Little Georgia

My first thought upon walking into this quiet, spacious, casual and homey restaurant was that this is the perfect place to take the rents out for a meal. Littered with several old school telephones and retro industrial lighting, this place oozes with the rustic charm of a lost era. My folks would love the fact that they could hear themselves speak without accidentally elbowing someone seated at the next table. No queues, no pressure to rush through your meal.
The water they serve is infused with cucumber and mint — always a YAY in my book.
This was my first venture into Georgian cuisine. Upon the recommendation of the waitress, who insisted that as a newbie I must try one of the signature and traditional baked to order cheese breads (Khachapuri or Lobiani), I ordered the small order of khachapuri from the hot starters section of the menu and the katmis salad from the cold starters section of the menu.
Service is on the slower side, but if you’re ordering either of the baked to order breads, there is no reason to not expect a minimum of 20 — 30 min wait after you place your order. And that wait is so worth it. The bread is straight up amazeballs — fresh and tasty. Fair warning — it’s stuffed with cheese (rather than the cheese being baked into the bread) so it is on the heavy side.
The katmis salad was flavorful but chicken served cold is not my cup of tea. The pomegranates gave the dish a nice crunchy sweetness.
Portions for both the starters could have been shared by 2 — 3 persons.

I had never tried Georgian food before and am one of those people who loves seeing what the next possible take off cuisine is in London, having witnessed the rise of Peruvian food for example.
The place itself is nicely done like a london pub with hints and decorations of the caucasus. There are cool old timely phones and lights and Georgian film posters everywhere… its so cool… its also really nicely lit in the evening making it quite romantic
The food itself is lovely… to be honest I have no benchmark as I have never had Georgian food before, but what I had I liked… the garlic chicken was tasty and filling and the different breads were also unusual but reminded me of different european and asian tastes…
The mixed meze is great if you dont know what to get and want to try everything
The wine as well was lovely and the staff were really friendly and helpful in advising you what to have
Great night out and one for the «International Cuisine Explorers»

Came here on a Friday night after hearing many good things. Had some wine and then had to wait for the food for over an hour. The waiter even asked whether we were ready for the main dishes at some point, but the food never came. We got up and left, weren’t even asked to stay or offered an explanation why we were never brought the food we ordered and reminded several times about. Would avoid due to the service.

Such a cute, charming, and unique place.
Georgian food! Wow, I am definitely not familiar with this type of cuisine, but I will say my first experience with it was great. Would definitely try it again elsewhere, but also come back here.
Ambiance is nice, retro, rustic, but clean and comfortable at the same time. This place definitely has character. We made reservations for a Saturday night (you should just in case), there was some confusion over them not having it, but they accommodated us anyway. Almost all tables were filled and it continued that way until we left around 10 pm or so.
Each table was given a pitcher of lemon mint water. This is nice, but I happened to not like lemon or mint in my water, so we asked for plain.
Lobiani — traditional Georgia bread (round and relatively flat) stuffed with a blend of beans, onions, and seasoning. I thought this might be oily, but it wasn’t at all. I’d imagine the Khachapuri is (cheese bread), but I haven’t actually tried that one. I was pleasantly surprised that the bread was light and not heavy at all. It had a mild taste, actually a bit too mild, and I couldn’t really tell I was eating red bean paste (although I could see it in there). It’s very inoffensive and certainly interesting. I just wish it had more flavour. But I would recommend it and I would even get it again.
Chashushuli — tender beef stew cooked in a tomato sauce seasoned with Georgian spices and served with rice and greens. The rice was buttered and the stew came in its own bowl, so you could mix as you wanted. The stew was less thick than I had envisioned, but the flavour was amazing. Lots of spices and a strong, unique flavour. Ample amounts of lamb, cubed small and quite soft and tender.
Salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, and white onions. Very fresh, delicious, but too salty. Next time I would definitely ask for light or no salt. It was somewhat distracting and that’s the only reason we couldn’t finish it.
The only negative about this place is the service. There seems to be a lot of confusion about everything. First with our reservations, second with what we ordered (there was a mix-​up and we had to send items back and request items we actually did want for the second time), and then at the end when we asked for the rest of our meal to be packed for take-​away (they forgot and never brought it — we ended up forgetting too until we had left). Otherwise, I would definitely recommend this place.

Oooh I came back for dinner, and I like the Georgian food waay more than the sandwiches we had last time.
— We shared some khachapuri (cheesy bread joy– this is gooey and gorgeous)
— I tried the poussin in a white walnut sauce (mostly because the waitress recommended it) It was really tasty BUT was basically just good chicken and bread in a yummy sauce. I wish I had realised in advance so I could have ordered some sort of veggies or salad to go with it.
— My friends both went for slightly safe option of kebabs, but they looked meaty and yummy.
— The Georgian wine was refreshing and tasty too.
With a tastecard, we only paid £40 for three people (!) including a bottle of wine… so it is a complete bargain.
Tastecard saving: £16ish — yay!

Great local restaurant. Delicious Georgian food and lovely romantic ambiance. The khachapuri is to die for, and the meze is great.

This is a lovely restaurant on the backside of Angel. Very quiet and open and airy. I felt like where we were seated that we were in someone’s house.
The key to coming here is the meze – all kinds of delicious Mediterranean meets eastern European influences. The cheese bread is quite filling but a must.
The mains were less exciting – I had a poussin in a white sauce that was crying for sides.
A very relaxing place, interesting food, nice service. A low-​key neighborhood feel indeed.

Really tasty and generous portions! I came across this place through a review in The Week magazine (which I am a *huge* fan of :)
I am sucker for pastry and cheese (neither of which I am officially meant to eat) but now and again I get sucked in. The khatchapuri was stunning — we had the luxury version — probs would have given us a heart attack if we hadn’t split it.
And then we also had the veggie blini dish which was similar in flavour though a different texture. The chilli/​garlic condiment (ajika) was crazy strong and reminded me of Indian green chutney. I could have eaten a lot more but I was v conscious we were going to a bar after ;)
V cool place, can’t wait to go back and try more — and the quirky staff were very sexy and friendly — perhaps a trio of Georgian sisters? x

While the Olympics swept down on London and turned the city into a Twilight Zone version of itself with smiles and tube chatter, my flat turned into a boarding residence for three friends from the States. Tired from all of the television watching excitement of the games, we agreed that making dinner was out of the question. My guests asked what their dining options were and I mentally walked down Upper Street.
«There’s Turkish, Asian Fusian, South American, French, Mediterranean, Italian, Mediterranean, Turkish…»
«Wait, wait… isn’t there a Georgian place nearby?»
«Actually, I think there are a few, but I’ve never eaten at any of them. I guess we could try one…»
And after approximately 30 minutes of indecision (seriously…getting five people to decide where to do anything is an enormous chore), we wandered down to Little Georgia.
I wasn’t expecting much. I have no idea why, but I pictured heavy, starchy, bland food. I saw plates and plates of white glop with a sprig of green to brighten the plate. And I was completely wrong.
Ravenously, we ordered so much food that we had to take some home. Starters included their meze, blini and one of their breads… Khachapuri maybe? To call it a bread is misleading. It’s like the most delicious double decker cheese pizza you can imagine… but without tomato sauce.
I had bites of everyone’s mains. The chkmeruli, a pan fried poussin that knocked you over with intense garlic in a creamy sauce, was stunning. The baje also featured a poussin, but this time in a walnut sauce and topped with pomegranate seeds. I happily ate the leftovers for breakfast the next day. The charcoal grilled salmon could be paired with a pomegranate reduction or plum sauce and was completely devoured before leaving the restaurant. I looked on at the kotnis lobio, a bean dish served with smoked pork, with envy and snuck bites when my husband wasn’t looking. We topped as much as we could with ajika, a spicy Georgian paste, and ate until we could only laugh at the dessert menu.
All of this decadence added up to less than £90…until we added a bottle of wine and a bottle of vodka. But even those were priced so reasonably that we checked the bill twice to make sure there wasn’t a mistake.
If you don’t think there’s a quiet place in Islington to enjoy fantastic, well-​priced food, you’re wrong. Get yourself to Little Georgia and don’t forget to try the bread… or the ajika… oh hell, just try it all.