ZestSync

By Alastair GillFeatures correspondent

From House of Adjarian Khachapuri to Chateau Iveri, Batumi's restaurants are luring travellers with a rich and diverse cuisine that's renowned throughout Georgia.

With its sunny Black Sea climate, wide pebble beaches and boulevards fringed by palms, magnolias and banana trees, Batumi is everything that media darling Tbilisi isn't. While the Georgian capital hits headlines for its frenzied parties and politically charged atmosphere, Batumi is all about relaxation and indolence – as a local proverb goes, "We were born tired and live only to rest."

The capital of Georgia's humid, south-western Adjaria region, Batumi is a subtropical city of lush greenery and eclectic architecture. The exuberant fin-de-siecle confections of Europe Square sit cheek by jowl with the Turkish-style openwork balconies, Art Nouveau masterpieces and cobbled streets of Batumi's historic heart, while the green space of the 7km seaside promenade is overshadowed by futuristic skyscrapers along Rustaveli Avenue.

Once primarily a resort for sunseekers from ex-Soviet states, as well as Israeli, Turkish and Arab gamblers hoping to strike it rich in the casinos, the "Las Vegas of the Caucasus" is gradually attracting more Western tourists, alongside digital nomads drawn by Georgia's liberal visa policy. And for many of these, it's not about the beaches or a big win – it's all about the food.

Adjaria has always been a cultural crossroads, and its cuisine is renowned throughout Georgia for its richness and diversity, with vegetables and cheese forming the basis for many dishes. In recent years Batumi has seen the number of restaurants and cafes swell, and the war in Ukraine brought in a huge influx of entrepreneurial Russians, Ukrainians and returning ethnic Georgians – by some estimates the number of dining spots in Batumi doubled last year. Meanwhile, in the mountains outside the city, small vineyards are producing excellent wines from autochthonous grape varieties.

We asked Koba Jincharadze, a Batumi native who organises bespoke tours and experiences for visitors, to share five places that show off the best of Batumi's gastronomic scene.

1. House of Adjarian Khachapuri

Just seven blocks from Batumi's seafront gardens, House of Adjarian Khachapuri is an unpretentious restaurant specialising in a single, iconic Georgian speciality: khachapuri.

This calorie-packed Georgian cheese bread comes in many shapes and sizes, but the undisputed king – and probably the most recognisable – is the famous local speciality of Adjarian, with its distinctive boat-shaped pastry crust and bright yellow egg yolk floating on an open filling of cheese and melting butter. "It's a reference to our region because Adjaria is on the coast," Jincharadze explained. "So in the past, when wives used to send their husbands out to sea, they would bake khachapuri for them in the form of a boat. And the egg symbolises the sun."

This Batumi institution has been filling hungry stomachs since 2015 and attracts an extremely diverse clientele, from tourists to locals from all walks of life and social backgrounds. The interior is simple, with straightforward service and prices to match. And it's not just Adjarian khachapuri on the menu; you can find cheese breads from all over Georgia here, including the classic khachapuri from the Imereti region.

Jincharadze says the place is so popular because it follows the traditional recipes, using special wood-fired ovens. "For me it's the taste of childhood: the Adjarian khachapuri [made here] is just as I remember it from when we would go to a cafe when I was a kid. And the owner of the restaurant makes the khachapuri himself. His name is Mamuka, so in Batumi we often just say, "let's go to Mamuka's".

Address: 39, 26 May Street

Phone: +995 514 18 82 82

2. Brotseuli

For a warm and intimate Georgian experience, Jincharadze sometimes takes his customers to Brotseuli. Just a stone's throw from the grand facades and casinos of Europe Square, this cosy family-run cafe is so modest that it doesn't even have a sign outside, just a painted pomegranate cut in half on the wall (brotseuli means "pomegranate" in Georgian).

Family-run cafes and restaurants are common in Georgia, especially outside the cities, but Brotseuli is a special case – each member of the family is involved in running it, and it's set in their very own courtyard. "The mother is the chef; the father is the gardener; the son has painted all the murals and pictures; the daughter is a waitress, and an aunt is one of the managers. So it's a complete family business," said Jincharadze.

According to Jincharadze, Batumi courtyards have a special atmosphere and aura that is reminiscent of those in Italy. Here, guests eat under a canopy of trees, at narrow tables beneath rough, ivy-festooned walls decorated with lanterns.

Brotseuli is one of the best places in Batumi for a taste of Adjarian dishes such as yakhni and burano, which Jincharadze cannot rate highly enough. Yakhni is a spicy stew of tender beef in a rich walnut sauce that is traditionally served at Adjarian weddings, while burano – sometimes referred to as the "Georgian fondue" – is made with Adjarian braided cheese cooked in melted butter.

Address: 2 Kldiashvili St

Phone: +995 422 29 44 10 

Instagram: @brotseuli_

3. Chacha Time

Located on the corner of an attractive cobblestone street in Old Batumi, Chacha Time is a temple to Georgia's famous "grape vodka", a punchy clear brandy made from pomace, the fermented skins, pulp, seeds and stems that are left after the winemaking process. Most commercially produced chacha has an alcohol content of around 40%, some is as powerful as 60%, so it's not a drink to be taken lightly.

Perhaps it took an outsider to see the real potential of chacha, but when Vladislav Zubov, a former TV journalist from the Russian city of Izhevsk, moved here with his family in 2015, he developed a fascination with the "Georgian grappa" and made several trips around the country to various regions where chacha is produced. Noticing that the spirit was often dismissed as unrefined in gastronomic circles, Zubov decided that he would make it his mission to elevate it.

"It's a very interesting story, because many of us don't take chacha very seriously," said Jincharadze. "But Vlad has even started making various cocktails from chacha in his bar, presenting different types of chacha, organising personal tastings and so on."

Chacha Time is one of Batumi's most popular drinking spots, attracting both tourists and locals. According to Jincharadze, it's even a hit with wealthy businessmen, who come to relax after a hard day, down a few chachas, have a cocktail and chat. But Chacha Time is more than just a bar – it's also renowned for its mouth-watering burgers, which locals say are among the best in the city.

According to Jincharadze, the best time to drop by is the evenings, especially in summer. "A lot of people always gather there in the evening, because the bar itself is quite small – there are literally just a couple of tables inside, and everything spills out onto the street: it's very atmospheric and raucous," he said.

Address: 5 Girogi Mazniashvili 

Phone: +995 597 56 11 98

Instagram: @chachatime.batumi

4. G.Garden

For a more upmarket dining experience, Jincharadze advises making a booking at G.Garden, the only establishment in Batumi that can boast a Michelin-recommended chef. Mamia Jojua cut his teeth in the kitchen of his mother's cafe in Tbilisi before embarking on a career that took him to Germany, then back to Tbilisi and ended up propelling him into the stratosphere of Moscow's elite dining scene. In the Russian capital, he became chef at the Georgian restaurant Kazbek, which was named one of Moscow's top 10 restaurants by Forbes in 2018 and awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2021 – and all this before he was even 40.

In 2022, Jojua returned to Georgia to take on a fresh challenge at G.Garden, a new fusion restaurant with a terrace adjacent to the Lech and Maria Kaczynski Park by the promenade. Here he has carte blanche to indulge his culinary fantasies and add a fresh, personal twist to Georgian and Adjarian classics by adding new and unexpected ingredients.

Locals come here for the tasteful interior, the excellent service and Jojua's innovative Georgian cuisine, such as odjakhuri with octopus and baked peppers (instead of meat as is the tradition); and an upscale Adjarian khachapuri topped with lightly cured salmon, red caviar, a quail egg and avocado. This is Batumi's fine dining at its most refined and elegant – expect impeccable service, outstanding and creatively presented food and a top-class sommelier. According to Jincharadze, G.Garden is currently one of the city's hottest dining spots, so it's a good place to take someone if you want to make an impression.

Website: garden.batumi.restautant

Address: 1 Lech And Maria Kaczynski St

Phone: +995 577 29 46 80

Instagram: @g.garden.rest

5. Chateau Iveri  

Not far inland from Batumi, the lush meadows of coastal Adjaria begin to rise into forested foothills as you approach the Turkish border, the roads twisting upwards into steep green gorges. Here, among vineyards above the fast-flowing Acharistskali river, sits the award-winning Chateau Iveri, a family-run hotel, winery and restaurant that has become one of the most popular spots on Jincharadze's gastronomic tours.

Fifty kilometres from Batumi and 500m above sea level, Chateau Iveri requires an effort to reach – whether you drive or take the bus from Batumi – but according to Jincharadze, it's worth the detour. "It's a great place to introduce people to Adjarian culture in the mountains," he enthused. "There are stunning terraces with insanely beautiful views of the hills and gorges, as well as the river." But while the scenery may be unforgettable, so are the wines, the food and the general levels of service and hospitality.

The founder, Rostom Beridze, hails from a family of winemakers and has dedicated himself to developing wine tourism and viticulture in the region. Chateau Iveri has a reputation for the high quality of its wines and produces around 4,000 bottles a year, many of which are made with autochthonous grape varieties such as chkhaveri (a pink-skinned grape) and satsuri (a red grape).   

Jincharadze brings tourists here to try the excellent biodynamic wines and try traditional local dishes such as chirbuli (eggs poached in tomato sauce with walnuts) and sinori (rolled flatbreads smothered in Adjarian nadughi cheese). Travellers are also able to participate in cooking workshops run by Beridze's wife Marina, the restaurant's chef. Marina runs hands-on classes for visitors who want to learn how to make – and then eat – their own Adjarian khachapuri.

Website: www.facebook.com/Chateauiveri

Phone: +995 599 71 62 63

Address: Varjanisi, Keda

Instagram: @chateau.iveri

--- 

Join more than three million BBC Travel fans by liking us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter called "The Essential List". A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o67CZ5qopV%2Bpv6LCxKVmmqqknrCtsY5rZ2trYGx%2BcnnFoq2eZZ%2BberW0xGaZnqukYr2trcKeqmasn2KyosCMoqVmmpGpwq61jKCcqKqXnq4%3D