Tbilisi, as part of Eastern Georgia, has always been geographically, culturally and gastronomically far from the nearest shores – those of the Black Sea. Here, the closest you can get to the feeling of the sea while is strolling along the “Tbilisi Sea,” a big reservoir opened by the Soviet authorities in 1953. Located on the northern edge of the city, it boasts a public and a private beach and even a sailing club.
Most restaurants in town, along with well-known Georgian dishes, usually serve just one type of fish: trout, which often comes from fish farms. For those missing the real sea and real seafood, Barbatus, a new fish restaurant, is filling the gap. It opened during spring 2022 in the upper-middle-class district of Saburtalo, not far from the Technical University metro station and across the street from the Tbilisi Sports Palace.
“What’s more, we are also very close to McDonald’s, and they are good at finding the best locations,” jokes Levan Akhvledliani, one of the three co-founders of Barbatus, casually sitting on the terrace of his fish restaurant next to his partner Tamuna Chichua. From the table, we can see the illuminated “Barbatus” logo above the entrance gate on the wide, tree-lined Kostava street.
Barbatus is a reference to the Latin name for the red mullet, one of the most common catches in the Black Sea, which is usually served fried. “The full name is mullus barbatus; we took only the second part whose sound was more interesting. It’s a fish that people love and it is easy to eat,” says Tamuna.
Housed in the space of a former burger joint that closed during the pandemic, Barbatus is one of the very few places serving fresh fish in the Georgian capital. “We did not want to open a new Georgian restaurant; we wanted to find a niche, and our niche is fresh fish from the Black Sea. We stick to it – we don’t cook anything else other than fish and seafood,” says Levan, with emphasis.
Apart from the red mullet, Barbatus serves turbot, dorado, sea bass, salmon, garfish, horse mackerel and a few other species as well. There are about a dozen fish on the menu, and the number changes slightly depending on the season. Seafood like mussels, crabs, octopus and shrimp are listed as “sea delicacies,” and a small selection of appetizers, salads, side dishes and sauces are also available.
Levan and Tamuna are both serial entrepreneurs. Barbatus is their first restaurant, and from the inception of the idea back in January to its implementation in late March, it took them just a little over two months to open the venue. The most crucial part of the process was finding and organizing daily supplies of fresh fish. “Each morning, we receive fish from the port of Poti on the Black Sea with a small refrigerated truck. It’s a five-hour drive. There are up to twenty boats in Poti, and we are in touch with a number of fishermen,” says Levan.
Most of the fish are cooked in a small open kitchen located on the terrace, where clients can sit at metal tables covered with wood or steel blue tiles. On the left from the entrance, steps lead to a cozy underground dining room. The interior design is both sober and to the point with vintage sketches of grumpy fishes and the main wall covered with a big fresco of the port of Lisbon painted on tiles.
“We have traveled a lot, and one of the places where we were served fantastic seafood was Portugal,” comments Levan.
Eating at Barbatus is indeed a culinary journey, but you don’t need to think as far as Lisbon. We were reminded of the savory and simple fresh fish eateries along the Black Sea or Aegean coast in Turkey.
We ordered red mullet, dorado, baby octopus and a choban salad as a side dish. The latter consists of thinly chopped tomatoes and cucumbers with red onions and parsley. It is one of the most popular salads in Turkey, where choban is written çoban and means “shepherd.”
The baby octopus and the fish dishes were served in no time, and after squeezing some lemon on the plate replete with small fried red mullet, we avidly devoured it all with our hands. No fancy dressing or plating here – the key at Barbatus is simplicity.
“This simplicity also applies to preparation; fish are either fried or just grilled on a plancha or a barbecue. We don’t want to lose their taste,” says Tamuna.
The grilled dorado didn’t disappoint, either, with its generous, milky fish meat. We left Barbatus after indulging in an unusually light and succulent slice of the honey-flavored Medok cake.
From now on, we know that whenever we feel overwhelmed by Tbilisi’s urban chaos and miss the coast, there is a small corner of the Black Sea somewhere in Saburtalo.
Levan and Tamuna hope that their concept will win over foreign visitors and locals alike and that with Barbatus, the capital can enjoy the best that the sea can offer. “Our mission is to help develop a fish culture here. It’s so strange, we are a coastal country but we don’t have a strong fish culture,” says Tamuna, who thinks Georgia’s bountiful nature might explain this paradox: “Maybe because the soil was so good to grow vegetables, grapes and other fruits, our ancestors did not have to go to the sea to catch fish!”
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