Georgian Cuisine: Must-Try Georgian Dishes

Georgia is one of the countries where you will not have any eating problems because Georgian cuisine is generally suitable for every taste and very delicious. We have been coming to Georgia frequently since 2013 and we have been living here for three years now. As a result, I have a good command of Georgian cuisine. Georgian food is quite diverse, but I will only write the most popular Georgian flavors that I think a must-try. And I will also inform you about Georgian sweets, Georgian wines and other Georgian drinks. Here is my guide to Georgian Cuisine…

Best Georgian Restaurants in Tbilisi

Georgian Cuisine

Imeruli Khachapuri: A kind of bread stuffed with cheese that you can find in almost every restaurant in Georgia. Like pizza, it is round but the cheese is in the bread.

Kubdari: A Georgian dish born around Svaneti. It seems like Imeruli Khachapuri, but meat, onion and Svan spices are used instead of cheese.

Achma: We can describe it as cheese lasagna.

Kikliko: This is the name of egg bread in Georgia, which is commonly made for breakfast, .

Megruli Khachapuri:Another type of Georgian cheese bread, this one has cheese on the top of the bread.

7 Best Breakfast Cafes in Tbilisi

Adjaruli Khachapuri: This is another kind of cheese bread. In addition to cheese on the bread, there is an egg and a piece of butter on it.

Khinkali: We can describe it as Georgian ravioli with minced meat, but consider it much larger than usual. You can store a few on your plate and ask them to be fried. The fried one is also very tasty, so you can try both. By the way, it is recommended to eat it with black pepper.

Mtsvadi: A shish kebab special to the Caucasus, which we know as saslik. They make this kebab for all kinds of meat.

Ojakhuri: A delicious dish usually cooked in a casserole with meat, onions, garlic and potatoes.

Qababi: It looks like kebabs in Turkey, I would say. They bring a tomato sauce with this kebab and we pour it on every bite.

Ostri: This is also a dish I like very much, which is cooked in a casserole, with onions, tomatoes, and meat with a spicy sauce.

Lobio: It’s a kind of bean dish made in a pot. It may not appeal to everyone, it has a different taste but i like it very much. If you don’t like coriander, you may not like it. They bring cornbread with this dish, and this cornbread is called Mchadi. There is also another kind of Khachapuri made with beans, it is called Lobiani. I don’t like it personally, but you may try.

Badrijai Nigvzit: It is one of Georgia’s popular appetizers. Eggplants, sliced lengthwise in thin slices, are fried a bit. It is wrapped in a roll with a sauce made of walnut paste, which is widely used in Georgia. It is decorated with pomegranate seeds.

Matsoni: It’s the name given to Georgian yogurt.

Pikhali: Again, an appetizer made using walnut paste. It is mostly made with spinach, the other popular one is beetroot. They are decorated with pomegranate again. When you order mixed plate of pikhali, they bring the Badrijai Nigvzit and other ones I mentioned together.

Best Fine Dining Restaurants in Tbilisi

Sulguni: It is a cheese whose homeland is the Samegrelo region of Georgia. We can compare it to mozzarella cheese in texture. It is generally used to make khachapuri and different appetizers, but can also be eaten alone as an aperitif.

Let me mention other appetizers made with Sulguni cheese: Ghomi and Elarji. Both are made with cornflour and cheese, but Ghomi is slightly tasteless since it is made with less cheese, while Elarji is much more elastic and delicious. By the way, Mushroom Sulguni is also a popular appetizer that you can find in almost every restaurant in Georgia, it is cheese-filled mushroom actually.

Jonjoli Salad: A popular Georgian pickle made of Jonjoli which is a plant similar to linden. My husband likes it very much but I don’t.

Georgian Salad: Georgians’ standard table salad looks like a Greek salad, with a large chopped cucumber, onion and tomato but without feta cheese. Sometimes they mix them with a walnut souce. By the way, you can find Greek salad and Caesar salad in almost every restaurant in Georgia, I think they do both of them very well.

Georgian Desserts and Sweets

Medok: This is a dessert special to the former Soviet countries in general. I can define it a honey cake with layers. I love it, but it may be a little too sweet, I still suggest you try it.

Paska: This is a cake with grapes, of which shape resembles a giant muffin. It is available in all markets and cafes during Easter. An Easter dessert, which is more common in Orthodox countries.

Tklapi: It seems like a leather but infact it’s a thin layered fruit mixture. They make it by sun-drying fruit purees.

Churchkhela: They ara long candies made from walnuts and hazelnuts covered with grape purees left to dry under the sun.

Best Cafes in Tbilisi for Coffee

Georgian Wines

Georgia is one of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world, its history is said to date back 8000 years. In fact, according to Guinness book of records, Georgia is the oldest wine producing country in the world. Every year, around 150 million liters of wine is produced in approximately 45,000 hectares of vineyards in Georgia. 70% of the production comes from vineyards in the Kakheti region. I like their semi-sweet wines the most. If you also like semi sweet wines, I recommend kindzmarauli or khvanchkara for red and tvishi for white wine. For Blush, you can prefer semi-dry saperavi wine. These are very light and delicious wines. If you like dry wine, I recommend saperavi for red.

The Best Wine Bars in Tbilisi

Georgian Drinks

Of course, wine is not the only popular drink in Georgia. There are different alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages of local production, let me talk about them.

I recommend you to try pear soda, our favorite soft drink in Georgia. You can order it in English as Lemonade with pear.

Their most popular alcoholic beverage other than wine is a liqueur called Chacha, also referred to as Georgian vodka. It is mostly made from grapes, but there are also varieties made from mulberry, tangerine or fig. It is sold in the markets but families also produce it in their own homes, saying it is good for indigestion and some other diseases.

Beer is also consumed a lot in Georgia, and you can often see 2.5 liters of beer in grocery stores. Some of the most popular local beer brands are Argo and Kazbegi. You can also try Black Lion or Shavi Lomi for craft beer.

The Best Cocktail Bars in Tbilisi

Are you planning a trip to Georgia? If you want to know more about Georgia please drop a comment below! Don’t forget to follow me for more photos and to be informed about my future posts!

Instagram: tbilisi.my.love

Tiktok: ihdcnwbcmw.com

Facebook: ihdcnwbcmw.com