What a fantastic gem! Is it me, or is it pretty consistent that fantastic ethnic cuisine is best had from dodgy strip mall locations?
What is Georgian cuisine first of all? To me it feels like a mix between Russian, Eastern European with a bit of middle-easter influence.
The small restaurant was quite empty at lunch time when we went, but that did not matter. Our host was friendly and very helpful with helping us navigate as Georgian cuisine newbies.
The food was fantastic. We had a flavourful lamb meatball soup, followed by the dumplings. The dumplings are way bigger than I imagined, so i would estimate two per person is enough. They are a cross between pelmini and Shanghainese "shiao lung bao" in my mind. Steamed with a thick chewy skin, and a meaty filling with a hot tasty broth. We had their bread baked with cheese with a coddled egg in the middle. We were instructed to mix up the egg and dip the bread. The bread was super delicious, hot and chewy with a crunchy crust. Finally we also had a veal stew. The veal stew was fragrant and thick with eggplant. We practically licked the bowl!
Our first time here will definitely not be the last! Looking forward to trying out the many things on the many.