vegan georgia Archives • Cook the Beans

Once in Georgia, you will find out that lots of local Georgian dishes just happen to be vegan and true to be told.. they are delicious! So don’t worry, if you’re planning to visit this stunning country finding vegan food will not be a problem.

Tbilisi is the vibrant and cosmopolitan capital of Georgia, where the vegan scene is growing. Nowadays there are several outstanding options to choose from.

Here is a list of my favourite places in Tbilisi to eat a great vegan meal.

TOP Vegan restaurants in Tbilisi

Namu

Outstanding place with mainly raw vegan food, gluten-free, sugar-free and table salt-free. Namu was the first raw plant-based place opening in Georgia.

They use high-quality ingredients and create something that is both a treat to the eyes and also incredibly tasty.

They serve fresh juice, kombucha, granola, chocolate, cake, soup, delicious toasts, bowls and rolls. If you want to try some of Ana Tikaradze’s creations she has some recipes on this website.

Irmale’s Cafe

Irmale’s is a small cafe serving healthy vegan dishes and indulgent dessert. They have an eclectic mix of breakfast and lunch options including salads, soups, buckwheat pancakes, juices, smoothies, avocado toast, vegan chocolate and cakes.

Living Vino: Natural Wine Bar & Vegan Food

A wonderful place serving delicious healthy vegan food. Ingredients are sourced from eco farms and the wines from local producers.

Kiwi Vegan Café

One of the most popular places for local vegans. They have an extensive menu, that includes delicious tofu, aubergine sandwich, a cheeseburger with fries, hummus, falafels, pizza, salads, soups, pasta dishes, and wraps.

Muhudo

Vegan falafel shop in the centre Tbilisi that serves falafel, dips and drinks. The perfect place for a quick tasty snack.

Vegan Place

Vegan place is a street food restaurant well known for the delicious seitan. They serve unique bowls with complex flavours as well as shawarma, nuggets and gyros.

TOP restaurants in Tbilisi serving vegan food

Mama Terra – Veggie corner

Mama terra is a vegetarian restaurant with lots of vegan options. The food is absolutely delicious from the wide selection of vegan sandwiches, quinoa bowls, tacos, raw spring rolls, soups, desserts, teas, kombucha and coffees.

The menu is well-marked as vegan, raw food and gluten-free and they use high-quality ingredients. The menu is constantly expanding.

Goby

Goby is a healthy fast food place offering a wide variety of delicious food with a mixture of Georgian, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines.

They serve flavorful and filling falafels, different types of hummus including beetroot, tasty sandwich, fritters, soups like yellow pea soup and salads.

Have you been to Tbilisi? have you tried any of the restaurants mentioned? Share with me if you know any other outstanding places to eat delicious vegan food.

If you are travelling around the country you will need to know which traditional Georgian food is vegan! Find here how amazingly vegan-friendly Georgia is.

Georgia is a stunning country to travel to and the vegan food is abundant, fresh and delicious. When you find your way around the meat and cheese, you discover a whole world of beans, veggies, bread, potatoes and mushrooms.

One of the reasons Georgian food is so vegan-friendly is because of the Orthodox fasting periods, that many adopt, where they can’t have any food from land animals. You will find that many restaurants have a ‘fasting menu’.

Many local Georgian dishes just happen to be vegan, making our life easier while travelling. In Tbilisi, you have some choices of restaurants and cafes serving specifically vegan food, but outside the capital, the reality is different.

I assure you will not have any problems to eat vegan even when visiting small villages.

Here is a list of some of my favourite vegan dishes that you can get from a regular place in Georgia serving local food.

Vegan-friendly Georgian food

Veggie pâtés

Pkhali – different coloured balls of vegetables minced with walnuts and seasonings, normally with garlic, onion, herbs. The most common are spinach, aubergine and beetroot.

Eggplant with walnuts (Nigvziani Badrijani) – Slices of eggplant that filled with walnuts, coriander and garlic, served cold topped with pomegranates.

Red pepper stuffed with walnuts – as the name says is a red pepper filled with hearty walnut paste.

Beans and bread

Lobio – It’s a bean stew served in a clay pot, made with red beans, onion, garlic, herbs, and local seasonings. Mchadi – cornbread that is usually eaten with Lobio. Comes in fried and non-fried varieties.

Acharuli, Stew boats – a boat-shaped bread from Georgia, is the most popular filling melted salty cheese and egg. Although I found other options, from aubergine stew, wild mushrooms, spinach and other greens and even with tomato and cucumber salad.

Georgian Pastries: Lobiani – Is a mashed bean-filled bread easily found everywhere. Similar to lobiani is the Mkhvlovani- made with a mixture of different kinds of herbs. I did find other pastries that were vegan but couldn’t memorise the names.

Georgian traditional dumplings

Khinkali – The easiest vegan ones to find are the ones with potato and mushroom fillings, but I also found some with beans and spinach.

Mushrooms

There are several dishes with mushrooms served in clay pots.

They also have wild stewed mushrooms, fried mushrooms, grilled mushrooms, etc.. If you are a mushroom lover like me Georgia is heaven on earth.

Ojakhuri with mushrooms – instead of the traditional potatoes with pork, this one is with mushrooms.

Shilaplavi – Kind of a Georgian risotto with mushrooms.

Vegetable stews

Ajapsandali – is a vegetable stew made with onion, potato, aubergine, pepper, tomato, parsley and other seasonings, a little bit like a ratatouille.

Salads

The most common one is Cucumber and Tomato Salad with a creamy walnut and herb sauce, but there are various other kinds of salads too. The Georgian beetroot salad with tkemali (plum sauce) is also quite easy to find.

Mexican potatoes – Thickly cut potatoes with lots of seasoning. They can be fried or baked.

Pickles – you can order mixed pickles or plates of specific pickles.

Vegan Georgian Sweets

Churchkhela – also known as the Georgian Snickers is a traditional sweet made from nuts and fruit juice. It is extremely delicious, nutritious, healthy and energizing. To prepare it the string of nuts is repeatedly dipped in concentrated fresh fruit juice.

Tklapi – Thin fruit sheet.

Pelamushi – reminds a frozen pudding prepared with grape juice and walnuts.

Georgian Markets and Street food

There is no best place to explore Georgian food culture than visiting some of the markets. Here you can find the best deals to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, dried fruit and grains, coffee and tea, spices and much more.

Street food is not a strong concept in Georgia by any means, but you can occasionally find small stalls selling, fresh fruit, fresh cold-pressed juice and Turkish coffee.