Budapest Sun, Hungary
March 30 2005
Delicious Georgian
By Leon Ferrari
BACK in the early 1990s, after the Soviet Union collapsed in a haze
of vodka fumes, I was dispatched to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia,
as a foreign correspondent for a leading British newspaper. My patch,
or empire as I preferred to call it, was Georgia, Armenia and
Azerbaijan. All of these were expected to collapse in bloody ethnic
strife, and/or start border wars with their neighbors, the foreign
editor merrily informed me, so there would be plenty to do.
Nowadays I tend to see how often a destination has been featured in
Conde Nast Traveller magazine, and check that is has the requisite
choice of five star hotels, before I accept a foreign assignment, but
I was younger then, and full of enthusiasm. There were no direct
flights from Budapest of course, so I flew to Kiev, and from there to
Yerevan from where I took a night train to the Georgian capital.
Tbilisi is an enchanting place, strung out along a rocky gorge above
the river Mtkvari, its painted wooden houses perched precariously on
the side of the mountains.
Despite the country’s most famous son being Jozef Stalin, Georgians
are famed for their hospitality and friendliness, and for once the
reality lived up to the reputation. Everywhere I went I was treated
courteously and with a smile, something sections of the Hungarian
hospitality industry would do well to learn. Although I admit that
MALÉV is far more passenger friendly than the Georgian internal
airline.
When we flew to the Black Sea port of Batumi one morning there was
standing room only on the plane. Literally. Only the lucky few had
seats, thankfully including me, and the rest of the passengers stood
in the aisles. I always remember with affection one lunch I had in
Tbilisi. It was a small bar-restaurant, and when I went to pay my
bill the barman refused my money. He shook his head in an enjoyably
conspiratorial manner and gestured at another corner of the room.
There stood a swarthy man with a splendid moustache. I caught his eye
and he nodded knowingly at me. My bill was paid, for I was a guest in
Tbilisi. Sadly, nobody paid my bill in Budapest’s Georgian
Restaurant, although most of the customers, who I think were also
Georgian, nodded and greeted us as they passed by, which was a nice
touch.
The restaurant is decked out in the Georgian national colors of
maroon and white, with several fearsome looking swords and other
weapons attached to the walls, and enormous shepherd’s skirts.
We went at lunchtime, when the restaurant was not very busy, but
doubtless it gets much livelier in the evening.
Georgian food has been influenced both by Turkish and Persian, but
the cuisine is one of the world’s most delicious, using plenty of
herbs and unusual sweet and sour combinations of fruits and nuts.
Our starter of aubergines filled with walnuts were delicious, a
really zesty combination of tastes and textures. The restaurant also
bakes its own bread, known as khatchapuri, which was fabulous served
warm from the oven, like a puffed up Indian naan, but lighter. Try
the khatchapuri with cheese – highly recommended. There is a giant
barbecue grill down one side of the room, and as soon as we ordered
shashlik kebabs, one lamb and one veal, the waiter went into action
and got the coals glowing nicely.
These were excellent, a generous portion of tender meat, packed with
flavor from the grill, served on the biggest skewer I have ever seen.
We enjoyed our lunch very much, but I have two quibbles. The salad we
ordered as a side dish was extremely spicy, drenched in red pepper
flakes, so much so that I could not eat it. The waiter said this was
how Georgians like their salad, which is doubtless true, but the menu
should offer a warning, or a less fiery version. And like many
Budapest restaurants nowadays, there is no house wine and what is
available is expensive. We had an acceptable Szekszárdi red, but it
cost almost Ft4,000. But the service was attentive, and the waiter
was polite and helpful, ready to explain the dishes, and even offer
things not listed on the menu. Expect to spend around Ft5,000 per
head with a bottle of wine.