Tiflis — Restaurant in Leuven

I first went to Tiflis many months ago. Back then, they still did the vegetarian sharing menu. My friend and I got the vegetarian sharing menu and a glass of the house wine and it was amazing. Based on this amazing experience, I went back again last week. I won't say I was disappointed, but I was slightly let down. They don't do the vegetarian sharing menu anymore. So if you're a vegetarian, you need to get things al a carte. If you know nothing about Georgian cuisine, it's nicer to share a tasting menu. I am really sad they discontinued the vegetarian sharing menu. The food was still great. I really enjoyed all the flavours. They serve some dishes in a different way now (it seemed less filling in the new way they're serving it, or maybe I was just very hungry). In the end, I had to spend more to get the same amount of food. I know that costs have gone up due to inflation, but this isn't a pricing issue as much as it is an issue with the menu change. Maybe I was too nostalgic about the first visit, but this time, I was slightly let down. If you eat meat, I wholeheartedly recommend this place. If you don't, the staff will help you pick some vegetarian options as the service is great and they have many vegetarian options. But I do think you get less of your money's worth if you...

Short: a bit too far into fusion, little left from the origins, feels and tastes like a frituur. A Georgian restaurant trying to find it's place in Leven. I am sympathetic, yet critical as I want a Georgian restaurant nearby. Khinkali: complete disaster. Must be large dumplings with savory juice inside eaten by hand. Bite the edge, suck in the juice and eat the whole thing. Instead, overcooked small pieces served as ravioli in a cream sauce. And khinkali-like "tails" still there and they are really hard. Lobio balls: have nothing to do with lobio. These are croquettes that you can have in any local restaurant Adjapsandali: was the best, the only dish we liked Food is bland and no greens. Georgian food is not spicy but flavorful and must be served with copious herbs such as kinza (cilantro) Cheeky service: someone who knew nothing about Georgia told us in an aggressive tone to go to Brussels if we wanted...

The place is pleasant as such and the service is not bad. But the food is certainly disappointing and hugely overpriced. It probably has to do with my experience with Georgian cuisine in other places of the world (Vienna tops them all), but this restaurant is many miles away from the richness, beauty and originality of Georgian cuisine I've tried elsewhere. And I will admit here a bias, since I recognized in this restaurant one of the worst aspects of the restaurant's scene in Belgium, which has been irritating me for years: places, which are made with a lot of presence and flabbergasting prices (come on, the cheapest bottle of one 60 euros?), delivering just nothing in return, and counting on the fact that this will pass among the generally wealthy and non-argumentative Belgians. I am sorry to say that, but I find this a true disgrace to the restaurant business in Belgium....