retiredmartin

May 2025. Georgia.

Yes, some themed blogging for you, as I struggle to cope with putting 466 photos into posts. Come back, oooh, June and you might be able to read about Bass and Derby instead of this foreign muck.

Back in 2023 it was a final Lithuanian meal in Kaunas that added Georgia to the top of my “Must See” list, with memories of those signature dumplings and whatever this was;

I suppose there’s three aspects to eating in Georgia. Here’s the How, What, Where; I doubt you need worry about the How Much ?, nothing cost much over a fiver.

HOW ?

Frankly, it’s very easy to eat across Georgia, because all the restaurants will be open and serving food which will come as a shock to folk who use English pubs.

Santino is a café just off Freedom Square open 24 hours. There might be a few places near London Bridge with extended hours, but I bet they don’t serve coffee as posh as Santino at 3am,

or rustle up something as tasty as Mrs RM’s early morning Shakshuka.

No nasty shocks with the bill all week, English translations, and my only mild gripe a bit of predictability on the menus.

If you’re missing home, the craft beer pubs in Tbilisi Old Town (coming up !) all serve burgers, and there’s a raft of German brewery places (HofBrau, Hacker Pschorr, Weihenstephan) for your schnitzel .

What you won’t find is takeaways, which I guess is why the streets aren’t littered with fast food wrappers. But the Spar corner shops are open till 11pm for your cheese and crackers, so you won’t starve.

WHAT ?

Two items dominate Georgian menus.

Khinkali, those cute dumplings (five is plenty) filled with meat and pork,

and Khachapuri, a sort of hollowed out loaf filled with cheese (either lots of cheese or masses of cheese) and an egg. It’s the Georgian equivalent of the Parmo, I guess.

You’ll wonder how Tbilisi folk aren’t all enormous with that diet, but I guess they don’t wash it down with a gallon of Draught Bass.

I was more impressed with the equally ubiquitous Salads with walnut which counteracted the 2,000 calories in the Khachapuri,

though sadly the pastries rather spoilt the dietary benefit of all those greens.

Coffee was pretty good too, but it’s the homemade lemonade you want in Kutaisi’s summer heat.

WHERE ?

I’ll come back to Kutaisi and Batumi, but here’s the obligatory map showing Tbilisi’s culinary highlights that you’ll never, ever need.

Sushi at Axiom in the Old Town’s Craft Beer quarter, Khinkali at the eponymous “pub” at the foot of the fortress, “Eggplant” (aubergine) rolls at Zodiaqo, the trad restaurant just behind the National Gallery in the cultural quartr.

The best food of the trip was the entirely veggie platter at Doli in Kutaisi, a plate seemingly plucked entirely from the astonishing Green Market that morning.

But to be honest, that’s as healthy as Georgian cuisine will ever get.