Since I had a lot of students from Georgia, who praised Georgian kitchen as very cunning, I was eager to taste this savoury, delicious food from the east. The relatively new restaurant Satrapezo gave me the opportunity.
The restaurant’s interior is an estern version of high class – fake leather chairs, heavy white tablecloths, the toilet all in Joop! and waiters in black and white. On our visits the restaurant was always full with Russian families, enjoying themselves – seems to be a good sign. The waiters were very friendly and helpful, explaining the dishes and recommending drinks („try this water, it’s from Georgia and unique“). Satrapezo offers a wide selection of Georgian food and wines, including Qvevri amphora wines. Of course there is also Roederer Crystal for those who want to show 🙂
The Georgian water tasted like…water, but the recommended wine was nice. The personnel serves with white gloves, wine is poured through a sophisticated filter for ventilation purposes. Well, everything a bit too much – but anyway. Georgian cuisine offers a great variety of starters – so we took the mixed plate:
What shall I say ? Amazing – esepcially the grilled aubergine with walnut cream was very good, also the spinach with almonds and the beetroot. The dark and intense bean-salad with subtle herbs was beautiful too. The aubergine with cream cheese was not so my thing. A great starter variation for 9.3€ !
A classic, as I’m told: A big pita-like bread is filled with salty, creamy cheese. Sounds not like much, but is in fact amazing. The toasted aroma of the bread blends perfectly with the melty and intense taste of the cheese. Awesome, though maybe not the right food to lose weight. They also offer it topped with more cheese and an egg.
Khinkali seem to be the Georgian version of Dim-Sum. They also taste similar, the dough is very soft, a bit chewy and watery. Inside was minced beef with herbs, which tasted good. Overall I liked the Asian version of this a bit more…
Georgian kitchen uses a lot of nuts and I go nuts for nuts. Good thing! This „megruli khartscho“ is a beef stew in walnut sauce, which was really great. I loved the suble nutty taste, combined with a mellow sauce and tender beef. Great!
For those who can’t get enough this mixed grill could be right: Served georgian style on a weird rack was a whole mountain of meat with vegetables and potatos. The dips were not good, convenience stuff. The vegetables were ok and seemed to be freshly grilled. The meat was a bit disappointing: It was really a lot, but it kind of lacked taste. Maybe it was not grilled sharp enough or they spared with spices – but it lacked a certain something.
As we payed we got this nice dessert surprise of strawberries (in winter ?) and whipped cream. A nice (and tasty) gesture anyway.
Satrapezo is definetely worth a visit. You should calculate approx. 40€ for 2 persons and go for starters and stews, they are really amazing there. Dawai, dawai!