Walk down a given street in Tbilisi and you will smell the seductive aroma of fresh bread wafting out of old cellar bakeries, baked in cylindrical ovens just like it always has. Listen to the refrain of “matzoni, matzoni,” being sung by women lugging bags packed with jars of the fresh sour yogurt at eight in the morning in every neighborhood. We used to boast how Georgia’s food culture Tbilisi’s restaurants were some of the world’s best-kept secrets, but the word is out, and we’re good with that.
Georgia has a bottomless, wild culinary spirit full of rewarding surprises, and we’ve been diving into it for more than a decade here at Culinary Backstreets. For us, it doesn’t matter whether the khinkali we eat are meat-packed grenades or pesto- and 4 nadugi-stuffed buttons. Either way, they’re Georgian. All they have to be is tasty. We’ve collected a sample of our most essential Tbilisi restaurants, so you can get your own taste of Georgia.
Kutkhe: Khinkali Corner Shop
No neighborhood is complete without that friendly corner shop. And when that corner shop serves up the most delectable juicy khinkali and fresh drafts served up in freezer-chilled pint mugs, there’s a dangerous temptation to linger and indulge.
Khinkali are an ubiquitous table item across Georgia, but a good version is enough to have epicureans break out into rapturous prose. Every newly discovered khinkali joint is enthusiastically shared between circles of friends, and the khinkali at Kutkhe, which means “corner,” induce just that.
Read more on Kikliko from Tbilisi-based CB contributor Pearly Jacob here.
Salobie Bia: Simple Pleasures
Like a musician who values tone over riffs, chef Giorgi Iosava grooves on simplicity rather than lavishness, cooking traditional Georgian fare with a twist. Shkmeruli, garlic chicken, in a creamy paste rather than a milky sauce. Ghomi made with millet instead of corn meal. This must order is served with a ladle of tender veal walnut stew, kharcho. Iosava’s wife, Natalia, works the dining room, cozily decorated with bric-a-brac antiques and oil paintings. We adore her wild herb-infused chacha brandy.
Read more on Salobie Bia from Tbilisi-based writer Paul Rimple here.
Vino Underground: Georgian Wine Heaven
Seven winemakers own this cozy cellar in the heart of historic Sololaki. They call it Vino Underground; we call it wine heaven. Most of the 100 family-produced Georgian wines are made as they’ve been for thousands of years: in buried ceramic vessels. What sets them apart is the winemakers’ utmost care for the vines. Whites include straw-colored Kisi and Rkatsiteli, Georgia’s most popular white. Wash them down with a few savory snacks, like sulguni cheese and spinach-like ekala.
Read more from on Vino Underground from Tbilisi-based writer Paul Rimple here.
Armazis Kheoba: Down By the River
Everyone evacuates the capital during its sweltering summer, and if we can’t manage to get out of town for weeks on end, we can at least drive 15 minutes to spend an afternoon at Armazis Kheoba for some lungfuls of fresh air and beef liver mtsvadi. Tucked in a steep gorge along the southern bank of the Mtkvari River in the village of Armazi, Armazis Kheoba is an ideal spot to unleash the kids and let them run hog wild as you sip – or gulp, as the case may be – the house wine, made from local indigenous Chinuri grapes at the owner’s nearby vineyard.
The presence of a Kakhetian chef assures a menu heavy on the barbecue, with mtsvadi asorti – an assortment of various skewered meats arranged teepee-style on your table – a house specialty. Not everyone offers liver mtsvadi, and no one we’ve come across inserts the chunks of liver in natural sausage casing before roasting over the coals, which adds a smoky, piquant layer of flavor to the meat. The oven-roasted veal chops, smothered in adjika, a fierce red pepper paste, are also a must-order. There are also plenty of vegetable dishes that will rock your taste buds. Here is not just a typical gastronomic experience, but a holiday. You arrive in the afternoon, and before you know it, it’s seven o’clock, and a Tbilisi folk band steps on the stage to perform traditional songs under the big pavilion.
Read more on Armazis Kheoba from Tbilisi-based writer Paul Rimple here.
Alubali: Comfortably Stuffed
This lovely botanical patio serves some of the lightest, freshest fare in town. Homemade sulguni cheese is made on site, served solo or stuffed in chivishtari, the fluffiest of cornbreads. Most of the menu is west Georgian Megrelian cuisine, like elargi, melt in your mouth cheesy grits. Or kupati, a piquant paprika and garlic pork entrail sausage. Alubali is owned by four women. One, Monica, likens it to a “a village where you’re sitting outside, and everything is tasty.”
Read more on Alubali from Tbilisi-based writer Paul Rimple here.
Dukani Racha: Tbilisi’s Oldest Greasy Spoon
Dukani Racha is a Georgian greasy spoon impervious to change. For decades, this chummy brick-walled cellar in Sololaki has attracted loyal customers for its refrigerator display of beef tongue, tomato and cucumber salad, assorted cheeses, badrijani (sliced fried eggplant stuffed with a garlicky walnut paste) – all the standard stuff. The neighborhood’s culinary life has expanded, with restaurants popping up with new savory experiences. Some of these places became local fixtures while others have had brief lives, only to be replaced by other eateries that would share the same ill fate. But Dukani Racha’s door have always remained open.
Here, Manana, the surly blonde “director,” is clearly in charge from her helm behind the display fridge. Her crew of waitresses have no reasons to smile. This is Georgian old school where the customers are never right – they are only fed. At a side table there is the inevitable group of middle-aged men hunched over their meals, straightening up to make a toast or to light a cigarette. There is something sympathetic about the grumpiness here. It’s almost as if any of the staff smiled, they would jinx the food.
Read more on Dukani Racha from Tbilisi-based writer Paul Rimple here.
Duqani Kasumlo: Azerbaijani-Georgian Kebabs
Few travelers make it this far out past the Deserter’s Bazar, except perhaps to quickly pass through to catch cheap intercity mashrutkas (mini-buses). But despite its overlooked location, Duqani Kasumlo has acquired semi-cult status for its kebabs in an area better known for its cluster of home improvement stores and the labyrinthine Eliava market.
“Our kebabs bring visitors from all walks of life,” owner Leonid Chkhikvishvili says about his self-declared “Azerbaijani-Georgian fusion restaurant.” One item of note is the number of lamb items on the menu, something rather uncommon for a Georgian lunch hub, which would typically feature more beef and pork. Every table around has lamb kebabs, an obvious house specialty, garnished with thinly sliced onions and laid out on a bed of lavash flatbreads. They are as juicy as they are tender, which is to say, very.
Read more on Duqani Kasumlo from Tbilisi-based CB contributor Pearly Jacob here.
Chacha Corner: Moonshine Museum
Chacha is distilled from the fermented grape skins, stems and seeds left over from the winemaking process. To avoid a nasty hangover, best to know who makes it. That’s why we turn to Vato Botsvadze, owner of Tbilisi’s first exclusive chacha shop. “I consider this a chacha museum,” he says, pointing to the wall of bottles. The lusty spirit comes in many forms, from mulberry-aged versions to cognac-style sips made from distilled wine. Belly up to the shop’s tiny bar to taste them.
Read more on Chacha Corner from Tbilisi-based writer Paul Rimple here.
Kikliko: Breaking In the Breakfast Scene
The Georgian culinary experience is all about the dinner. This might explain why, after a night of belt-popping gourmandizing, there is very little in the way of a breakfast culture in Tbilisi. Another explanation might be that Tbiliseli are not morning people. Most cafes open around 11 a.m., which is about the time our neighborhood baker is slapping his first batch of bread in the tone.
Then, one day, three friends opened up a proper breakfast joint in a refurbished ground-floor apartment. The space is welcoming and warm, and seats about 20 people inside and has room enough for a dozen on the patio by the front door. The enticing menu, developed by local chef Elene Kakabadze, is a subtle blend of western and Georgian worlds. No thin Russian blini here – the pancakes are a bit fluffier, dollar-sized and more delicate. Try the creamy rich cottage cheese stuffed cakes, or the eponymous dish, a kind of French toast.
Read more on Kikliko from Tbilisi-based writer Paul Rimple here.
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