3 /5 beldim2010: Great khachapuri, mediocre service, heavily overpriced.
Our family visited Assaia restaurant in Sep 2024 to celebrate a birthday. Expectations were high based on good reviews, the menu, and the pictures, but unfortunately it turned out to be a 3-star experience :(
Good
The food was mostly very tasty and delightful. Some dishes were truly delicious (Khachapuri Adjaruli and Megruli, Elarji), others were good with some flaws. See details on each dish at the bottom.
The atmosphere and ambience on the patio were nice.
Bad
We were seated on backyard patio, at metal tables with perforated surface with no table cloth. Later in the evening the oil from khachapuri dripped through the table holes and stained our clothes. Metal chairs were uneven with no pillows. The umbrellas above the tables were shabby with holes on top.
I pre-ordered few appetizers and a bread. Appetizers were on the table and there were number of flies sitting on them which immediately made a bad impression. There was no bread and we didnt get it until much later when we were already eating.
They didnt have any still or just tap water and no non-sparkling soft drinks except home-made "compote" from feijoa. No juice, no lemonade. One of us had to go out to a grocery store to buy some juice for kids. They only had Georgian mineral sparkling water "Borjomi". I dont mind "Borjomi", but kids wont drink it! For each bottle of Borjomi (small) we got charged $5.
The entrees came all at different times so some people were eating and others were watching.
At the end we were told there was no dessert available. None.
The prices on some dishes were ridiculously high and all prices were substantially higher than ones listed on restaurants website. The most bizarre prices were on chicken shish kebab of 5 pieces (big) at $20 with no side included, the side of French fries at $10, and pkhali trio (three little rolls of Georgian salads) at $22(!).
Food ordered
Adjapsandali (eggplant salad) - though looking good it was plain and tasteless. I tried the dish before in many different places and this adjapsandali was by far the worst.
Pkhali trio (three little rolls of Georgian salads) - these were good, like you would usually get in a Georgian restaurant.
Bazhe (walnut dipping sauce) with Chicken - the bazhe itself (sauce) was delicious and perfect. Chicken was dry, tough, and had a lot of bones.
Elarji (Georgian cheese baked with corn flour) - this was excellent and was gone in no time! Best elarji I tried so far!
Khachapuri Adjaruli - fresh, perfectly baked, generously filled with cheese - it was scrumptious! Perfect! We had to stir the egg and butter with cheese ourselves though... I would come to this restaurant again despite all the bads just to have this Adjaruli.
Khachapuri Megruli - delicious, juicy, with tons of cheese! It was somewhat salty, but I liked it and I believe its supposed to be like this.
Megruli Kharcho - kharcho itself was great with good amount meat. Some meat pieces however were very tough and hardly chewable. We ordered two of this. For some reason one portion had mostly good and tender meat pieces while the second had mostly not chewable ones.
Chakapuli (veal with tarragon and herbs) - this one was good and tasty, like you would usually get in a Georgian restaurant. Nothing extraordinary. No side included.
Shkmeruli (chicken in white garlic sauce) - the sauce was delicious, but the chicken pieces were so bony there was almost no meat! And the portion itself was tiny (see the picture) though priced at $24. Im sure it could be done better :( No side included.
Khinkali (Georgian dumplings) with lamb - the filling meat and the broth were very tasty and flavorful. The dumplings however were too big and hence had too much dough for the amount of filling in them. Certainly not the best khinkali.
Chicken Mtsvadi (shish kebab) - chicken was fresh, tender, and juicy. Our kids loved it! Not including fries or any side with it was shame.
Unfortunately, we cannot recommend this restaurant except just for a perfect khachapuri.
