Skalka — Restaurant in Seattle

The entire reason we stopped here initially was because my daughter and I both wanted to grab bread bowls from the Alaskan sourdough factory, but they were closed. So I decided to do a general Google search for bread bowls to see if there was another place that served them nearby. Lo-&-behold this restaurant showed up across the street from the sourdough factories location next to the ferry terminal, 1 block up, on the corner of an intersection . It was just too perfectly convenient to pass up. It checked all the boxes and we had never experienced Georgian food before (as I told my daughter, no not the state, the Eastern European country that was part of the old Soviet Bloc). We looked at the menu before he showed up and they had five things to pick from. Well that made things very easy and it sounded pretty good. My daughter is very picky so I was shocked that she was okay with this selection. The restaurant was very clean & there were no other customers at the time but after we got our food there was a steady flow of customers coming and going so it does seem that business is possibly going well for them. There was no staff up front to assist you so it was a self order & pay kiosk. There was a bell to get ahold of somebody in the back and they promptly showed up upon pressing it. The two ladies were exceptionally nice and answered my questions thoroughly. I can't remember the names of what we ordered. I had the first item on the menu, which was apparently their most commonly ordered dish, my daughter had the one with bacon. After placing our order and grabbing our seats, shockingly the food was at our table in just under 10 minutes. If you like cheese and lots of butter then this is definitely your stop. I usually like cheese, and a lot of it, but at that moment I wasn't really into my meal. Nothing flew out and shocked me flavor-wise. My daughter loved it, but I thought it was pretty bland. Now that might be a cultural thing (not using spices with it), I don't know so I I'm not going to judge it too harshly. It just wasn't my cup of tea. I think if they had more than five menu items I would try it again. I tried my daughters and it was very close to mine, just with the bacon. The bacon was that soggy style, which I don't really care for as I like mine having a bit more crisp to it. But, once again, it could also be a cultural thing. Would I stop in there again? If somebody else wanted to go and asked me along with them, I would. I would just not choose it if there was other options food places to eat at the time. It just wasn't my type of food, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't good, the restaurant was clean, the staff was exceptionally nice, the bathrooms were clean, the food came very quick, and it did look like they had a pretty heavy customer base. All that being said I have no real complaints about the place. Should you give it a try? DEFINITELY!! The location is perfect if you are catching a ferry, enjoying the newly renovated waterfront, or are on your way to see a game. Given the way and the speed that restaurants rotate out in Seattle, who knows how long they will be in around, or when the next time you'll get an opportunity to try a Georgian dish. I think you should give this rare treat a shot, what have you to lose? Thank you to the great staff and I wish you the...

Visited here on a Friday. It's a small cafe right off the waterfront that serves Georgian food. It was my first time trying this type of food, but I liked it. There is street parking around and a few pay to park lots. We were able to find parking less than a block away.

This is a small cafe with a counter. There is only has partial seating open and there are chairs and supplies stored in the dining area (COVID). I think there were 4 tables available and take out. It was clean and they were following COVID protocols if that is a concern for you. They have a tablet where you place your order, and then you sit at an assigned table. I was with a friend who was familiar with the food, but the server was also willing to answer questions. They sell a variety of ingredients, sauces, drinks and alcohol, presumably from Georgia and the surrounding area.

I ordered Beef Khinkali and a Khachapuri Boat and the server brought us water.

Beef Khinkali (Not pictured) - An order came with 3. These are like large soup dumplings. The dough is much thicker and there is a lot more dough then a DTF style soup dumpling. Inside is broth and beef with spices. The server explained the eating process, hold them by the top, take a bite and slurp the broth. Eating with a knife and fork would lose all the broth. Dough to meat ratio was 5x dough - 1x meat. After adding the hot sauce, it was much better but still nothing I'd come back for. The hot sauce was so good, I asked if it was one of the varieties of sauces they sold, but no, it was not one of the bottled sauces for sale.

Khachapuri Boat (Pictured) - This on the other hand, I would come back for! This is an amazing dish! A warm bread bowl filled with cheese, butter and egg yolks. Tear off outside pieces of bread and dip. I took the first piece of bread and stirred the cheese and egg yolks to get a heavenly dip. This won me over as it has several of my favorite ingredients. If you're not a fan of dairy or all the fat, there are other Khachapuri Boats filled with meat, veggies and the like. The boats can be ordered in different sizes, and there are addons. The typical comes with 1 egg yolk. I added a second.

Service was good, food took a decent amount of time to come out. Not sure if that was due to the amount of UberEats orders and the like, but dont expect quick food. Overall, it was a great experience to try a new food, and I found one dish worth returning for. I look forward to trying a different boat next time. (Or the cheese, egg and butter one again.) There were also a handful of desserts, but didnt...

have you ever had georgian food? i hadn’t.

i actually saw this place going mega viral on social media shortly after moving to seattle in 2022. when a place goes viral like that, it usually turns me off from a place (at least temporarily)… they tend to get overcrowded and the workers get overwhelmed. i don’t like contributing to that. but just a few months later, i had some out-of-town friends who visited that wanted to go. i am SO glad it worked out this way! the times that i’ve been, it’s never been overcrowded. it’s been busy, but not too crazy.

skalka is a georgian breakfast spot off of university street (no, not UW or U District… at least the link stop is called symphony now lol). it is actually fairly close to pike place and the seattle waterfront. it’s pretty small inside, but it is brightly lit and there are quite a few tables still. the service? there technically is none. you order on a tablet and then they call out your order once it’s ready.

they are primarily known for their khachapuri, aka cheesey bread boats with an egg yolk in the middle. they have several to choose from: i’ve tried the chicken, beef, and eggplant. i think the eggplant is my favorite by far.

if you have out-of-town people visiting you, take them here before you take on pike place & the waterfront....