From Gruziya with love
16 April, 20:41ic Georgian cuisine” in central Kyiv opened along the quiet Turhenivska Street. Such ambitious statements coming from a place that is incidentally called Gruziya (Georgia) made me immediately curious. Besides, when I rang up the eatery to inquire until what hour they were open, and got a reply in an authentic Georgian accent that I could “party until morning if I wished,” my expectations rose.
One thing that worried me though was that Georgia was supposed to have live music every evening, and I felt very much like having a quiet dinner. As it turned out, my worries were groundless. At the time of our arrival in the late evening, the restaurant was deserted, but for a group of ladies excitedly discussing their relationships.
The singers did give a few short performances in their native Georgian. It was enough to add national color to our meal, but didn't disturb.
The interior had something cosmic about it, only in a conservative way. Located in the semi- basement, the circular hall with a few semi-circular sofas imitated a nighttime sky on the ceiling – a circle of dark glass with little lamp stars twinkling inside it.
Part of the lamps were copper plates reflecting the light of the small lamps attached to them, and the lampshade hanging above our table was also copper inside, with a small lamp placed into what looked like a spoon attached to the side.
The fact that Gruziya’s design offered no ethnic elements was pleasing in fact – after all, extremely “authentic” decor is not what makes a restaurant Georgian (Turkish, Indian etc.), but the food it serves. If it’s not what it should be, all the colorful rugs on the walls and national dresses worn by waitresses go to waste.
In case of Gruziya, it was clearly all about the menu, which contained no European, Ukrainian, or Armenian dishes, as if emphasizing that you’re indeed having your meal in Georgia. The menu offered ten kinds of shashlyk, including pork ribs, lamb, and sturgeon.
Among other meat dishes are Lula Kebab, chicken on a spit, meat on ketse (clay frying pan), and Mtskemsuri – lamb with eggplants, tomatoes and herbs (a shepherd’s dish).
Of course, the Georgian bakery requires special attention: six kinds of Khachapouri, Mchadi round cakes of corn flour – traditionally served with lobio (kidney bean dish), and the homemade bread Shotipuri.
As we selected our meal, the waitress was active in giving us advice – suggesting one portion and advising against another. Having ordered quite a few dishes – most of which we intended to share – me and my companion waited eagerly, and soon enough the food started to arrive. The first was Barbidzhani (Hr 28) – fried eggplants with a walnut paste and pomegranate berries.
The soft and just a bit spicy eggplant slices were a perfect combination with original paste and pomegrande, which added a touch of acidity. My friend later pronounced it the hit of the dinner and I quite agreed with him, even though we had a lot more to eat.
Next came Gruzinskiy (Georgian) salad (Hr 30) – tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs, again seasoned with sour-salty walnut paste – which I was already getting addicted to, and Kveliani Burtulebi (Hr 20), or potato balls in crunchy breading that resembled croquets.
In fact, I ordered the salad to go with shashlyk and it came soon enough, sizzling in a small frying pan with lots of onions. The shashlyk at Gruziya is made of fresh meat – without being marinated beforehand. Not that I’m complaining about the latter, but the aromatic bits of pork (Hr 20 per 100 grams) were a bit dry, even though I had them in a watery nut sauce Bazhe (Hr 12). Soon however, I turned my attention to Khachapouri (we ordered two different kinds), that came at last.
As the waitress served us Adzharskiy (Hr 25) – diamond-shaped, with a fresh egg placed in the middle – she instructed us to make sure to break the egg before we start to cut it. My companion did so and soon I was digging into fluffy pastry with melted Suluguni, the liquid egg adding a special finishing touch. My friend likewise loved Imeretinskiy Khachapouri (Hr 30) – this one was a flat round cake with several kinds of cheese inside. However, he wasn’t able to finish it (we’d already had too much to eat). And as I drank delicious Georgian lemonade (Hr 10), authentic and imported from Georgia judging by the glass bottle, the waitress brought our doggy bag with the half of the Khachapouri.
As we bid farewell to the staff that lined by the stairs for the occasion, my friend picked up a few Gruziya brochures to recommend to friends – a place with such quality of food and low prices definitely deserves attention.
Gruziya (25 Turhenivska, 537-7985). Open 11 a.m. until the last customer
English menu: No
English-speaking staff: Yes
Average meal: Hr 100