Little Georgia

Right, where shall we start.. it seems wherever you look online people either love or hate this place and i think i know why. I've never felt the need to write a review until now. Me and my girlfriend been looking forward to go to this place for month and this afternoon as we walked by decided to make reservations for 7.30pm. The guy i spoke to in the afternoon was very friendly and helpful just like the other faces i usually see there in the daytime whenever i took a peak or enquired. He politely informed me that they stop serving lunch at around 6pm but the kitchen for dinner would stay open till 10pm. So off we went in the sunshine looking forward to our romantic meal at this exciting new place. When we came back at 7.30pm there was a woman in the kitchen preparing stuff and a woman on the phone walking forth and back. There was also another couple standing there who didn't really seem to know what's going on. We tried the staring technique described by the reviewer below but no such luck. After standing at least 10 minutes in the restaurant nobody had even bothered to say 'sorry we'll be with you shortly' let alone engaged in some form of eye contact. After several attempts i finally managed to get the attention of the women in the kitchen who signalled someone will be with us in a minute. Five minutes later we were still standing there and i decided to take a seat at a nearby table as i was tired of standing around. Finally a younger man came up the stairs and asked us if we had a reservation. He brought us the menu together with a couple of filthy glasses but we still decided to give the place a chance because who knows maybe the food is amazing.

The food came and it was alright but nowhere near made up for the bad service. We had the russian salad (which is basically a nice little potato salad) a couple of meat (?) filled crepes and the cheese bread which everybody should avoid in my opinion. Each starter (including the nasty cheese bread) costs five pounds which is ridiculous considering what you get elsewhere for the same price (i.e. Green Papaya down the road). As a main course we ordered a beef stew in tomato sauce with rice and some hot pot green bean thingy with cheese on top. It's temping to say the food is terrible but that would be unfair, it's just very average home cooked meals. However what is bad, and i only noticed this when i went up to the counter to pay, that absolutely everything is cooked in MICROWAVES (i.e. brought in from home in tupperware and then heated up). I did sort of think it was weird that my stew was colder on the outside than in the middle if it was freshly cooked but i was already so bored of this place that i didn't really care. I don't think any self respecting restaurant or even bistro should use a microwave as their main cooking device and i find it absolutely baffling how this place gets such good reviews everywhere.

The only thing i can imagine is that the evening staff and food is completely different to what you get in the daytime which seems to tie in with the other bad review on this page which was also for an evening visit and the good reviews were describing lunch and breakfast. Either way, like i said the microwave thing is a big let down for me and Broadway Market and Mare Street have much better restaurants to offer. Shame really, i had such high hopes..
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Seb
4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Sunday, April 10, 2011

I'm shocked by the unhappy review below, too. I'm a regular at Little Georgia and take people there all the time. Everyone I've taken there LOVES it. I'm veggie, so I haven't a clue what the meat is like. But I go there and for under £15 can have a really tasty, filling dinner. And the breakfast is divine - with big portions and very reasonable costs. The food is simple and spiced to just the right level. My favourites are the Borscht and the HacchipuriCoffee is great (and it is hard to get good coffee in London) and while the service might be slow sometimes, it doesn't matter. It is so cozy and lovely that one never feels the desire to be in a hurry anyway. That couple's experience was certainly the exception to the rule.
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V.K. Vasista
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, January 21, 2011

I am shocked by the review below. I am a regular of this restaurant and would highly recommend it to anyone, especially for brunch/lunch. The food is delicious and reasonably priced and the staff are so nice and lovely. The only negative I can think of is that the service can be slow at times as the staff are not very organised and often a bit frazzled. The food and atmosphere however more than make up for this. I recommend their full Georgian breakfasts and their fresh juices. Its a real gem, especially if you are new to Georgian food.
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8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Just horrible and taking the mick.

Went to this place the other night around 830ish. Had heard about it from a few people who live near us in East London and seen some okay reviews and we're always looking for local places to support.

I cannot strongly enough recommend people stay well clear of this place. It was absolutely terrible. I cannot believe people have praised this place as "simple but tasty, cheap" food. I had some disgusting chicken and plum thing and my wife a trout which was tiny and horribly done. There were four things on the mains menu. But not only was it very poorly done and horrible looking and tasting but it came to 38 quid (with starters which was bread with cheese in it and some watery borscht). No wine and we got offered one glass of water each and couldn't get the miserable blokes attention to get some more and there were 6 people in the whole time. The highlight was when (no lie) the woman in the kitchen laughed out load when she managed to plate up the rice in a neat pile (I am not kidding).

This place isn't good, interesting, funny or kitsch or cool in any way, East London or not.

I am not tight but if you want a "local" or midweek place to go and not spend a fortune thus place is taking the mickey compared to Tayaabs, Needoos, Maid, Pascha and La Figa and Bordellos in the same 'hood and the first three of which you would eat truly top quality grub and its also BYO and they wouldn't be taking the mick.
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Galvin
1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, January 05, 2010