Are you looking for vegetarian khinkali in Tbilisi? Then this post is for you!
Khinkali are a national dish of Georgia; they’re a doughy dumpling with filling in the middle.
Normally, the filling is meat, but there are so many places to enjoy vegetarian khinkali in Tbilisi!
On a recent trip to Tbilisi, I tried out a few restaurants that were renowned for their vegetarian khinkali.
Here are the top ones that I tried!
Vegetarian khinkali in Tbilisi
Here are the best places to eat vegetarian khinkali in Tbilisi.
Cafe Daphna
Cafe Daphna is a very nice, modern cafe, renowned for its mouldy cheese khinkali.
I wasn’t the biggest fan of these because I don’t usually love mouldy cheese – we were warned by the waiter that they’re not to everyone’s taste!
But my partner enjoyed them and thought they tasted like Stilton – he’s much more of a cheese fan than I am!
We also had some mushroom khinkali. These were delicious – with the vegetarian khinkali, there’s not as much juice as the meat options, but the mushrooms are the juiciest!
So if you want the best khinkali experience and you’re vegetarian, I’d recommend ordering mushroom ones.
Zodiaqo
Zodiaqo is more of a traditional Georgian restaurant, and they have a huge menu, but khinkali is at the top.
Here, they have khinkali with cottage cheese and Georgian salty cheese, along with mushroom khinkali – all served with melted butter.
Hinkali Factory
Hinkali Factory is a chain restaurant with a few options throughout the city. Here, they have an interesting menu where you can make your own khinkali.
You choose the filling and the dough – you can either have normal white dough or whole grain dough.
You can also choose how you want it cooked – fried or boiled!
Here, we have got a cheese and truffle and oyster mushroom khinkali – they were very tasty.
You can get all sorts here – even dessert khinkali!
The cheese and truffle dumplings were the best that I tasted and the mushroom ones were delicious as well.
Google Maps location (there are a few throughout the city).
Old Time
At Old Time, you’ll find Mother Khinkali. This is a large khinkali with lots of little khinkali inside.
They do veggie versions with mushrooms, potatoes and cheese.
When the dumplings come to the table, there’s a really theatrical process of slicing open the khinkali and serving it to the table!
Khinkali House
Khinkali House is located on Rustaveli Street; it boasts an extensive menu with both khinkali and other Georgian items.
The dumplings here don’t taste the freshest – they’re probably frozen and then reheated – but they’re cheap and there are plenty of veggie (mushroom, potato and cheese) options!
Take a look at my YouTube video which features all of these khinkali restaurants in Tbilisi!
Other places to eat veggie khinkali in Tbilisi
I haven’t managed to eat at all of these vegetarian khinkali Tbilisi places, but here are some others that I saved onto my Google maps when I was doing my research!
- Shemomechama: This restaurant specialises in khinkali, although the veggie options seem to be only cheese or potato. (Google Maps location)
- Veris Duqani: This one serves a few different cheese dumplings, although it looked a bit pricier than others.
- (Google Maps location)
- Asi Khinkali: You’ll find potato, cheese and mushroom varieties here, along with other Georgian specialities. (Google Maps location)
How did khinkali originate in Georgia?
No one really knows how khinkali originated in Georgia.
There are two possible stories; so one is that the Mongols brought them here (all the way from Ulaanbaatar!), and they enclosed the meat that they carried in a dough to keep it fresh and edible while they were travelling on horseback.
That explains how dumplings spread across the whole Silk Road, and the idea is that Mongol people originally learned dumpling-making from China because they’re right next door.
Wherever they stopped, they kind of evolved with local ingredients, local spices, and in Georgia, it’s the signature big dumpling with a sort of twisted top.
The other idea is that they originated up in the mountains and that shepherds first created them, but this has been disputed by most people who live in the mountains – and actually, when you see the khinkali in the mountains, they’re a lot flatter.
How to eat khinkali
Before you visit these veggie khinkali in Tbilisi, here’s how to do so!
Hold them by the twisted top, take a bite into the dumpling and suck the filling out while chewing the filling.
Once you’ve eaten the dumpling, put the top on a plate.
You never eat them with a knife and fork.
Are you ready to eat all the vegetarian khinkali in Georgia?
There are so many reasons to visit Georgia, gastronomy being high amongst them. And khinkali are among my favourite dishes, so I was overjoyed to find so many veggie dumplings in Tbilisi!
