Khyber Citi Grill restaurant on Abbeygate Street, Galway City, decorated for its opening

Khyber Citi Grill, Galway City
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A Taste of Central and South Asia Cuisine Arrives in Galway City: Khyber Citi Grill Opens on Abbeygate Street

Abbeygate Street, Galway City, Ireland

Galway City's food scene has welcomed a new arrival. Khyber Citi Grill officially opened its doors on Thursday, 22 October 2026, bringing the distinctive flavours and culinary traditions of Central and South Asia to the heart of the city.

Situated on Abbeygate Street, the newly opened restaurant introduces visitors to a selection of traditional dishes inspired by the rich food cultures of Afghanistan, Pakistan and the surrounding region.

Speaking directly with GalwayCityNow on opening day, the restaurant's owner described the food as being prepared in the Afghan culinary style. The menu reflects that influence while also embracing dishes associated with the wider Central and South Asian region.

Among the distinctive dishes featured on the restaurant's opening-day display are:

Kabuli Pulao — A celebrated Afghan rice dish traditionally prepared with fragrant long-grain rice, tender meat, carrots and raisins. Often regarded as Afghanistan's national dish, it brings together savoury and gently sweet flavours.

Chappli Kebab — A traditional Pashtun speciality, particularly associated with Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. These flattened, seasoned minced-meat kebabs are known for their distinctive combination of spices and herbs.

Chicken Karahi — A popular regional dish featuring chicken cooked with tomatoes, spices and aromatic ingredients, traditionally prepared in a deep, rounded cooking vessel known as a karahi.

Namak Mandi Karahi — A meat-based speciality associated with the famous Namak Mandi food district of Peshawar, Pakistan. Its traditional preparation emphasises the natural flavour of the meat, often using relatively simple seasoning.

Grilled Meats — Another prominent feature of the restaurant's display, reflecting the region's longstanding tradition of preparing seasoned meats over intense heat.

For Galway residents and visitors unfamiliar with these culinary traditions, Khyber Citi Grill presents an opportunity to discover dishes that are not always encountered on the city's more familiar restaurant menus.

The restaurant's opening also adds another international influence to Galway's increasingly diverse food landscape, where different cultures and cooking traditions continue to find a place alongside established local favourites.

With its welcoming blue frontage, distinctive signage and opening-day decorations, Khyber Citi Grill has already made a colourful appearance on Abbeygate Street.

Whether you're already familiar with Afghan cooking or simply curious to explore something different, this new addition to Galway City offers another culinary destination worth discovering.

Restaurant: Khyber Citi Grill
Address: Abbeygate Street, Galway City, Ireland
Opened: Thursday, 22 October 2026
Cuisine: Central and South Asian, with Afghan culinary influences

Visit Khyber Citi Grill on Abbeygate Street and discover a selection of dishes inspired by the culinary traditions of Central and South Asia.

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Opening-day photography and original reporting by Bam Artiste for GalwayCityNow.

Freshly baked pastries, bread and cakes from BakeBox Bakery in Galway City

BAKE BOX, Galway City
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A Tasty Box of Something Good

21 Abbeygate Street Lower, Galway City

At Galway's BakeBox Bakery, the ovens are kept busy with homemade pastries, fresh bread and exquisite cakes — made for everything from an everyday treat to those occasions that deserve something special.

Some of Bake Box's sweets are crafted using authentic and traditional recipes, bringing a taste of tradition into a bakery that is very much part of Galway today.

Whether you're picking up fresh bread to start the day, looking for something sweet simply because you fancy it, or ordering a cake for a special occasion, Bake Box offers freshly baked food made with carefully selected ingredients and an emphasis on homemade goodness.

Sometimes you need a celebration.

Sometimes you just need cake.

And sometimes absolutely nothing needs celebrating — except perhaps getting through the day.

Phone: 087 944 8816
Email: bakeboxtogo.order@gmail.com
Website: bakeboxtogo.com

Visit the bakery or place an order and discover what is coming out of the Bake Box ovens today.

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Disclosure: The Bake Box website was built and is being managed by Bam Artiste and Designed by Katarzyna Skrzynska. Owner of the website is: BakeBox company.

Martine’s Restaurant, Galway City Must-Eat Galway

👉 The Rib-Eye That Keeps Bringing Me Back

Martine’s Restaurant, Galway City

There are meals you try once, and there are meals you find yourself ordering again and again.

For me, at Martine’s Restaurant in Galway City, it’s the 12oz 21 Day Aged Rib-Eye.

I’ve eaten this steak many times over the years, and my daughter loves it too. Served with sautéed mushrooms and onions, chunky fries, a choice of pepper or béarnaise sauce, and garlic butter, it’s one of those meals where I already know what I’m ordering before I sit down.

Martine’s has been part of Galway since 1984, with a menu stretching from seafood and duck to burgers, prime ribs and desserts. But Must-Eat Galway is about food I’ve actually eaten, so I’ll leave those dishes for someone else to speak about.

What I can speak about is that rib-eye.

12oz. 21-day aged. €54.90.

And after having it over and over again, I still keep coming back to it.

From the Menu at Martine’s

During my latest visit, I was handed the full menu. So, for anyone who wants to see what else is being served at Martine’s, I’ve included it below.

Main menu at Martine's Restaurant in Galway City
Dessert and drinks menu at Martine's Restaurant in Galway City

Menu photographed during my visit. Prices and dishes may change.

Meal served at Beef & Lobster in Galway City

Beef & Lobster, Galway City
Must-Eat Galway 👉 "Legendary Duck Wings"

One of My Favourite Meals in Galway

Beef & Lobster, Galway City

This one comes from personal experience.

It's one of my favourite dishes at Beef & Lobster in Galway City, and exactly the kind of meal that made me want to create this part of GalwayCityNow.

Must-Eat Galway isn't intended to be a directory of every restaurant in the city. It's a collection of particular meals worth knowing about.

And this is one of mine.

Recommendation: Bam Artiste

Photograph courtesy of Beef & Lobster

Loaded Irish chips outside Chipeen on Shop Street in Galway City

CHIPEEN
Must-Eat Galway
👉 Proper Irish Chips

Proper Irish Chips — On Shop Street

CHIPEEN, 27 Shop Street, Galway City

Sometimes the simplest food deserves to be taken seriously. At CHIPEEN, the humble chip is the whole point.

CHIPEEN grew from a Galway Christmas Market stall into a permanent home on Shop Street, with fresh Irish potatoes at the centre of what they do.

The potatoes are hand-cut and twice-fried in Irish rapeseed oil, producing the combination every good chip is chasing: crisp on the outside and fluffy inside.

There are toppings and sauces to take them in different directions, but underneath everything is still something wonderfully straightforward:

Proper Irish chips.

And that makes CHIPEEN a natural fit for Must-Eat Galway. Not because Galway needs another list of places to eat, but because this is a particular Galway food experience worth knowing about.

Must-Eat Galway — GalwayCityNow