g.Vino Tbilisi, Georgian Style Tapas

September 16, 2017 Masako

Georgian food ranks as one of my favorite cuisines. I rarely want to eat anything else in Tbilisi, but after a few days it’s nice to have a little variety. g.Vino is a cozy little wine bar on Erekle II, one of my favorite streets in Old Tbilisi. The restaurant offers Georgian style tapas with a European influence, and a great wine selection. Both the decor and food have a traditional Georgian foundation with an unexpected twist.

The table settings are an eclectic mix of handmade Georgian pottery and mason jars. The charcuterie and cheese plate is a mix of Georgian and European offerings with honey, olives, pickles and fruit providing a great balance.

The great handmade pottery is also available for sale. You can browse while enjoying your food and wine, what a great way to shop!

The wine is generally from small wineries and made in limited quantities using a natural process.

On more than one occasion, the staff has recommended a bottle of Jakeli Saperavi. The wine was enjoyable freshly opened – despite the instructions on the bottle to open two hours in advance to let it breathe.

On a recent visit, my friends and I enjoyed the Georgian Tapas menu. The salad Kakhuri with tomatoes and cucumber was dressed with sunflower oil from the Kakheti region. The Khachapuri (cheese bread) was excellent as usual, but next time I plan to try the version with beet greens. The potatoes were flavored with Georgian spices and served with an Adjika pepper paste that provided a nice kick. We loved the veal Kharcho (walnut sauce), but we hit our carb limit before we could eat the accompanying Georgian polenta.

It was still hard to resist the fresh baked bread though.

Unexpectedly, the meatballs were the highlight of the meal. Perfectly seasoned, the spicy tomato sauce was not quite Italian, not quite Georgian, but something special in-between. Actually, that pretty much sums up an evening at g.Vino.