Kaia Wine Bar

Neighborhood gem and an ideal spot for dining before an event at the 92^nd Street Y. My friend and I had two appetizers, a salad, a flatbread and two fabulous South African wines. Very reasonably priced and everything was unique and delicious — including the fresh, homemade bread with dipping olive oil and special dukkah spices (Google it!) Don’t miss the boar slider with cherry conserve jam or the deviled eggs. Such a great find and very relaxed, friendly service. Will go again for sure!

Was here over a year ago with a friend. Very expensive.Good wine. A little noisier than I’d like — was tough to keep our conversation going…

Pretty solid wine bar specializing in South African wines with a wide selection of food as well.
There’s 8 seats facing 3^rd avenue that make for great people watching (or more accurately, car/​truck watching).
My server was so attentive and accomodating! I wasn’t sure what kind of wine to get and debated between two and she gladly allowed me to sample both of them. The wines are all priced around $ 14 – 15 or so — which is relatively high for this area IMO. Food wasn’t cheap either but they definitely had some interesting items on there.
Not a bad place to check out if you live up here but I feel like I could’ve gotten more for the price.

The atmosphere was great, they had a wine tasting event. I had the biltong to start, which was really dry. When I asked the bartender if they made their own biltong, I was disappointed to find out that it was ordered from a third party. I had the Pinotage to drink and it was very good. My main course was the Bobotie Pannekoek which was a bit on the sweet end for my taste. Lastly I wished they had all the ingredients to make a Springbok shot. Overall I had a great experience. I was here a few years ago and I feel like the previous chef had a better understanding of South African cuisine than the current one.

My absolute favorite place in the UES. Lived here for 5 years and always happy when we make it here. We’ve also been to South Africa and Kaia represents the food and wine very well! Ever time we go I am reminded of our wonderful trip to Cape Town and their wine country. Amazing food and great wine selection, my husband says the beer is on point as well ;)

Had a lovely time here tonight! Very welcoming environment and atmosphere and happy that we got to try a place only a few steps away from home on the upper east side! We came for happy hour and ordered wine, draft beer and sangrias– all delicious recommendations from staff. We paired this with delicious fresh oysters and wild boar sliders. Everything was delicious! The only downside here was that we came for happy hour, but not all drinks were priced with the happy hour pricing. Would still come back, but would like to know what is specifically on the happy hour menu for next time.

For some reason the waitress decided to ignore us. She did serve the first two glasses of wine, then she would not even acknowledge our existence. After half an hour we gave up on trying order more drinks or food and asked the other waitress for the check. No tip for Amy and the chances of us coming back or recommending the place to anyone are slim.

Walking down 3^rd Avenue tonight, I stumbled upon this place and decided to give it a shot. A South African Wine Bar? Only in New York!
I’m so happy I decided to dine here. To start my dinner companion and I split the «beduiwelde eiers» which is deviled eggs with peri peri and topped with biltong fuzz. I have to be honest and admit that I have no idea what any of that means, but it sure tasted great!
For dinner she had the lamb burger with Kaia pickled cucumbers, sour cherry compote & local Roquefort on brioche! It was great!
I had the «the gatsby» which is apparently Capetonian street food consisting of curried pulled chicken with peppadew & pickled green tomato topped with curly slap chips and mayo in a Portuguese bun. I highly recommend you give it a try!
To drink, Kaia has an excellent selection of South African wines to choose from. You won’t be disappointed.
If there anything I can complain about, it was the price. Everything ended up costing us $ 110.00 — not including tip. That consisted of three glasses of wine, one appetizer, two entrees and a desert. Seemed a little expensive to me!
But with that said, the food and drink was amazing — so I will definitely be back. Who would have ever known South African cuisine could be so good!

A welcome addition to the UES! Flavors and spices are different than most neighborhood spots — perhaps a shade less than authentic for those actually from South Africa, but for the rest of us laymen who have yet to hop on a 32 hour flight to Cape Town or Johannesburg, Kaia is novel and certainly delicious. I went Friday for wine and dinner, and with several menu items I was still dying to try, found myself shamelessly ordering from them on Seamless by Sunday. The menu ranges from familiar and casual (lamb burgers), to hearty (oxtail stew) and idiosyncratic (Cape Malay curried beef). Service is admittedly stretched, although the staff was incredibly apologetic and helpful. I’m glad to see that Kaia is thriving. Not bad for what reportedly was a greasy pizza joint across the street from Dormandie Court.

Rating: Outperform
Price Target: $ 40
The only reason for disappointment in Kaia (RAND) was our initial thought that everything was priced in the South African Rand (~$ 0.06 USD/​SAR). Despite our disappointment, we believe RAND still produced a below average Price/​Quality ratio, well deserving a ⁵⁄₅ rating. Solid price/​experience ratio disregarding the terrifying experience of walking down the steep stairs (or Atlantis’s Leap of Faith) to use the restroom. Take advantage of their slim happy hour margins, $ 6 for a glass of solid wine. We believe ROI on the ribs and mac and cheese is high and to the right. Assuming 3 glasses of wine and the ribs, PT at $ 40 a meal. Initiate outperform.

Kaia seems like a hidden gem. The one that you don’t want too many people to know about because you’re scared it might become too popular and lose its charm. But it’s so good you just can’t stop talking about it!
It has a perfect date night or after work wind down atmosphere. The wine list is impressive and has about 90% South African wines. We had a South African genache that was really good. The menu has some very interesting options like elk carpaccio, goat ragu, and a traditional S.A. street food. Everything we ordered was delicious. My favorite was definitely the grilled cheese with curry pumpkin soup. I almost ordered seconds. For dessert, you must order the Malva pudding. Out… of…this…world!
Service was average. They were accommodating, friendly and quickly answered any questions we had. I would definitely return and recommend you try it out as well!

Good food and wine but not worth the horrendous service we encountered.
Service: It took the waiter/​host/​bartender (right, all the same person!) 20 min to come to over so we could get water and order wine. 30 minutes after we ordered our food, someone else came to our table to tell us «the kitchen is backed up, everyone ordered at once, it’s not the chef’s fault he doesn’t have a real kitchen, here’s some bread.» Not my fault they don’t have a real kitchen either in a restaurant/​wine bar! My party would have appreciated the bread after ordering our food, not 30 minutes later. We didn’t stick around for dessert even though I really wanted to try their Malva pudding because ain’t nobody got time for that.
Food: Everyone liked it. Lamb burger, chicken drumsticks, soup with grilled cheese, no complaints there.
Wine: My favorite was the first sauvignon blanc on their menu. It was fruity and on the sweeter side with hints of passion fruit.

Coming from a South African family, having been to South Africa and having experienced the culture and cuisine my entire life I was most excited to come to Kaia wine bar. It had actually been on my bookmark for a while, so when the opportunity came up for a girls night I couldn’t refuse.
The venue gives you that rustic/​wine cellar feel, which was fun and exciting. We were one extra person than we had initially reserved and had to squish at a high booth table but we made it work.
From the start, It was difficult to grab our waiters attention, and it seemed as though we had slipped through the cracks. We sat a while before even getting our menus, and then again before we could finally order our wine. We eventually noticed that all the other tables were served bread and oil, but our table had yet again slipped through the cracks. But once we were able to ask for bread, we had forgotten there was ever a bread shortage — it was so delicious.
I think we were already onto our second bottle of wine, when someone came over to let us know that there was a delay in the «kitchen» and the food will come out in a bit. Usually when this happens there’s some sort of compensation, whether it’s more bread, an extra glass of wine, really anything. It was a bit disappointing.
Once the food arrived we were all extremely satisfied. It was absolutely delicious. the lamb burger was out of this world with the cranberry sauce and pickles, the butternut squash soup and grilled cheese was more than expected. as we say at home, it was lekker!!!
While the menu was in Afrikaans, I didn’t quite get that South African vibe, that love and enthusiasm for wine and food that I usually experience back at home.

Looking for a unique, intimate dinner experience? This is it!
I had previously been here for drinks, and loved the wine on tap and cute vibe interior but had never returned like I had said I would. The restaurant isn’t terribly big, and I would recommend a reservation for a weekend night. Fast forward, a year or so… and I had purchased a Pulsd deal for a 3 course dinner here. I’m so glad I was able to try so much! The cool part about Kaia is the seasonally changing menu, so it will never get boring, not that it even could.
I never really knew what South African food was, but it’s a lot of flavors that we typically don’t put together. We had 2 sliders for appetizers, the stand out to me was the wild boar with a cherry compote. I would NEVER put that together, but it was so flavorful and delicious! The other slider was a chicken with caramelized onions, which is an instant delicious classic.
For my entrée, I had the Vark Ribbetjies, or in English, baby back ribs. They were sweet with a tea-​honey glaze and sweet bbq sauce. Yum! A side of homemade coleslaw hit the spot.
My boyfriend got a «traditional» South African spiced beef dish, which had so many flavors and spices. It came with a side of rice with raisins. Super unique.
We had the Malva Pudding dessert which was a sweet, sweet sticky cake with a crème sauce. Super moist and sweet. And delicious.
So why 4 stars, not 5? The service was very mediocre, and quite slow. Yes, they were SO busy and packed on a Saturday night and we weren’t in a rush at all, so no complaints, but that is why they lost a star in my book.
Important to point out that it’s not cheap (the food, nor the wine). The wines by the glass are pretty absurdly priced ($ 16−17/pop), so it pays to get a bottle if you go with at least one other person.

Came here two weeks ago randomly. Wanted to try a new place so I turned to Unilocal.
We tried the snapper with lentils and it was delicious. It’s like amazing home cooked food but better than you can ever make it.
The wine was also great. :)
Service was a bit slow, and actually silly. They filled relatively big water glasses with a mason jar. It’s like having someone fill your glass with their glass of water. Weird decision.
Owner is super nice though. :)
1 star off for service and expensive prices. Each glass of wine runs 16+ which I think is steep.
4 stars for great food, wine, and general cuteness of spot. :)

Stopped in here with a friend before attending a concert at the 92^nd St. Y. The plan was to grab a drink but on my way there I texted him to say I was hungry and he replied with only, «They have nice food.» That’s his way of saying the food is great, and he’s got great taste in wine and food so I knew I was in for a treat. Kaia did not disappoint. This was a great spot to start the night off. The house red wine was wonderfully aromatic and full. I found that unusual for a house red, and it was much appreciated. Even through the lingering symptoms of my cold I could appreciate it. The food was also terrific. The wild boar sliders were a pleasant surprise. I was both excited and a little nervous to order them, something that doesn’t happen to me very often being a New Yorker who eats out too much to be put on my heels by much of anything anymore. Still, the wild boar sliders were different without being off putting.
Service at the bar was friendly and considerate. I would sit there again in a heartbeat. When we were cutting it close on time, they brought us the check and food together and stayed nearby to accommodate. Yes, we could have managed our time better, that was our bad, so I completely appreciate that the service was still delivered with a smile and a nod. That alone will get me back there another night for a longer, less rushed more lingering meal.

I had heard a lot about this place, but didn’t actually manage to visit until recently.
First off, the interior. Intimate, cozy, reasonable sound levels. Perfect for catching up with friends or dates.
Then the service — fantastic. Our wait staff helped us pick our wines, gave us great recommendations and overall was very friendly and forthcoming.
Lastly, the food. To die for. This is the first time I tasted South African cuisine, and since I wasn’t very hungry, I only got two sliders (one chicken, one veggie), but the flavors were amazing.
Definitely recommend stopping by here if you are ever on the UES!

I would do anything to be eating that meat pie right now. Anything. You’ve never tasted anything so flavorful.
The kitchen at Kaia clearly knows what it’s doing. Everything we ate was awesome, from that glorious meat pie to the cheeses to the classic South African street food. And the bread. Oh, the bread. This was far more than just bread. It comes with this smooth olive oil and cup of spices (you’re supposed to dunk it in the oil and then dip it in this spice mixture) and it is so good. Add a bottle of one of their South African reds and you’re set.
The restaurant itself is intimate and candlelit — everything you’d expect from an Upper East Side wine bar. And our server was very sweet.
Overall, a great little spot. I’ll most certainly be back!

Still so yummy, still lovely service and ambiance (including the über steep trek down to the single bathroom ;).
Love the wine and a lot of the food here but there’s always one item that just isn’t right. At my last visit it was the pâté. I like all kinds of liver (insert chianti joke) but this was just funky tasting, like the texture and spices were not working for me. But apart from that the rest of the food is amazing. And South African is just a bit different which is always nice for a change of upper east side pace.
I’m going to keep coming back and maybe one day I’ll master ordering only the awesome stuff.

Disclosure — came here with a Gilt Group certificate for a full meal. Also, my husband and I have a strong personal attachment to South Africa.
Kaia was great and some of the best South African food I’ve had outside the country itself.
Our waitress was really sweet and did just the right amount of checking in. There’s some subtle décor, including a border of Afrikaans words above the bar.
Love that 95% of their wine list is from South Africa. (Try some Pinotage!)
The bobotie was really delicious. Even the toasties, while small, were really fulfilling and fresh. The malva pudding was some of the best we’ve ever had; sweet and sponge-​y.
Only minor complaint was that the entrees were presented in dishes that made it a bit tough to eat. For example, the peri peri prawns were in a vessel that was mounted to a wooden board, so it was tough to dig in and get the rice. On the other hand, my bobotie was not mounted on a wooden board, so the bowl kept sliding as I tried to eat every last bit.
Also, all the music was South African. Loved the vibe!