Since I am a Vegetarian, I can tell you that it is very easy to find vegetarian food in Georgia. Most of their food is having meat but still there are many things you can eat during your visit to Georgia which are vegetarian/vegan. Few ingredients which are very common in vegetarian dishes are eggplant and walnuts. Eggplant dishes are very popular in Georgia and always form part of a Supra (traditional Georgian feast), and walnuts is used in most of the Georgian dishes. So here is the list of vegetarian and vegan dishes which you can enjoy during your stay in Georgia.
Lobio salad with walnut
Lobio Salad is a traditional Georgian salad with some Herbs, pomegranate, vinegar with finely chopped walnuts.
Tomato cucumber salad with walnuts
Tomato cucumber salad is made with fresh tomatoes cucumber and herbs. Dressing is done with a coarse paste of walnut give it unique taste.
Red pepper with walnut
Red Pepper after cleaning, it is cooked in boiling water is stuffed with walnut paste. It is served with Mchadi in the restaurants. This dish is served cold.
Pkhali
Pkhali can be made of various type of leaves including spinach, cabbage and beetroot . In this the base ingredient like spinach is cooked and mixed properly with walnut garlic and other herbs paste. Once every thing is mixed the desired shape is given and this is served cold.
Nigvzinai badrijani
Nigvzinai badrijani is a very popular summer dish in Georgia. It is made of eggplant stuffed with a paste of walnut and spices. This dish is served cold.
Khinkali
Khinkali is the Georgian dumpling made of twisted knobs of dough meat and spices cooked in boiling water. This dish available in almost every restaurant with the option of meat/lamb/pork, but it is available in vegetarian option also. vegetarian option of khinkali is made up of cheese, mushrooms and mashed potato.
Lobio
The Georgian word ‘lobio’ means ‘beans’. Lobio is a popular dish made with kidney beans and usually eaten with Mchadi. There are many variation of making this by with various herbs and spices and few include flavoring with walnut.
Mchadi
Mchadi is a very popular baked cornbread traditionally eaten with lobio and cheese.
Khachapuri
Khachapuri is a filled bread stuffed with melting cheese and often served sliced. There are few types of kachapuri, depending on the area and how they are prepared. Some of them are;
Ajarian khachapuri
In Ajarian khachapuri the dough is formed into an open gondola shape and is topped with a raw egg and butter before serving.
Imeruli khachapuri
Imeruli khachapuri is a filled bread stuffed with melting cheese this is very popular in Georgia. You can think it as a pizza minus toppings and herbs.
Megruli khachapuri
Megrelian khachapuri is circular with cheese added on top.
Shotis puri
Shotis puri is a Georgian flat bread just like chapati.
Lobiani
Lobiani is a delicious bean filled bread or pie. It is enjoyed all year round.
Mkhlovani
Mkhlovani is similar to lobiani (round bread filled with mashed beans), but with a different filling. The dish is made with a mixture of different kinds of herbs from mountainous regions of Georgia.
Ajapsandali
Ajapsadali is a summer dish made of from stewed vegetables. There are several ways of prepping Ajapsandali in Georgia depending on the region but the essential ingredients will remain same i.e eggplant, tomatoes and pepper.
Churchkhela
Churchkhela is a traditional Georgian candy you can find in most of the shops and can be seen hanging street side. Churchkhela is traditionally made by piercing a thread through the pieces of walnuts and then dipping repeatedly through a mixture of flour, sugar and fruit juice (grapes, pomegranate etc). Churchkhela is generally made in the autumn when grapes and nuts are harvested. Churchkhela is also made from hazelnut.
Tklapi
Tklapi is a traditional Georgian pureed fruit roll-up leather. It is made by spreading fruit juice thinly onto a sheet and sun-dried. It can be sour or sweet depending on the fruit used. Most common Tklapi’s like apricot, peach, cornel, pear, apple, and figs are sweet while sour Tklapi mostly prepared from wild plums.
Indian restaurants in Tbilisi, Georgia
There are many Indian restaurant in Tbilisi for every taste and budget. Most of them are around Davit Aghmashenebeli Avenue, Old Tbilisi and Rustaveli Avenue. On Davit Aghmashenebeli Avenue there are restaurant like Spice Garden, Sanjha chulha, Bombay bistro, Masala Restaurant (Closed Now). Kiwi Vegan Cafe is the most popular vegan restaurant in Old Tbilisi.
McDonald’s
If you have a carving for burger, McDonald’s is available in Tbilisi and they are serving Veg. burger and wraps. During our stay we tried McDonald’s once near Marjanishvili metro station and their veg. burger and wraps were great.
