Lui Coffee — Restaurant in Tbilisi

Note: This is a one-visit review and I'll need to try it a few more times before I decide for sure. However, for now, I'm happy to give them the benefit of the doubt.

OVERALL: Recommended. Generally pleased, but short of "delighted", with everything, i.e., staff, service, menu/prices, ambience and food. Just note that you can't use your laptop in there, you have to order at the cashier and that can mean a queue if they're busy, and the music could be too loud for you like it was for me.

I went there a couple of days ago with some friends. Staff handled the reservation well. I disliked having to order at the counter because it was busy and there was queue, plus some tech issues, so we had a bit of a wait. Ambience was fine, but the music was a bit too loud for me. Fortunately, I did not take my laptop with me because it's a "laptop-free zone" inside and I guess that means nobody can use their laptop in the cafe -- might be a bummer for some, but I suppose it's goo for business. Food was fine although I thought the serving size of my Vegan Green Borscht was a bit on the smaller side. It was quite refreshing and tasty, but very different from the classic beet version. The menu is wide and varied, with quite a few vegan options and that's important to me, because I am vegan. Prices are okay overall, and may even be more than acceptable relative to the sudden spike in some restaurants in Tbilisi. I look forward to trying some of their vegan cakes or apple pie in the not-so-distant future :).

So, I'll need a few more visits to be sure if they're consistently 5-star (I'm just "paying it forward", for now), but they're definitely reasonably goo based on my one visit.

Suggestions for Lui: a) Figure out a way to avoid the ordering at the counter thing. Perhaps via the website and service at table? b) Consider turning the music down by 33%. c) May increase the serving size for Vegan...

Came here for the first time with my kids for a nice Sunday breakfast. The place was half-empty, maybe even at 30-40% seating. Ordered syrniki (cottage cheese patties), shakshuka (a dish with a “new!” sign on their menu), a panini, and some coffee.

My shakshuka arrived first after 20 minutes of waiting… and it was anything but a shakshuka. Three bland, overcooked fried eggs with rock-solid yolks were stacked up, drowning in what seemed to be a bottled marinara-style sauce. To top it off, they sprinkled it with some feta cheese. I love shakshuka, I cook it quite well, and this abomination had nothing to do with this glorious dish. I ate it with zero pleasure.

10 minutes later, my daughter’s panini appeared on the table. No complaints, it’s a grilled sandwich, it’s hard to ruin it.

After that, we waited for 20+ minutes for my son’s syrniki. At 52 minutes after the order was placed, I ran out of patience and requested a refund.

In 50+ minutes since we sat down at the table, nobody cared to ask us how we were doing, nobody cared to remove empty plates from the table, nobody cared to tell us that our food was being delayed, nobody cared to smile (in fact, the staff were so gloomy I thought someone had died in the morning).

No idea why people keep going there. They are expensive, disorganized, they don’t know how to cook, and have no idea about good customer service.

I am never...

Just upped a star... The thing is I tried hot chocolate at a different cafe. It was exactly the same. So generally, don't get hot chocolate in Georgia. It would probably not be what you are expecting... Now as for Lui CAfe: Came in because it looked nice. Great coffee smell inside. Items in the menu look so good that I though to come back for lunch. However capucino was barely warm, hot chocolate was maybe just a bit thicker than cocoa, the only lavender thing about lavander cheesecake was a branch. It's ok, not bad, but for the price that they charge, I'm not going back. PS if what I had is any indication of taste and quality, I m glad I did not have time to try any of the menu items.

Reply to the owners: to answer your question the issue I had with lavander cheesecake is that there is not a hint of lavander in the cheesecake. Nothing. It could be called blueberry, or bubble gum... It was light, not too sweet, good, but not lavander at all. Also it is very strange that you don't seem surprised about the coffee temperature and hot chocolate...