It’s been a while since I last wrote about a meal. Sometimes I was simply too busy with work; other times I struggled with “writer’s block”. And occasionally, the food just didn’t spark enough passion to inspire me to write at all. Today, however, I felt compelled to write – perhaps because, before even stepping through the door, I had very strong and conflicting feelings about this restaurant.
When Daka Daka opened, social media was full of posts describing their food as traditional Georgian. I assumed this was how the restaurant positioned itself, but then those posts showed dishes that were definitely not Georgian (and traditional) or were Georgian, like khinkali, for example, but covered with truffles. Whoever knows how khinkali are eaten would see no sense in shavings of truffles, and I am not talking here about traditions. They are not needed and are impractical as khinkali are eaten with hands. All this has somehow created strong conflicting feelings in me.
I love Georgia and Georgian food, so I was curious to try this new opening. I’ve been in Georgia twice, both times for food (once even for a whole week as curator of their food festival), so I was lucky to try lots of the traditional and contemporary Georgian food in Georgia. And last Saturday, my daughter’s boyfriend, who is Georgian, invited Laura and me for lunch at Daka Daka. Rezi, born and raised in Georgia, of course knows Georgian food much better than I do, so I was really looking forward to experiencing it together.
How was it? (Continue reading below the photos.)
We all loved Daka Daka. It’s not traditional Georgian. Not at all. It’s “only” inspired by Georgia, but every single dish was utterly delicious and perfectly cooked. There are traditional dishes like khinkali (take it without truffles, please) and khachapuri, for example. But khachapuri is not made with traditional Georgian cheeses, Sulguni and Imeruli. It uses Ogleshield cheese, which is delicious, but the flavour and texture of this melted cheese are very different from the versions made with Sulguni and Imeruli. It’s not better or worse, it’s delicious (so delicious that we jumped on it before I took a photo), but different. Then there is a dish called Lobio, which is again not the real Georgian Lobio. In Georgia, Lobio is a bean stew with walnuts. At Daka Daka it is a bean hummus. But I loved it. Then there are dishes and ingredients that are not Georgian at all, but, as Rezi pointed out, they carry a distinctly Georgian flavour profile. Food is great, so are ambient and service. Nice vibe full of friendliness and vibrant energy. Would I return? Happily, at anytime and as often as possible.
