
I visited Ario in October 2021 and had a beautiful meal in the Yellow Fish Curry. It was really delicious and the staff were very attentive as usual. The only thing was that the music was comical. They were playing dance versions of classic songs, basically Now that’s what I can rubbish covers 2021 ; It’s a real pity because we left as soon as we cood because the music was so inane – the low-light being a crapphy version of Careless Whisper with the most rubbish brass section you could imagine. Perhaps some relaxing music might be better.
The completed motorway will link Waterford to Dublin with non stop motorway and the journey time should be approx 1h 30 mins between the two cities with the previous journey time usually 2 hours 35 minutes. Currently traffic has to exit at Danesfort, continue via Kilkenny (or via Knocktopher / Thomastown route) to the Carlow section and resuming on the M9 just outside Carlow. The announcement of the official motorway comes as a welcome relief to travellers to Dublin from the South East as well as the people of Kilkenny (and Thomastown/Gowran) who have seen increased traffic as a result of the diversions.
Roll on the 9th September … the only thing not on the M9 through are servcie stations or Motorway services, I wonder when these will be added?
Lets see if the forecast brings 3 days of snow!
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