About Nanuchka
The dominant narrative about Georgian cuisine is that it runs on meat: lamb, pork, the fat-rich dumplings, the beef-heavy khinkali, the roasted whole chickens that arrive on wooden boards. The narrative is not wrong, but it is radically incomplete. Nanuchka in Sololaki exists to tell the other story — and it tells it with the kind of authority that makes meat-centric interpretations look like a failure of imagination.
Georgian food has deep plant-based roots. The walnut is its own food group: ground with garlic and fenugreek into the sauce that defines badrijani nigvzit (aubergine rolls), pressed into the herb-walnut balls of pkhali, folded into countless cold appetisers that arrive at Tbilisi tables long before the main courses. The bean dishes — lobiani, red bean stew with adjika and fenugreek — are some of Georgia’s oldest and most refined preparations. The herb-heavy salads, the pickled vegetables, the cornbread, the churchkhela of walnut and grape juice: all of this belongs to a tradition that predates any European food movement by several centuries.
Nanuchka’s kitchen honours this tradition with rigour and without compromise. The pkhali here — presented as a tasting platter of beet, spinach, bean, and mixed herb varieties, each crowned with a pomegranate seed — is among the finest versions in the city. The vegan khachapuri works on its own terms: the bread dough is made with care, and the filling of walnuts and herbs holds without needing cheese as a structural prop. The adjapsandali — the Georgian vegetable stew with aubergine, pepper, tomato, and herbs — is slow-cooked to the point where every component has fully surrendered to the whole.
For solo dining, Nanuchka is one of Tbilisi’s most satisfying options: the portions encourage ordering widely, the environment is relaxed enough to eat alone without self-consciousness, and the menu rewards curiosity. For a first date, the shared-plate dynamic and the novelty of the cuisine make for excellent conversation material. The Sololaki location — in the atmospheric Old Town neighbourhood just south of Rustaveli Avenue — is a beautiful part of Tbilisi to walk through before or after dinner.
The natural wine list leans heavily toward Georgian amber wines, which pair particularly well with the walnut and herb profiles of the food. Service is warm and knowledgeable; staff will guide you through the menu without condescension. This is a restaurant that trusts its cuisine.