How often do you find yourself wondering "Hmm, I'm really in the mood for Georgian food?" Yeah, I didn't think so. By living in NYC, it's very rare for me to find a type of cuisine that I haven't tried yet at least once. So when Aarti asked if I was interested in trying Georgian food (the Eastern European country and not the Peach State), I was intrigued. I had never heard of Georgian food being something to write home about but when she showed me a picture of a baked bread dish covered in cheese and topped with an egg, I was down to try it.
Surprisingly, the place was pretty crowded on a Sunday night. The menu is a mix of what seemed like Russian and Middle Eastern food. There was lots of baked bread dishes, slow cooked meats, stews and grilled meats. Since we were lured in by the bread, we had to get the adjaruli khachapuri ($15) to start and Aarti got the Lobio ($18) and I got the Lula Kebab Lamb ($25). Everything on the menu sounded great for a cold winter night - very heavy, warm and cozy. Strangely Aarti's Lobio came out first - it's basically a stew of slow cooked kidney beans, onions, garlic, and seasoned with Georgian spices and served with pickled vegetables. I didn't try the veggies but apparently they were extremely pickled and sour. The bean stew tasted exactly how it sounds and was a good call on a cold night but they were a bit heavy handed in the salt. Next came the bread dish - it was essentially a giant bread bowl with pipping hot cheese filled to the top and then topped with a poached egg. And yes, it was every bit as heavy and delicious as it sounds, at least for the 1st few bites. I tore off the ends of the bread and dipped it into the hot oozing cheese which tasted very similar to a mozzarella cheese. It would be a good starter dish if you had like 5-6 people at the table, but with only 2 of us, it was hard to eat more than a few bites because it really is a very heavy dish. Next I tried my kebabs. They were two HUGE sandwiches - large chunks of seasoned lamb wrapped in "skinny bread" and served with a home made satsebeli sauce (it's very similar to a marinara sauce but way more delicious). It was pretty much a lamb sandwich and it was a ton of food - I ended up taking home an entire half which lasted me a whole other meal.
All in all, I have to say that I enjoyed my 1st Georgian meal experience, although I can't really say it's food that I would crave to have again. Since the portions are so large, I would recommend that you go with a lot of people to split up the dishes because Aarti and I had a lot of leftovers afterwards and well, it's not really the kind of food that is real tasty the next day. Total bill: $43/pp with tax and tip
Photo Credit: Yelp
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