Cool Georgian Bites

Khinkali

Khinkali is a soup dumpling that resembles a lot like what you order at a Chinese restaurants but much bigger in size. The way to savor this dish is to hold the top handle, perforate the flour wrapper a little bit and drink the soup before eating the dumpling. These khinkali are from Pasanauri in nothern Georgia. Pasanauri is widely known to have the best khinkali in the region, if not the country. Trivia: khinkali is supposed to ease a hangover.

Khachapuri Megruli (cheese pie)

There are several kinds of Khachapuri. The one we see most often in social media is the Acharuli which is boat shaped and has a raw egg in the center. There are also Imeruli with cheese on the inside and Shampurze which is on a metal skewer.

Breads of Georgia

This bakery is in the Old Town off of Kote Afkhazi Street. In addition to selling a varied selection of local breads, they also offer hamburger, pizza and hotdog.

Badrijai Nigvzit - Eggplant with walnut paste and pomegranate

Grilled Dorade

This was my dinner at 1001 Nights in Tbilisi. I ordered the long grain rice below to accompany this dish. I’ll admit I cleaned up my plate. It was that good. The restaurant is off of Freedom Square at 1/9 Kote Afkhazi Street.

Long grain rice sprinkled with saffron

Churchkhela

You’ll see this popular Georgian confectionery hanging in bazaars and food stalls all over the country. These are nuts - walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds soaked in flour, honey and grape juice then left to dry until hardened. If you would like to take some home with you, it’s best to get the wrapped ones from the supermarket like Spar. They’re supposed to last for as long as a year.

Grilled sea bass

While Tbilisi is far from the coast, there are many lakes and rivers in the country. I was pleased to have been able to order fish including salmon, dorade and sea bass during my stay. They were moist and well prepared. I always managed to eat the last morsel on my plate. There are many restaurants on Erekle II Street in Old Town Tbilisi. In fact, this street is known as restaurant row. This is where I had this buttery and tender sea bass. As you can see, fish is my comfort food.

Shkmeruli chicken*

I tried this dish at a Tbilisi restaurant on Meidani Square where I was given a huge serving. Thankfully I was able to to share with a member of my city group tour so it didn’t go to waste. The chicken is sliced thin and then drenched in creamy garlic sauce. I like chicken but this was new to me. It surprised me that the chicken was bony and I had to look for the meatiest ones from those served me. If you’d like to make this dish, here’s the link to the recipe from https://nofrillskitchen.com/shkmeruli-recipe/.

*Image of shkmeruli chicken is in the public domain from Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C5%9Ekmeruli.jpeg

Currency: lari or gel. $1.00 = 2.72 Georgian lari (as of June 26, 2025).

Electrical outlet: Type C or F.

Where to stay: Ibis Styles Old Town is on 39 Kote Abkhazi Street. It is surrounded by restaurants, cafés, grocery and souvenir shops. It is a short walk to Freedom Square and Meidani Square, both hubs of activity in Old Tbilisi. My room had a terrific view of the iconic Mother of Georgia statue and the steeples of churches on Sololaki hill. The hill is all lighted up at night, a sight to see.

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