Off the (B)eaten Path: Left Bank (possibly Armenian) Grilled Goodies

“Chilikas Bichis Dukani,” in the old Armenian neighborhood near the Isani metro station, is a good place to go if you are experiencing a hankering for grilled food in a low-key setting.

I was directed to the restaurant by a vegetarian friend who had waxed rhapsodic about their grilled mushrooms (sokos mtsvadi) and sulguni cheese khinkhali. “It’s a no-frills kind of place,” he added. “No lacy tablecloths or anything.”

Indeed, the restaurant really has no frills whatsoever, even an external indicator – like a sign – that it exists.

Finding the place, while uncomplicated, takes some elaborate directions in the absence of discernable area street signs. Chilikas Bichis Dukani (“Chilika’s sons’ café”) is located uphill, behind the Isani Metro station (on Ketevan Tsamebuli Avenue). If one is facing the metro station with Ketevan Tsamebuli Street to one’s back, walk up the street to the right of the metro station, towards the highway. At the end of a long block of money exchange windows, clothing stalls, and khatchapuri windows, take your first left. There is a gas station on the left, and across from that, on the right side of the street is a beige building with a long red Coca-Cola awning and two chimneys. A small sign reading “khinkhali, kababi, mtsvadi,” marks the entrance-point to Chilikas Bichis Dukani.

Once inside, there are nine tables, each seating four people or so. The décor is sparse and a little shabby – only a few token light bulbs work – but the tables and flatware are spotless. There are no printed menus, but a dry-erase board on the wall lists some of the more popular items. There is also a glass case where one can peruse the many kinds of grillable foodstuff – vegetables, meat, sausage – on long metal skewers.

Grilled things are definitely the way to go here. The meat mtsvadi, which comes in a variety of styles and shapes – including sausage with lemon on a stick – ranges from 6 to 10 lari (the latter are quite large), and is quite good. Also good are the grilled potatoes – sliced into medallions and roasted over coals – which are 2 lari per potato (about 5 medallions). Be sure to order at least one skewer of the sumptuous grilled mushrooms (sokos mtsvadi). They come 5 to a skewer, and cost 6 lari. A skewer of whole grilled badrijani, pepper and tomato costs 3 lari, and is pleasantly smoky, though wanting a little in the way of additional seasoning. The kababi, which come wrapped in a paper-thin lavash with onion and chopped chives, is average – which is to say, very tasty if you like that sort of thing.

Throughout the lunch hour, waitresses delivered platters of steaming khinkhali to the tables around us. Khinkhali are clearly another strong suit of Chilikas Bichis Dukani. Regular meat khinkhali are 50 tetri a piece; the sulguni khinkhali are 1 lari per. These latter are definitely worth trying; when the khinkhali are eaten hot, the melted sulguni cheese filling drips in gooey, buttery, mozzarella-like strands.

Given the location of the restaurant, and its reputation as an Armenian restaurant, we decided to try some kyufta. We had the option of ordering it fried or in some other fashion (we didn’t quite understand, speaking very limited Georgian and no Russian) and opted for the more mysterious process. This was perhaps a mistake. The kyufta arrived soft and gray – blanched, steamed or boiled –in a pool of melting butter. It was not bad – warm, buttery, and folded discretely in a paper-thin lavash – but was sufficiently mysterious as to be a little off-putting.

It’s not the cheapest dinner in town, but it’s a nice change of pace for a pretty low cost. Sharing food among three people on two occasions, my fellow foodies and I dropped about 10 GEL per person and left pleasantly full. The wait staff is very friendly. No English spoken, though, so be ready to make your way in Georgian or Russian.

Chilikas Bichis Dukani, adgilze mitanit. Tel: 899 53 74 36

Published 2 Feb 07 at Georgia Today