Batoni Khinkali — Restaurant in Amsterdam

Food-wise: in Moscow/Tbilisi/any other city with a noticeable Georgian population I would say it's 3/5. For Amsterdam we should be less demanding, so 4/5. Some of the staples were surprisingly missing from the menu, like the chicken soup/chikhirtma, or satzivi, but okay, we may put it to a concept of not doing the cuisine of the particular Georgian regions that stuff is from. But the other classics we had had some strange twists, like cumin in the khinkali (never experienced that across ex-USSR, but I was alright with it since I like cumin, and maybe the chef is Latvian, so why not have a little fun), or the nuts and veg salad having lettuce instead of red onions. The former was not an issue to me (my girlfriend, however, was less happy) although I would appreciate a thinner dough and better timing on boiling. The latter, however, altered the taste quite noticeably, turning a very pungent dish that is a great sparrting partner to khachapuri or meats into something much more docile. After that chopped mushrooms in the cheese ketzi (usually they are used whole or the just heads) were neither a big change nor a taste issue. The khachapuri held no surpises and was good, so a safe bet. Price tag is adequate (by Ams standards), EUR75 got us nearly bursting along with 2 beers and a tea (my girlfriend is small, but I am 1.88 tall male and a big eater).

Atmosphere-wise: was not so good. Our server, being quite friendly, obviously struggled with English. After hearing her mutter something to herself in Russian or Ukrainian (pretty hard to spot a difference on the level of "Right, two teas", mind you), I offered her to switch to Russian as a gesture of goodwill solely. I speak both English and Russian equally well and I do not like people helping me have a good time suffer without purpose. To my surprise she said that they are not allowed to speak Russian on the premises. That definitely created a chilly feeling at the table, so I would end up with a 3/5 rating here. Obviuously, it's a private business and the owners may run it whichever way they like, but personally I do not feel comfortable in such environment and probably will not be coming back.

Assessment of viability of such policy in terms of Russian being the international communication language of most of ex-communist block nations (i.e. the core audience for a Georgian cuisine restaurant) lies with the owners, of course.

P.S. I only saw the "Putin is een klotzak" poster in the previous review, but I wouldn't mind it, bc that's true =). Can't see how it can offend the Russian...

Even though the waiter was quite friendly and cheerful, I can't leave more than 2 stars for the food in this restaurant, I'm so sorry...

It is definitely not the authentic Georgian cuisine. I've been to many Georgian restaurants in other cities and towns all over the world, especially among ex-soviet countries, hence I am well-aware what real Georgian cuisine is like, what khinkali are like, same as khachapuri etc.

I'll start with disastrous Khinkali in this restaurant... First of all, they are made with way too thick dough, therefore not properly cooked, bear that in mind!.. Or the chef could have just steamed them for a couple minutes extra?🤔 Real khinkali would never have such a thick/ undercooked dough. The real khinkali are cooked to perfection where the dough is soft. Point. Also there shouldn't be any cumin in the khinkali meat filling...

For the price of 10.5 euro you get just 3 khinkali now. That's a rip-off.

Khachapuri is another miss, yet again. It's just hilariously not Georgian dish in this restaurant... The dough is not a real proper sour dough they're using in Georgia. I mean here unfortunately the dough is hard, not soft at all. The real khachapuri dough should be silky soft. Point. The cheese inside is not even close to Georgian cheese either. You do expect suluguni inside. Even though the cheese isn't bad, but it's not great either.

The size of the Khachapuri is a separate topic: I mean they charge 12.5 euro for a small pastry of a size of a palm 🤔 It is really that small...

The menu choices are way too limited for a Georgian restaurant. I mean, that was the smallest menu I've seen in a Georgian restaurant ever.

After you read all those 5-star reviews, you are expecting to have a real Georgian cuisine experience, but that was the worst of all that I've had so far. And the main disappointment here is: Food.

This restaurant definitely could scarcely be called a Georgian one. Again I'm sorry, but that's...

We just came back from Russia, where we indulged on some Georgian food, and I craved all the flavors and my boyfriend couldn’t stop dreaming of Khachapuri Adjarian (with egg yolk on top). I have bookmarked this place a while back but yesterday we had the perfect company to venture out to this area to introduce them to Georgian food and enjoy ourselves. We made a reservation at 7pm through Facebook. I was a bit hesitant but when we arrived (Wednesday evening) the restaurant was full and our table waited for us. We ordered the appetizers, all of them, followed by khinkali (mushroom, and beef and pork), khachapuri 2 of those; and mushrooms baked with cheese. The appetizers were good, my favorite was eggplant with the walnut paste and pomegranate seeds. So Georgian! And khinkkali with beef and pork were perfect - the dough was just right, enough bullion in them, and the meat to dough proportion is quite right. Khachapuri was enjoyed by everyone at the table! Of course! So much cheese goodness mixed with the egg yolk that we had to fight for the remaining piece! I did not enjoy the mushroom clay plate - that dish came out watery. We had two bottles of Saperavi - red Georgian wine. I enjoyed the first bottle more as it was aged differently (by traditional Georgian technology - in a huge clay containers) Service was quick and friendly. The guy took care of us with a smile and did not mess up anything. I wish this place will expand the menu soon to include more Georgian food on the menu. Nonetheless the current offerings of khinkali, Khachapuri and appetizers were perfect. All and all - dinner...