May 2025. Kutaisi. Georgia.
Our third and final Georgian stop, following Tbilisi the capital and Batumi the beach resort with Kutaisi, the ancient city with an “Oldest Inhabited City in the World” claim.
It really ought to better known for having the worst restaurant in the world.
Having taken the early bus from Batumi (see Duncan’s report on his own travel troubles) before the station café opens (10 !!!) we find Shedevri is the closest open place to our drop-off, looks brilliant, and it’s got an average score of 3.9 on Google, so can’t be bad, no ?
And the family naan type thing with unidentifiable hot sauce isn’t actually, inedible, though the undercooked pork (just pork) and raw mushrooms with melted cheese definitely are.
And as for that “Americano”; two large dollops of Nescafe in a glass of hot water. “Should have had beer” says Mrs RM, who doesn’t understand the urgent need for caffeine.
Even as we’d looked at the menu I’d started to note that 3.9/5 average rating on Google was a weird mix of ancient top ratings and a raft of warnings from more recent times.
If there’s one thing Mr & Mrs RM worry about more than dying from food poisoning it’s being ripped off. We left our uneaten meals, stuffed the giant naan in our backpack, and tracked down the disinterested staff, Google Translate at the ready to help us challenge the inevitable overcharge.
I think we were lucky. Georgian restaurants seem to open from 9am till midnight but the main trade here was large drunken groups on long tables, not 11am snackers, and I’m not sure the bill (about £12, £11.80 more than it was worth) was actually wrong, but I’m sure my new Georgian readers will confirm.
In fairness, you might find Shedevri great fun, like visiting the Maidenhead Conservative Club or wearing a Man United shirt in the Duncan, and it is a characterful old building with trees giving a Combermere style interior.
A £1.90 Uber later we were at Hotel Pushkin (£22), and 2 minutes later at the Hoegaarden bar washing the taste of that Nescafe out of our mouths.
And to reassure you, everything else in Kutaisi was high quality, the Green Bazaar supplying some of the freshest veg and cheese imaginable,
notably at Doli, one of the best restaurants in Georgia.
Or anywhere.
retiredmartin 
Looks like the devil is in the detail down in Georgia.
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The devil (in the detail) went down to Georgia.
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I enjoy reading about your travels abroad to places I definatley will never visit -those mushrooms are one of the most gross things I’ve seen served up on a plate.We are off to Skipton soon for some quality pies & fish & chips
Pauline
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Pauline,
I was impressed with Skipton last month, several pints in the Woolly Sheep being the highlight of my visit.
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Thanks Pauline.
I really fancy fish and chips right now.
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“Two large dollops of Nescafe in a glass of hot water” reminds me that I routinely accepted instant coffee until about thirty years ago when I discovered proper coffee. Thankfully I was on proper beer from the age of 16½.
It might have been the wind direction yesterday that prevented a whiff of coffee from being picked up by the train’s air conditioning yesterday as I passed the Nescafe factory at Hatton on my way to and from Derby.
It was probably very good coffee in the Bod that had kept all the other customers off the Titanic.
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Those mushrooms look as unappetising as the three small overcooked chicken goujons in a none too fresh barm cake sold as a chicken sandwich for £6 in Manchester’s Angel at the beginning of 2019.
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That was an odd time, Paul. I also had disappointing food in the Marble Arch around that time, and I’d have recommended both that pub and the Angel for pub food (and there’s a lot less of that about). The Angel has a bit of character; I’d take you back there next time you want company in Manchester.
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Yes, I’m overdue some time in Manchester, not stayed there for sixteen months.
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