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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Images by TravelswithCharie

The Art of Carlos Botong Francisco - Progress of Medicine in the Philippines

Pre-colonial period Pag-unlad ng Panggagamot sa Pilipinas (The Progress of Medicine in the Philippines) is a group of four large-scale paintings depicting healing practices in the Philippines from pre-colonial times to the modern period. Carlos Botong Francisco was commissioned in 1953 by Dr. Agerico Sison who was then the director of Philippine General Hospital (PGH) together with Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing of the National Museum, Dr. Florentino Herrera, Jr. and Dr. Constantino Manahan. These oil on canvas paintings measure 2.92 meters in height and 2.76 meters in width (9.71 ft x 8.92 ft) and were displayed at the main entrance hall of PGH for over five decades. Owing to its location, the artworks were in a state of "severe deterioration" at the beginning of the 21st century from exposure to heat, humidity, dirt, dust, smoke, insect stains, grime, termites and an oxidized synthetic resin used in an earlier restoration. These canvases were restored three times, the last was...

Timbulan ng Laya at Diwang Dakila

Timbulan ng Laya at Diwang Dakila, Carlos Botong Francisco, 1968, oil on canvas In 1963, Mayor Antonio Villegas wrote a report, Building a Better Manila, where he indicated in detail his accomplishments on his first year as Mayor of Manila and his vision for the future of the city. Villegas aspired for a prosperous Manila by providing its residents access to health, family and housing services, opportunities for education and employment and improved infrastructure for water and road systems. *Notice the hands at the top of the painting. These hands symbolize the protective reach of God over the city of Manila. Central Panel On either side of the seal of Manila are the former mayors of the city. At the bottom are the city’s old seals. Seal of Manila adopted in 1965 under Mayor Antonio Villegas Timbulan ng Laya (Beacon of Freedom) at Diwang Dakila (Noble Spirit) are written on the seal. A sunburst with 15 rays cast light across the canvas. Below the sun, in red, is the Baybayin let...

Masaganang Ani by Vicente Silva Manansala

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