MR KABAB RESTAURANT — Restaurant in Tbilisi

Ordered the following: Soup Jo: 3.5/5 Merza Qassimi: 4.5/5 Chello kebab kubeida (double) with rice: 3.0/5 Jujeh kebab bedun istekhan: 4.0/5 French fries: 2.5/5 Washed down with one barjomi. All food was served at the same time. Soup and appetizer ought to be served before mains. Customers are "nickeled and dimed" here. Charged for bread (4 lari) and charged the same for take-away container (as I found I had reached my limit of food intake so unable to consume the merza qassimi at the restaurant). Merza was consumed the next day and was fine (though not as delicious as I have eaten in other venues). No dill rice is served. Iranian desserts like pastani zafrani and falooda are not served. The prices are at the upper limit of my willingness to pay for Iranian food at 123 lari. For those prices, food needs to be a notch or two higher in terms of deliciousness / quality. The artistic rendering of the food painted on the outside of the restaurant looks more succulent than that which is actually served. Kubeida was acceptable but not delicious enough; flavour does not burst forth with each mouthful - rather, a bit dry, slightly overcooked, somewhat anodyne, perhaps because spices used are not the freshest or the meat is not the freshest. I cannot put my finger on it exactly. Something as simple as fries disappoints not being uniformly cooked with some burnt parts or pieces having non-uniform sizes; in some instances, just small slivers. Server was the son of the owner. Such a caring kid. He is the best waiter I have had in Georgia by leaps and bounds. Asked for no salt on the fries and got no salt; asked for no butter on the rice, got no butter. I'd take my hat off to him (had I a hat)! Well, he had to settle for a ten lari tip. I sat inside as all places for alfresco dining were occupied. I liked the subdued kitsch interior, early post-Soviet ambiance. Nothing particularly Iranian about it, however. I might go again but I would skip the kubeida and fries and probably the...

Mr. Kebab is an average-category restaurant located in a relatively quiet and less lively part of Tbilisi. It offers both indoor and outdoor seating and includes a Shisha/Hookah option for those interested. While the concept might appeal to those craving Middle Eastern or Arabic-style food, our overall experience left much to be desired.

Firstly, hygiene was a serious concern. We found a white hair in our salad, which was both shocking and unappetizing. It instantly put us off and raised concerns about the kitchen’s cleanliness standards.

The ambiance didn’t help either. The indoor seating area had extremely loud music playing, making it difficult to hold a conversation or simply enjoy a peaceful meal. To make matters worse, a pet cat was roaming freely inside the restaurant and repeatedly came under our table, sniffing around for food. This was quite off-putting, especially when you're expecting a relaxing and hygienic dining environent.

The restaurant adds extra 15% service charge to the bill, which inflates the final amount. This extra charge was felt unreasonable, especially considering the overall food quality and service experience. Moreover, the base prices of menu items were already a little on the higher side for what the place offered.

To be fair, the food itself—aside from the unpleasant salad incident—was decent in terms of portion size and taste. The restaurant appears to be a family-run business, possibly with Iranian origins, and they do seem to make an effort with the flavors and presentation.

However, given our experience, we would only recommend Mr. Kebab if you're specifically craving Arabic-style food and have no better options nearby. There are certainly many other places in Tbilisi that offer better service, hygiene, and overall dining atmosphere for similar or even...

The food at this restaurant is decent, and the atmosphere is pleasant, but my overall experience was marred by an unsettling encounter with the staff. As a non-Georgian speaker, I took the extra step of pointing to the exact dish I wanted on the menu to avoid any confusion. The waitress acknowledged my order and wrote it down on her pad, yet when the food arrived, it was noticeably different from the dish I had chosen. It still looked appetizing, so I decided to give it a try.

However, when the bill came, I was shocked to see that the dish listed was not the one I ordered, and the price was 34.38% higher. I politely asked to see the menu again, pointing out the dish I had originally ordered. To my disbelief, the staff insisted I had received the correct dish, even bringing the waitress over to back up their claim. This wasn’t a simple mistake—the dish I ordered was on the upper left of the menu, while the one I received was on the bottom right. It felt deliberate, especially since the bill included a 15% service fee, which was not disclosed on the menu. In Georgia, such undisclosed charges are illegal (https://gcca.gov.ge/index.php?lng=eng&m=370&news_id=1451), making this experience even more concerning.

Reluctantly, I paid for what I ate, even though it wasn’t what I ordered. But one thing is certain: I won’t be making the same mistake twice. My takeaway from this experience is clear—doing business with dishonest people is never worth it. I won’t be returning, and I urge others to be...