Dining Spotlight
Visit Old Tbilisi for a delicious taste of Georgia (the country!)
By Toni Woodard
Unassumingly nestled between a cookie store and a nail salon near the Vancouver Mall is a unique opportunity to try Georgian cuisine.
By this, I mean the country on the Black Sea that shares borders with Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey. Named Old Tbilisi Georgian Cuisine in honor of the Eastern European capital, this family-run restaurant opened last May and has already built a fan base.
Two friends joined my husband and me for our inaugural visit to Old Tbilisi. We unanimously agreed that more visits are in our future. The food was delicious and fun to explore. The restaurant is clean, well-lit and comfortable, with flat, tiled floors and a variety of seating options. Parking is available just outside the restaurant.
Our server was an attentive young woman with a delightful accent and a ready smile. Wanting to sample a number of selections, we over-ordered and were left with five to-go containers between the two couples. We tried two appetizers and several entrees, and shared one dessert. I also ordered a Georgian soda.
The Georgian soda ($5.50) arrived in a beautiful cut-glass bottle. I assumed the vivid green color that reminded me of mouthwash was the glass. Nope, it was the drink! Made with tarragon and labeled “Lemonade,” the carbonated beverage had a strong aroma of black licorice. However, there was only a hint of anise in the flavor, with more sweetness and lemon than black licorice. It was very refreshing, and I didn’t detect any tarragon.
Our table shared two items as appetizers that could have been entrees. We ordered a cheese-filled flatbread called imeruli khachapuri ($15) and a plate of dumplings called khinkali ($4 per dumpling). Both were fantastic.
The flatbread was about the size of a medium pizza and arrived golden brown and hot. With melted cheese inside, it reminded me of a quesadilla. It was much firmer (not floppy at all), and the cheese was sulguni cheese from Georgia (I asked). It reminded us of a salty mozzarella. I had intended to order a side of adjika — billed as a spicy pepper dipping sauce for 75 cents —but the flatbread didn’t need any help. It was utterly delicious and a fantastic way to start the meal.
Khinkali is a national dish of Georgia and should be a requirement at every visit to Old Tbilisi. The dumplings were huge, wrapped in a thick, spongy dough and shaped to look like enormous heads of garlic. They were stuffed with lightly seasoned ground beef and sprinkled with black pepper. The seasoning tasted of onion, maybe some cumin or coriander. It had just a slight kick of heat, making me wonder if paprika had also been added. There was a delicious broth that trickled out of the dumpling as I ate it.
Our entrees included a bowl of kharcho soup ($14) with large chunks of beef that almost required a knife to cut; a pork shish kebab called mtsvadi ($22) that was lightly seasoned and more tender than a pork chop; a kebab ($27) of ground beef that was cooked on a skewer but arrived looking — and slightly tasting — like a long sausage; and a beef stew called souzi ($18), had large chunks of tender beef and soft hunks of potato in a flavorful broth that brightened up even more with a few shakes of paprika (provided in a salt shaker on each table).
All of the entrees were delicious, tasted homemade and (I assume) were authentic. The flavors were not bold. Instead, they were comfort food: warm, hearty and satisfying.
Despite the five to-go containers, the table agreed we needed to sample a slice of the Signature Cake ($8) for dessert. It was three layers of fluffy chocolate cake, with a condensed-milk cream between them. There were tiny, minced chunks of walnuts throughout. Consistent with the rest of our meal, the cake was light but flavorful. The cream layers balanced the chocolate well, resulting in a dessert that didn’t land like a rock at the end of a heavy meal.
Old Tbilisi has several vegetarian options, including dishes with eggplant and kidney beans, as well as a few salads (most $15-$20 each). There are also gluten-free options like the aforementioned mtsvadi shish kebab and a bean stew called lobio ($15).
Old Tbilisi’s website mostly serves as a menu viewer. The descriptions are brief but helpful. The restaurant also has an Instagram account filled with mouthwatering photos of the tempting creations that emerge from its kitchen.
Old Tbilisi Georgian Cuisine
8101 N.E. Parkway Drive, Suite A-2, Vancouver
360-907-2113
11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday
Instagram: @theoldtbilisi
Toni Woodard is enthusiastic about food, fairs, llamas and writing. She is the author of “I’m Fine: A Practical Guide to Life with Chronic Pain.” Contact her at toniisfine@outlook.com.
